Lleyton Hewitt’s career was hoping to have a stay of execution when he took to the court at Rod Laver Arena to play eighth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in the Australian Open second round on Thursday. But Ferrer put an end to that quickly, and went on to defeate Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to earn his…
American John Isner fired 20 aces to move past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(6), 7-6(2) and reach the Australian Open third round. Isner was sharp in the opening set, committing just two unforced errors, and notching the only break point at 4-3. In that first set, he got 80 percent of his first serves into…
Victoria Azarenka blasted her way into the third round in Melbourne, rolling past Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2 as the 14th seed Belorussian continues her blistering start to the 2016 season. “I really don’t count the games,” said Azarenka, who has dropped just 20 games in 2016. “What works for me is to stay in the…
The second round of the Australian Open will come to a close later this evening, as the bottom half of both the men’s and women’s draws will play for a spot in the tournament’s third round. Below are some of the men's matchups to watch: (2) Andy Murray (Great Britain) vs. Sam Groth (Australia) Andy…
After a tricky first-round opponent in powerful Camila Giorgi, world number one and defending champion Serena Williams blew past Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the Australian Open third-round. “She’s definitely a tricky opponent,” said Serena afterwards. “It was a good matchup for me to play someone who can hit any shot…
Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic moved into the Australian Open third-round on Wednesday, defeating French teenager Quentin Halys 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(3) on Rod Laver Arena. Djokovic cruised through the first two sets in under an hour and looked to be in top form. In the second set, he ripped 16 winners to…
The third day of the Australian Open gets underway tonight as the second-round begins in Melbourne. The top seeds, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are both in action, as well as former champions Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, making tonight’s action must-see television. Below are some of the matchups to watch: (1) Novak Djokovic (Serbia)…
Playing in the final tournament of his career, Australian Lleyton Hewitt guaranteed himself at least one more match in the career, knocking off his compatriot James Duckworth 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4 to advance into the second-round at the Australian Open. After taking the opening set in a tiebreaker, Hewitt broke Duckworth twice in each of the…
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka steamrolled into the second-round of the Australian Open, defeating Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-0, 6-0 in just 53 minutes. “I’m pretty happy—I don’t think I’m looking for perfection, I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus,” said Azarenka. “I like that I was very composed today from the…
It was all the ESPN announcers were discussing throughout its coverage of the Australian Open yesterday: The epic five-set semifinal between Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in 2009. And rightfully so, and the rematch on Tuesday between Nadal and Verdasco in the first-round did not disappoint. Nadal won that match in 2009 on his…