Australian Open men’s wrap: Rafael Nadal kisses ballgirl during win, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev through
An errant return from world No.1 Rafael Nadal during his second round match nearly knocked a ballgirl for six. But the Spanish star was quick to ensure she was ok, before continuing his collision course with Nick Kyrgios. MEN’S WRAP
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Probably no one hits the ball as hard as Rafael Nadal as a young ball girl on Rod Laver Arena will testify.
A Nadal shot, accidentally and in the course play, hit the girl and the Spanish champion strode over to check all was well.
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She was fine and Nadal bent over to give her a get well soon peck on the cheek, an act that will, unquestionably, make her the envy of thousands.
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“I am very happy she is good, she was so brave,” Nadal said after his 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-1 win over Federico Delbonis.
Asked if his wife Xisca (they only married last year) would be jealous, Nadal was forthright.
“I don’t think she will mind, we have been together for 15 years,” he said as a somewhat bemused Senora Nadal looked on. Maybe they will have words later.
😱(🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/IR5B2Z42fu
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) January 23, 2020
There can be no more popular player than the man from Majorca. Had they been available, a mere glance at the stats would have been enough to deter the neutral from shelling out on tickets for Rod Laver Arena.
Eighty-four career titles for the great champion and two for his 29-year-old opponent, a steady and dependable left hander for whom the third round of any major has been the final frontier.
Nadal in a sleeveless pink top, was intimidating from the beginning against an opponent ranked 76 and who had to qualify for Adelaide International last week. Yet the Argentinian is an accomplished player who hit number 33 in 2016 and last played Nadal at the Rio Olympics.
It was a full house and while Nick Kyrgios was making the noise a few hundred metres away on Melbourne Arena, a night match on Melbourne’s main court is always a special event.
There was none of the tension and uncertainty that Kyrgios brings but the feeling that to watch Nadal in the flesh is a privilege was evident throughout.
Probably even Delbonis, in a day or two, will feel that way.
The 29-year-old Argentinian has what must be the most unusual service action on the men’s tour, raising his serving arm high in the air – he is 193cm tall - and then leaving it there for what seems an eternity and out of sync with his ball toss. And while it was attention grabbing, it was not overly effective, never a great combo, Delbonis throwing down eight double faults to two aces.
At the end Nadal sped away, the third set dusted down in two hours 31 minutes and when he missed a chance on match point he grimaced as if he had dropped a set. Every point matters to Nadal clearly, it is why he is a champion.
WAWRINKA OUTLASTS SEPPI IN FIVE-SET EPIC
—Richard Evans
An up and down display so very nearly saw the 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka crash out of the 2020 tournament on a night when he did his reputation few favours.
The final stats showed a relieved Swiss hit 65 unforced errors as Andreas Seppi missed a gilt edged opportunity to reach the third round. Really, he should have won.
Seppi was 4-3 ahead in the final set and serving when the nerves took hold and a bad tempered Wawrinka, never remotely steady all night, held his own nerve to break back twice and take the match, claiming seven points in a row near the end.
Wawrinka paid tribute to the fans who stayed put for his 4-6, 7-5, 6-6, 3-6, 6-4 victory in three hours 38 minutes.
These are old foes, although have not played since the Australian Open three years ago, the better known Swiss player predictably 9-3 ahead.
Players at the top end of the men’s game have become significantly older in recent years but to see a 34-year-old (Wawrinka) face a 35-year-old for a spot in the third round is still unusual.
Here Wawrinka was complacent, letting the first set slip by, and found himself on the edge of an upset with Seppi serving for a two set lead at 5-4. Crisis averted, he broke for 4-2 in the third and pointed to his temple, it’s all in the mind he was saying and rattled off the set shortly after.
At 3-3 in the fourth Wawrinka began over-hitting and effectively handed the set to Seppi when really there was little need to push so hard. It should not have been a surprise, they have played 91 five setters between them over the years.
The Italian Seppi is Mr Consistent, reaching the third round in Australia for the last six years but rarely threatens to head beyond it despite 21 wins at the Australian Open over the years. He was ranked 18 in January 2013 and is no walkover. He has more than US$10 million in career winnings – you can have a good life being Andreas Seppi.
The unforced error count by Wawrinka pointed to a player who never really settled all night, 65 is high indeed for a man of his class.
Ranked 15, he would be an unlikely Australia Open champion 2020 but stranger things have happened.
CAN ZVEREV DITCH ‘GRAND SLAM FLOP’ TAG?
Alexander Zverev has taken another step towards shedding his unwanted tag as tennis’s biggest grand slam flop with a morale-boosting second-round Australian Open win in Melbourne.
The seventh seed has marched into the last 32 without dropping a set following his 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-5 victory over Egor Gerasimov on Thursday. Yet to reach the quarter-finals of a hardcourt or grasscourt major despite climbing as high as No.3 in the world and winning the 2018 season-ending championship, Zverev arrived at the season’s first slam low on confidence and down on form.
Suffering from an alarming case of serving yips, he coughed up 34 doubles faults in losing all three of his matches at the ATP Cup to Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov as Germany bombed out in the pool stages. But the 22-year-old appears to be finding his groove on Melbourne Park’s faster surface, Zverev needing little more than two hours to see off Gerasimov. Zverev led a batch of big-name challengers to heavyweights Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer into the third round on Thursday. His only hiccup came when he dropped serve trying to close out the match at 5-3 in the third set, before he regrouped to break the Belarusian for a third time to book a third-round date on Saturday with Fernando Verdasco or Nikoloz Basilashvili.
“Definitely much better than the ATP Cup. Now into the third round, I’m very happy about that,” Zverev said, revealing he practised “six, seven hours a day” last week in a bid to iron out the chinks.
“To find my serve, my groundstrokes, whatever hasn’t been working at the ATP Cup.”
MEDVEDEV AT HOME IN MELBOURNE
Daniil Medvedev is reprising a familiar sense of belonging.
The mercurial Russian made Flushing Meadows home last September despite a pitched battle with New York fans.
Melbourne Park, while far less volatile, is now feeling reassuringly comfortable to the sublimely talented Russian.
Elated after a clinical 7-5 6-1 6-3 over Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez, a former junior rival, the world No.4 is trucking menacingly towards the second week.
With 40 winners, 19 aces, just two double faults and only one service break, the fourth seed had good reason to be pleased despite a brief interruption to have eye drops inserted.
“It was not an easy match, especially the first set,” the US Open finalist said.
“I managed to stay there the whole match. He can be really on fire. I knew I had to stay in the match and stay in front.”
Medvedev, 23, faced Martinez, 24, in the French Open juniors but their paths hadn’t crossed for several years.
“I played him in Roland Garros juniors but I didn’t see him for four years,” Medvedev said.
He’s getting to the top now, which is good.
“You don’t know if he is stronger in the forehand, stronger on the backhand. The guys in the top 50, you know what to expect.”
Medvedev was more assured against Martinez than dangerous American Frances Tiafoe in the first round.
“Today was much better than the other day,” he said.
“I can be here and have a long tournament and hopefully make many more aces (and a donation) for the bushfires.”
Originally published as Australian Open men’s wrap: Rafael Nadal kisses ballgirl during win, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev through
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