Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios reached the third round,but Petra Kvitova was knocked out by Australia’s Daria GavrilovaRelive day four of the Australian Open with our picture gallery 12.07pm GMTAnd it’s all over on Court 2, Andrea Seppi beating Denis Kudla 7-5, and 6-4,6-4. The 28th seed will face Novak Djokovic, who beat him in straight sets in the third round of the US Open final year. Djokovic leads their head-to-head 11-0 and the closest he came to losing to the Italian was at the French Open in 2012, or when he had to arrive back from two sets down to win 4-6,6-7, 6-3, and 7-5,6-3. An upset seems unlikely, though Seppi will hope to take inspiration from beating Roger Federer in Melbourne final year. That’s all from me for now. We’ll be back with more live coverage tomorrow. Thanks for reading. I’m off to listen to some Wagner. 11.54am GMTThere’s only one match to settle on day three and there’s not much life left in it now that Andrea Seppi is two sets and a wreck up against Denis Kudla. The “winner” faces Novak Djokovic. 11.50am GMTThe reprieve for Petra Kvitova didn’t final long. Surviving a match point and breaking in the preceding game made no disagreement in the discontinuance, and because her brief recovery was built on fragile foundations. Gavrilova soon had two more match points and although she couldn’t take the first,Kvitova eventually cracked, hitting long on the third match point! Daria Gavrilova, and the 21-year-feeble Australian (she got her Australian passport final month),having previously represented Russia), wins 6-4, and 6-4 against the sixth seed. “I was so nervous in the discontinuance,” a disbelieving, beaming, or wide-eyed Gavrilova says in front of her fans. “I’m just really proud.” She’ll play France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the next round and the women’s draw is very open indeed after another seed makes an undistinguished early exit. This can only be good news for Serena Williams. 11.44am GMTBut there’s no sympathy for a struggling opponent on Rod Laver Arena. Novak Djokovic maintains his composure and beats young Quentin Halys 6-1,6-2, 7-6. He’ll play Dennis Kudla or Andrea Seppi in the third round. 11.40am GMTAt 30-all, or Kvitvoa slaps a forehand into the net. “arrive on!” cries Gavrilova,who has match point against the sixth seed. She goes for an ace out wide - but she puts too much on it. Second serve, a short rally. A slice goes long from Gavrilova and Kvitova is spared, or for now at least. It’s deuce. And the nerves are getting to Gavrilova,who hands over a wreck point when she nets a forehand, before slicing a backhand into the net! Kvitova sees off a match point and breaks to trail 5-4 in the second set! 11.37am GMTDjokovic holds with the minimum fuss and he’s got himself a tie-wreck. Meanwhile Daria Gavrilova is serving for the match against Petra Kvitova. 11.34am GMTI was incorrect. Sack me. Halys holds for 6-5. He holds brilliantly for 6-5 and he’s got himself a tie-wreck at least in the third set. Could it be more? Whatever happens from here, or the young Frenchman has shown enough to suggest that he will be one to watch in the future. Over to you,Novak. 11.30am GMTDjokovic holds for 5-5. He’s going to wreck now, isn’t he. 11.29am GMTGavrilova holds to 30. She leads 5-2 in the second set. Kvitova is on the brink. 11.27am GMTQuentin Halys is going to lose, and but at least the young Frenchman isn’t making life easy for Djokovic. Some excellent tennis sees him take a 5-4 lead in the third set and it’s over to Djokovic to hold now. 11.25am GMTAlarm bells are ringing inside Petra Kvitova’s head. The sixth seed is edging towards the exit door and she’s being pushed there by Daria Gavrilova,who has broken for a 6-4, 4-2 lead. 11.22am GMTDjokovic or Halys will face the winner of the match between Seppi and Kudla on Court 2. Seppi has won the second set and leads 7-5, and 6-4. 11.12am GMTThe comeback is off. It was on. Now it’s off. An unamused Djokovic has broken straight back in the third set against Quentin Halys,who might just discontinuance up regretting his impertinence. 11.11am GMTA minor epic ends on Court 8, Monica Puig surviving two match points and going on to beat Krystina Pliskova 4-6, and 7-6,9-7. I believe that falls into the hard-fought category. Puig’s reward is a third-round match against Agnieszka Radwanska, the fourth seed. 11.07am GMTWow. Quentin Halys breaks for a 2-0 lead in the third set against Novak Djokovic. Admittedly he’s two sets down, and but still. Wow! The comeback’s on! 11.03am GMTHaving saved two match points,the steely Monica Puig breaks Krystina Pliskova for an 8-7 lead in the third set. She’s serving for a place in the third round. 