A fans-eye-view of Day 3 at the 2013 Australian Open.
It was a lovely night at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. Take a look at the photos from Venus Williams v Cornet and Djokovic v Harrison.
It was great weather for tennis again today and I heard the Day 3 crowd was bigger than ever before. That makes three straight days of record crowds and good tennis weather. I can’t recall such a thing in recent memory. But tomorrow will be a boiler with the expected top near 40 degrees C so we’ll be back to usual AO conditions!
The Seeds
Women
- No.2 seed Maria Sharapova defeated Misaki Doi 6-0, 6-0 and became the first women to reach round three without losing a game. This sets up a potentially top match versus Venus Williams in the third round on Friday.
- No.4 seed Agnieska Radwanska won in straight sets as did No.5 seed Angelique Kerber
Men
- No.1 seed Novak Djokovic won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 6-3.
- No.4 seed David Ferrer dropped a set in his win v Smyczek
- No.5 seed Tomas Berdych won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
- No.8 seed Janko Tipsarevic won a long five set match v Lukas Lacko. I heard the roar of the crowd for his win, as the match finished just after Djokovic’s win on RLA.
I didn’t see Berdych’s match but having seen Murray, Federer and Djokovic live over the past two days, they are in great form, hardly dropping any games but in my opinion, Djokovic stands out as being in really smoking form.
More Notable Wins
- US teenager Madison Keys is through to the third round after defeating Tamira Paszek
- Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium defeated No.25 seed Klara Zakopalova 6-1, 6-0
- British superstar in the making (and one of my faves) Heather Watson defeated Ksenia Pervak 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
The Aussie Sadness
No.9 seed Sam Stosur lost to Jie Zheng 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. It was a tough loss for me, and Sam’s other fans to take.
Tough because we know what she is capable of and tough because we so much want to see her at her best in Australia.
I’m sad, gutted really, but it is what it is.
And to be fair, Jie Zheng deserves praise for the win. Instead of linking to one of the articles focused on Sam’s loss, read Zheng Jie: Earning her place in the sun.
I hope this results means that Sam will consider playing Hopman Cup in 2014 instead of Brisbane, so she’s guaranteed three matches in the lead up to AO.
And I hope the media aren’t too hard on her.
Australia is lucky to have someone who is both a great player and lovely person in the Top 10 and we should be proud of that.
For the other Aussies in the draw, tomorrow Bernard Tomic plays Daniel Brands in the last match of the RLA Day Session and James Duckworth (who won an epic five set first round match against fellow Aussie Wildcard Play Off winner Ben Mitchell) plays Blaz Kavcic in the second match on Showcourt 3.
Injuries
Brian Baker’s knee buckled and he retired during his match again Sam Querrey. Read more.
Tobias Kamke retired during his match against Stan Wawrinka due to a shoulder injury. Read more.
The Meltdown
Jerzy Janowicz had a meltdown during his match against Somdev Devvarman, which he went on to win in five sets. Here’s the AO vid…
More on the Laughs from Yesterday
Today I was lucky enough to interview one of the members of The Heard, the Aussie fan group who did some hilarious gags in Rod Laver Arena’s Tuesday night session.
Read the Q&A and view vids of their hilarious antics in The Word on The Heard.
If you haven’t seen their gags, take a mo to watch the first vid in the article, I’m still laughing now just thinking about it!
The Photos
Today’s new player photos include:
Take a Look Around the Australian Open Grounds
I’ve also uploaded some pics from around the AO grounds, so you can see how great the venue is, and some of the areas that are new in 2013.
Australian Open Day 3 Schedule and Results
Rod Laver Arena Day Session
- Agnieszka Radwanska d Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-3
- Tomas Berdych d Guillaume Rufin 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
- Jie Zheng d Sam Stosur 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
Rod Laver Arena Night Session
- Venus Williams d Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3
- Novak Djokovic v Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
Hisense Arena
- Nicolas Alamgro d Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
- Na Li d Olga Govortsova 6-2, 7-5
- Marcos Baghdatis d Tatsuma Ito 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 602
- Maria Sharapova v Misaki Doi 6-0, 6-0
Margaret Court Arena
- Angelique Kerber d Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 6-1
- Julia Goerges d Romina Oprandi 6-3, 6-2
- David Ferrer d Tim Symczek 6-0, 7-5, 4-6, 603
- Ana Ivanovic d Yung-Jan Chan 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
- Fernando Verdasco d Xavier Malisse 6-1, 6-3, 6-2
Notable Matches On Other Courts
- Janko Tipsarevic d Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5
- Madison Keys d Tamira Paszek 6-2, 6-1
- Feliciano Lopez v Radek Stepanek
- Sam Querry d Brian Baker 6-7, 1-1 retired
- Julien Benneteau d Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6 7-5 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
- Heather Watson d Ksenia Pervak 4-6 7-6(7) 6-2
- Jurgen Melzer d Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7(4) 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2
- Stepanek d Lopez 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
View the full Day 4 Schedule.
View the Day 4 Practice Schedule.
Here’s the Australian Open’s Day Two Highlights video.
For more updates also read:
Other Tennis News
Roger Federer
If things had been different. Federer an Australian!
Andy Murray
Murray just wearing a tighter t-shirt? Murray’s form and fitness clear to see.
Bernard Tomic
Interesting article on Bernie’s dad: The chip on John Tomic’s shoulder is huge, but is he just a misunderstood tennis dad?
Tennis Austraila
Until next time
Grand Slam Gal
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