AUSTRALIAN OPEN
MATCH OF THE DAY: [8] David Ferrer (ESP) vs. [CR308] Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
Hometown hero Lleyton played in his last Australian Open, the last tournament of his illustrious career. He and the fans wanted a better outcome; however, against Ferrer, that was unlikely. They are exactly the same in doggedness; however, Ferrer has the edge of being a tad faster and hits the ball with a bit more pace consistently. It was always going to be a tall order for Hewitt, even with home court advantage. The last time he defeated Ferrer was in 2006. While Hewitt has been on the decline, Ferrer just seems to keep getting better with age. Thus, Hewitt bid the crowd and the tennis world adieu after 17 plus years of ferocious tenacity, you know he left everything on the court each time he played. I had the pleasure of seeing him win the 2002 Wimbledon title, up close and live his will is something to admire. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Ferrer won 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 and will face American, Steve Johnson in the next round.
SEEDS THAT BIT THE DUST TODAY AT THE OPEN
[11] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) lost to Annika Beck (GER)….2-6, 3-6
[18] Elina Svitolina (UKR) lost to Naomi Osaka (JPN)….4-6, 4-6 in a rather topsy-turvy match.
[19] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) lost to Laura Siegemund (GER)….6-3, 6-7(5), 4-6
[25] Jack Sock (USA) lost to Lukas Rosol (CZE)….6-7(6), 6-7(5), 3-6
[30] Sabine Lisicki (GER) lost to Denisa Allertova (CZE)….3-6, 6-2, 4-6
[30] Jeremy Chardy (FRA) lost to Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)….4-6, 6-7(5), 6-7(5)
AMERICAN WINNERS
[3] Bryan Brothers def. Chris Guccione (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA) 7-5, 7-6(4)
[10] John Isner def. Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-3, 7-6(6), 7-6(2)
[15] Madison Keys def. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3
[31] Steve Johnson def. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) rather comfortably, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Varvara Lepchenko def. Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 7-6(7), 6-4
Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky def. Philip Oswald (AUT)/Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 6-4, 7-5
Irina Falconi/Varvara Lepchenko def. Alison Bai(AUS)/Naiktha Bains (AUS) 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-3
Madison Brengle def. Johanna Larsson (SWE) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
BREAKING NEWS: [CR45] Fernando Verdasco after audaciously upsetting our guy, Rafael Nadal, fell in the second round to [87] Dudi Sela (ISR). This often happens to many players who win a big match in their previous round, many lose the rush of adrenaline and are unable physically and mentally to summon the energy required to keep winning. However, this was a winnable match for Verdasco who has never lost a set to Sela. This is so frustrating that he did not win this match after defeating Nadal. Does he rise to the occasion only to torment Nadal because of some hidden subconscious resentment that Nadal has always gotten the attention in Spain?
Somehow I knew that Verdasco would not advance any further into the tournament. Whenever a lesser player takes out a top seed early on, I contribute it to a fluke…the top seed wasn’t feeling well, was having an off day, misjudged the lesser player, or whatever. Rarely have I seen the lesser player get much further, so his inability to advance past the 2nd round doesn’t surprise me. I’m just disappointed that this had to happen to Nadal at a time when he seemed to be getting better and able to make advances in his game.
However, this was doubly upsetting considering that he has never lost to Dudi Sela.