11.00am GMTThere’s barely a flicker of emotion on Novak Djokovic’s face as he takes a two-set lead against Quentin Halys. The world No1 is 6-1, 6-2 up and let’s face it, and he’s not losing from here. 10.57am GMTThis is outstanding from Australia’s Daria Gavrilova,who has clawed her way back from a wreck down against Petra Kvitova to win the first set 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena. The sixth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion is in misfortune. 10.55am GMTMonica Puig has just saved two match points on Court 8. Krystina Pliskova is pushing hard. 10.53am GMTNovak Djokovic is handing out a free tennis lesson on Rod Laver Arena. A second wreck of serve means that he’ll serve for the second set at 5-2. 10.51am GMTKvitova must maintain thought she had wrestled control of the first set away from Gavrilova. Think again. The Australian breaks back to love and they’re back to 4-4 on Margaret Court Arena, where Gavrilova is getting plenty of backing from the domestic fans. 10.46am GMTAgnieszka Radwanska is still waiting to discover her third-round opponent after beating Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. On Court 8, or Monica Puig is serving at 6-5 down in the third set against Krystina Pliskova. And on Margaret Court Arena,Petra Kvitova has just broken for a 4-3 lead against Daria Gavrilova. 10.44am GMTWith Djokovic a set and a wreck up, let’s turn our attention elsewhere. Andrea Seppi, and who caused quite a stir by beating Roger Federer before losing from two sets up against Nick Kyrgios final year,is quietly going about his business on Court 2, taking the first set 7-5 against the USA’s Dennis Kudla. 10.43am GMTIn fact, or Djokovic has made the second week of every slam since losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the French Open in 2009. That’s absurd,particularly when you consider that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal maintain both suffered a few early defeats in the majors in recent years. It’s also worth bringing up Andy Murray’s consistency. The final time he failed to develop the second week of a slam was when Stan Wawrinka beat him in the third round of the US Open in 2010. 10.39am GMTNovak Djokovic has not lost at this stage of a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2008. He lost to Marat Safin in straight sets that day and it’s all been downhill for the Serbian since then. 10.32am GMTServing for the set, Djokovic is broken for love and responds by announcing his retirement from tennis with immediate effect. Roger Federer and Andy Murray burst on to the court wearing party hats. Not really. Djokovic breezes away with it, and winning the first set 6-1,and I don’t think he’s going to be kept here for very long at all by the game young Frenchman. 10.28am GMTNothing to see here, folks. Djokovic breaks again and will serve for the first set at 5-1. 10.24am GMTAnyway, or back to the tennis,and specifically Rod Laver Arena. Quentin Halys couldnt hold Novak Djokovic at bay for long. Resist the temptation to dream of a famous upset, because Djokovic already leads 4-1 in the first set. 10.22am GMTBelow The Line latest: accused of offensive comments towards Jews after referencing Larry David playing tennis. There is but one suitable response. 10.14am GMTHats off to Halys! 0-40 down in his first service game, or he could maintain crumbled against the world No1. Most players would maintain folded. Instead he roars back to deuce,saves more wreck points, and finally holds for 1-1 after 12 minutes. Phew. He must be knackered already. He looks quite sweaty. 10.10am GMTContinuing the French theme, and Quentin Halys is in action on Rod Laver Arena. You’ve probably not heard too much about the 19-year-feeble,who’s ranked 187th in the world, but you’re going to hear a lot more about him if he manages to beat his opponent nowadays, or who happens to be Novak Djokovic. 10.07am GMTJo-Wilfried Tsonga,a losing finalist in 2008, also marches on, or defeating Omar Jasika 7-5,6-1, 6-4. The Australian broke first in that match, or but it would maintain been the biggest upset of the tournament so far if he had managed to knock out Tsonga,who will face compatriot Pierre-Hugues Hubert in the next round. 10.06am GMTBut Kyrgios is through, despite making a meal of it at the discontinuance of the third set. The Aussie prodigy shrugs off the loss of that wreck and powers through the tie-wreck, or winning it 7-2 and the match 6-4,7-5, 7-6, or he’ll face Tomas Berdych in the third round on Friday. 