Australian Open Day 4 women’s wrap: Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka win
While Kei Nishikori was locked in a protracted battle on court, countrywoman Naomi Osaka didn’t have to fight for quite as long to defeat her second-round opponent, over 100 minutes less to be precise.
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Naomi Osaka always tries to watch countryman Kei Nishikori’s games, but on Thursday she was also watching the clock.
The US Open champion was scheduled to play her second-round clash on Margaret Court Arena immediately after Nishikori’s five-set epic against Ivo Karlovic.
As her fellow Japanese star’s match went deeper into each set, Osaka had to do another warm-up.
Then when it was time for her to take to the court, her own match was delayed by a passing rain shower.
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Osaka said she joked with an exhausted Nishikori as they passed each other leaving and entering the court about how long he dragged out his match.
“I told him, nice match. He looked very tired,’’ Osaka said.
“I was just like, ‘Oh, excuse me, I’ll get out of your way’.
“You had a very, very long match. I had to warm up four times, so thank you for that.”
While Nishikori was locked in a protracted battle on court, Osaka didn’t have to fight for quite as long to defeat her second-round opponent.
The No.4 seed took just 64 minutes to dispatch Slovenian Tamara Zidansek 6-2 6-4 in their second-round clash where she will now meet Hsieh Su-wei in the third round.
While her victory looked easy, Osaka said she had areas to improve.
“I tend to analyse myself as I play,’’ Osaka said.
“I know I could have made less unforced errors this match. So that’s the biggest thing I take away after. I think that’s the number one thing I want to improve.’’
Osaka spoke to the trainer during the second set, but did not want to reveal what had troubled her.
“I was able to finish and win the match, so it’s not that big of a deal,’’ she said.
“It’s something that I have to keep an eye on. I’m not telling you, though.’’
Harried Halep staggers into third round
Push Simona Halep to the brink, and she summons her best.
The Australian Open’s top-seeded woman got all she could handle from 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin in the second round before taking the last four games to emerge with a 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-4 victory that took over two hours.
“Well, I have no idea how I won this tonight,” said Halep, the reigning French Open champion.
“It’s so tough to explain what happened on court.”
A year ago at Melbourne Park, Halep was a point from being eliminated in two matches but came back each time en route to reaching the final.
In the first round this year, she was down a set and a break before turning things around. And this time, against a hard-hitting Kenin, Halep trailed 4-2 in the third set and managed to not cede another game.
And that was despite getting what she described as “a little bit injured” in the second set, something that seemed clear from the way she wasn’t always able to run with her usual verve.
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Elina Svitolina is trying to find the zone.
The No.6 seed found it when she won the WTA finals in Singapore last year and she knows she needs to get there again at Melbourne Park.
Svitolina showed she was on her way when she cruised into the third round of the Australian Open, but the spotlight was on the fellow tennis star watching her play as much as her match.
With Frenchman Gael Monfils cheering her on in the stands from her players’ box, Svitolina cruised to a 6-4 6-1 win over Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova.
The 24-year-old said she was riding a wave of confidence from her WTA finals win and hoped to convert that into grand slam success.
“It was something that definitely brought me lots of confidence,’’ Svitolina said.
“It showed that I can play at the really high level all the week, so I just tried to transfer this to the grand slam.
“To be a top player, to be consistently good, you have to always be at the top of the game and that showed me at the WTA finals that I can do that.
“I’m always trying to find this zone when I am playing my great tennis and I’m there and playing good. It’s not easy but I try to find that zone.’’
Svitolina was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last year and also reached the fourth round at the US Open.
The Ukranian is now focused on building on her strong finish to 2018 this year.
“It’s tough to predict the future, but it definitely can bring me to the good opportunities and give me a good chance to play well,’’ Svitolina said.
“But no one is going to give me free matches here, I have to work for it and I am up for this challenge.’’
Keys just can’t shut down from tennis
Many players like to switch off and enjoy a bit of downtime from tennis in between matches and practice at a grand slam.
But Madison Keys can’t get enough.
The American star revealed she watches as much tennis as she can when she’s not on court herself.
“I have, like, four screens going at all times so I can watch all of it,’’ Keys said.
“I literally have it on four screens - my computer, iPad, phone, and the TV all going at the same time.’’
Asked what the best match was that she had watched at the Australian Open so far, Keys picked a couple of Aussies.
“Last night, (John) Millman and (Alex) de Minaur,’’ Keys said.
“We’re like going back and forth, and I was texting someone, ‘Did you see that? ... they’re like, ‘No, I was talking about the other match’.
“There was just so much going on. Those were really exciting to watch.’’
The No.17 seed will have more time to binge on plenty of tennis after advancing to the third round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Russian Anastasia Potapova on Melbourne Arena on Thursday.
She will now meet No.12 seed Elise Mertens in the third round and was ready to get the iPad out to do her homework on her Belgian opponent.
“She’s had a great year and a half, and I’m going to have to go and watch what she’s been doing the last couple of matches and see if I have a good game plan for her,’’ Keys said.
And when she’s done, she’s always got Netflix.
“I still fit Netflix in. There is plenty of hours in the day,’’ Keys said.
“I’m watching I think it’s called Tidying Up. It’s about organizing. Really into it now. Kind of can’t wait to go home and re-do my whole closet.’’
Pliskova rebounds after tough first set
Karolina Pliskova survived an early challenge to book herself a third-round berth at Melbourne Park.
The Czech No. 7 was ambushed by American Madison Brengle in the opening set, which she lost 4-6 in their second-round clash on Melbourne Arena.
But Pliskova hit back in the second and third sets to dominate the rest of the match in a 4-6 6-1 6-0 victory.
A quarter-finalist at the Australian Open the past two years, Pliskova admitted she made too many mistakes in the opening set.
“I think the first set was not very good from my side, but she played some good points and she was very solid,’’ Pliscova said.
“She was defending so well from the baseline so it’s sometimes pretty tough to close my balls, but I’m happy I did it in the end. I managed to get back in the match and win it.’’
Pliskova will now face Italian No. 27 seed Camila Giorgi, who progressed after her straight sets win over Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-0, in the third round.
Giorgi and Wang Qiang made short work of their second-round opponents at Melbourne Park, sweeping to straight-set victories.
Wang, the 21st-seeded player, beat Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-3 in 58 minutes.
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Originally published as Australian Open Day 4 women’s wrap: Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka win
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