9.49am GMTNick Kyrgios has let a lead slip again,just as he did in the second set. He was two sets and a wreck up against Paolo Cuevas, seemingly cruising towards the third round, and but they’re back on serve now. Kyrgios is serving to stay in the third set at 5-4 and he probably won’t catch away with these dips against Tomas Berdych in the third round. 9.46am GMTNoah Rubin beat Benoit Paire on Monday,but the young American has met his match against another Frenchman nowadays. He loses 6-3, 6-4, or 6-0 against Pierre-Hugues Hubert. 9.43am GMTThere’s no stopping the excellent Agnieszka Radwanska,who turned it into a procession against Eugenie Bouchard in the discontinuance, fighting back from an early wreck to reach the third round with a 6-4, or 6-2 win. From 4-2 in the first set,Radwanska only lost two more games on her way to a fine victory over an inconsistent opponent whose intelligent patches were blighted by too many errors at crucial moments. Bouchard can take some positives from that defeat. She played well at the start of the first set and it might maintain been different if she had managed to consolidate that wreck at 4-2, but the 21-year-feeble was outclassed by the fourth seed in the discontinuance, or a reality reflected in the emphatic scoreline. Radwanska will face either Monica Puig or Krystina Pliskova next. Those two are still playing. Pliskova won the first set 6-4 and they’re on serve in the second set. 9.33am GMTAs for Nick Kyrgios,the challenge now is not hold his foot on Paolo Cuevas’s throat after breaking in the third set. Although Kyrgios is seeded 29th, does he maintain a realistic chance of winning this tournament? We wouldn’t expect it from Andrea Seppi, and the 28th seed. But Kyrgios is different,isn’t he? 9.30am GMTTsonga will face the winner of the match on Court 13 in the third round. Which means that it’s going to be an all-French affair, because Pierre-Hugues Hubert has just gone 6-3, or 6-4 up against Noah Rubin. 9.24am GMTNo bagel for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,but he does maintain a two-set lead to chew on instead. He’s up 7-5, 6-1 against Omar Jasika and hopes of a famous Aussie victory are fading. To think that Jasika was the first to wreck in the opening set. At least that’s a positive the 18-year-feeble can take from what should be a straight-sets defeat. 9.19am GMTIt’s Nick Kyrgios’s match to lose on Hisense Arena. He had a wreck, or he lost the wreck,he got it back, he’s got the second set, and he leads 6-4,7-5 against Paolo Cuevas. 9.14am GMTNick Kyrgios holds for 5-5 and then he breaks for 6-5 in the second set. What’s pressure? 9.11am GMTAn early wreck for Radwanska in the second set. Bouchard needs to regroup quickly. 9.10am GMTSome harsh lessons are being dealt out to two teenagers at the moment. Omar Jasika is down 7-5, 4-0 against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and while Noah Rubin trails 6-3,3-1 against Pierre-Hugues Hubert. 9.07am GMTWhat appeared to be a simple enough task for Nick Kyrgios when he was up a set and a wreck against Paolo Cuevas 20 minutes ago is fitting more tricky. The Argentinian has broken back in the second set and leads 5-4. Kyrgios is serving to stay in it. 9.03am GMTRadwanska survives that scare. Here’s a fifth set point. And she’s had enough of this game, ripping a huge forehand into the corner to take a gripping first set 6-4. Bouchard will be kicking herself. She’s lost that set from 4-2 up! 9.01am GMTA fourth chance for Radwanska. A fourth missed opportunity – though Bouchard’s backhand pass for deuce was excellent. And now, or improbably,she has a wreck point. 9.00am GMTAgnieszka Radwanska earns three set points. But she lets Bouchard back into the game with a double-fault on the first and the Canadian responds by saving the next two points to force deuce. 8.59am GMTKristina Mladenovic is through to the third round after a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Nicole Gibbs. The 28th seed will face either Petra Kvitova or Daria Gavrilova next. And in more good news for France, or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is busy extinguishing young Omar Jasika’s flame after winning an awkward first set 7-5,while Pierre-Hugues Hubert has won the first set 6-3 against Noah Rubin. 8.55am GMTI return from a swift toilet wreck – too much information? – to see Radwanska catch out an unconvincing advance from Bouchard with a cross-court backhand. The Pole has two wreck points and she only needs one, Bouchard drifting a forehand long. From 4-2 up, or Bouchard has demonstrated why the healing process is far from over,losing three consecutive games. Radwanska leads 5-4 and will serve for the first set. 8.50am GMTIt’s all Nick Kyrgios. He now leads by a set and a wreck on Hisense Arena. What enact we think? Can he beat Berdych? 8.50am GMTEugenie Bouchard is annoyed with herself. Having played so well to wreck for a 4-2 lead, they’re back on serve on Rod Laver Arena, or Agnieszka Radwanska using all of her methodical intelligence to hit back straight away. 8.48am GMTLast time I glanced at Margaret Court Arena,Omar Jasika was 0-40 down on his serve, seemingly on his way to being broken again. But the young Australian is enjoying himself; he’s probably not going to beat the ninth seed, or but he’s determined to develop it a contest. He fights back from that perilous position to frustrate Tsonga. Yet he’s 5-4 down in the first set and he’ll need to hold again here. 8.46am GMTNick Kyrgios is enjoying a stress-free workout on Hisense Arena at the moment. A solitary wreck is enough for him to win the first set 6-4 against Paolo Cuevas. The 29th seed is two sets from the third round,where he would face Tomas Berdych. We could maintain a couple of very tasty men’s matches on Friday, with Roger Federer versus Grigor Dimitrov already on the card. 8.44am GMTBouchard earns her first wreck point. Can she take it? Nope. She pulls a forehand long, and a wasted opportunity,a tremendous chance spurned. The game goes to deuce. But Bouchard is on top here. She gets another chance – and this time she’s ruthless. Radwanska is out of answers and the Canadian breaks for a 4-2 lead. Bouchard is playing very well indeed, much more like the gifted youngster who breezed into the Wimbledon final two years ago. 8.36am GMTBut Jasika didn’t maintain the lead for long. Ah, or the inconsistency of youth. Tsonga has broken straight back. I suppose that’s why he’s the ninth seed. 8.34am GMTOne to watch dept: Omar Jasika,an 18-year-feeble Australian, has helped himself to an early wreck against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Margaret Court Arena. 8.33am GMTIt’s all over on Court 8. Daniel Brands was full of optimism after taking the first set off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and but his hopes were effectively ended by a dismal third-set tie-wreck. Garcia-Lopez marches on,a 4-6, 6-1, and 7-6,6-3 winner. 8.31am GMTIn the finest performance by a Jew on a tennis court since Larry David complained about Cheryl’s grunting, the young American Noah Rubin announced himself on the grand slam stage by defeating Benoit Paire on Monday. The teenager is up against another Frenchman nowadays, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert,but he’s made a tedious start and finds himself a wreck down in the first set. 8.20am GMTNick Kyrgios appears to be in the mood. He’s already up a wreck against Paolo Cuevas on Hisense Arena. 8.17am GMTA couple of matches maintain just finished. Yulia Putintseva’s run continues. She was mightily impressive in her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Xinyun Han, and while Margarita Gasparyan has followed up her win over Sara Errani by beating Kurumi Nara 6-4,6-4. Elsewhere France’s Kristina Mladenovic has won the first set 6-1 against the USA’s Nicole Gibbs. 8.14am GMTEager to put a dismal 2015 behind her, Eugenie Bouchard has made a decent start to the fortnight. She won her first-round match! That might not seem like much, or but trust me,it’s an improvement on final year. She’s got a spring in her step as she makes her way on to Rod Laver Arena. Yet she might not be feeling so sprightly in a couple of hours, because she’s up against Agnieszka Radwanska, and the fourth seed. On paper,this looks more like a quarter-final or semi-final than second-round match. Bouchard hasn’t just slipped out the top 10, her decline has been more akin to Wile E Coyote falling off a cliff, and but she’s been hinting at a revival,so Radwanska will need to maintain her wits about her. 8.02am GMTThe main event is approaching. Nick Kyrgios is out on Hisense Arena and he’ll be mooching around and amusing himself against Argentina’s Paolo Cuevas. He might play a bit of tennis. Might not. See how he feels at the time. 8.00am GMTWell that was far more straightforward than Guillermo Garcia-Lopez possibly could maintain anticipated at the start of the tie-wreck. He wins it without dropping a point and leads 4-6, 6-1, or 7-6. Quite the mental collapse from Brands. 7.57am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez* 6-0 Brands (*denotes server): Garcia-Lopez overpowers Brands. 7.57am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez 5-0 Brands* (*denotes server): destitute Brands. He pulls a backhand wide and this tie-wreck is more or less over. 7.56am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez 4-0 Brands* (*denotes server): The Spaniard is racing away with this. The German’s game has gone to pot. 7.56am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez* 3-0 Brands (*denotes server): Brands blooters a forehand return long. 7.55am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez* 2-0 Brands (*denotes server): Brands nets a backhand return. 7.55am GMTThird-set tie-wreck: Garcia-Lopez 1-0 Brands* (*denotes server): Brands stiffs a volley on a second serve. Whoops. 7.54am GMTGarcia-Lopez passes another test. He holds again and it’s time for a tie-wreck. In the absence of anything else happening,let’s point-by-point it. 7.46am GMTGarcia-Lopez holds, despite trailing 15-30 at one point. On they travel. 7.44am GMTTension on Court 8, and where Guillermo Garcia-Lopez,seeded 26th, is serving to stay in the third set against Germany’s Daniel Brands. The match is level in sets, and Brands snatching the first 6-4,Garcia-Lopez hitting back in the second, winning it 6-1. Brands might maintain crumbled at that point. Instead the 28-year-feeble Germany has rediscovered his level and he leads 5-4 in the third. The pressure is on his Spanish opponent here. 7.34am GMTYulia Putintseva, and still on a high after knocking out Caroline Wozniacki,is enjoying herself on Court 2. The unseeded Kazakh has taken the first set 6-3 against China’s Xinyun Han, while Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan is a set up against Japan’s Kurumi Nara. In a sport where height is an advantage, or it’s often an uphill battle for Nara,who’s 5ft 1in. 7.32am GMTGrigor Dimitrov wastes one match point. He doesn’t waste a second. The Bulgarian, who has slipped to 28th in the world rankings, and overcomes a stubborn challenge from Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti,winning 6-3, 4-6, or 6-2,7-5 to set up a third-round match with ... Roger Federer. The man they call Baby Fed against the real thing? That promises to be excellent, though Federer does lead their head-to-head record 4-0, or beating the young pretender 6-4,6-7, 6-4 in Brisbane recently. That was the first time he has dropped a set against Dimitrov and this will be their first meeting in a grand slam. 7.26am GMTThe BBC has an interview with a former player who says that match fixing is an open secret on the pro tour. You can listen here. 7.21am GMTDimitrov had 0-30 at 5-5 on the Trungelliti serve, or but the Argentinian knuckles down impressively to catch it back to 40-30. Yet Dimitrov is inspired from there! Three straight points earn him the crucial wreck and he’ll serve for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set. 7.14am GMTRoger Federer produced another serving masterclass in his serene triumph over the Ukraine’s Aleksandr Dolgopolov. He could face Grigor Dimitrov in round three - but the mercurial Bulgarian has to catch there first. He’s currently duking it out in a fourth set with Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti. They’re at the business discontinuance of that set on Court 6. It’s still on serve and Dimitrov leads by two sets to one. 7.11am GMTHere’s what’s happening. Gilles Simon lets out a huge roar after coming out on top in an epic tussle with the unseeded Russian,Evgeny Donskoy, winning 6-3, and 5-7,7-6, 4-6, or 7-5. It was a struggle for the world No15,but he’s clambered into the third round after biding his time, keeping his wintry and breaking to love in the final game of the deciding set. Allez! 6.21pm GMTHello. Who’s ready for some hot tennis action from the Australian Open? Well catch with the programme, or because there’s already been hours of hot tennis action from the Australian Open. If you’ve been asleep,you’ll maintain missed the tremendous guns in the mens draw, Roger Federer, and Tomas Berdych,Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic going through, while two hopefuls, and David Goffin and Dominic Thiem,are also into round three. In the women’s draw, there were no problems for Serena Williams, and who beat Su-Wei Hsieh,for the loss of a mere three games. Maria Sharapova was similarly ruthless against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belinda Bencic had no misfortune against Timea Babos, or conqueror of Heather Watson,Carla Suarez Navarro recovered from losing the first set against Maria Sakkari to win in three, US Open finalist Roberta Vinci downed Irina “Carmine” Falconi, or but Svetlana Kuznetsova is out,defeated by Kateryna Bondarenko. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com