World No 3 Grigor Dimitrov survived a big scare in the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday as he was stretched to five sets by American qualifier MacKenzie McDonald.
Dimitrov needed to pull out all stops to see off the 186th-ranked McDonald, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6 in three hours and 25 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Dimitrov, who is ranked only below Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, drew on all his experience to avoid his first defeat to a qualifier at a Grand Slam.
McDonald attacked the third seed’s one-handed backhand, limiting him to only five winners in the marathon match. He also restricted Dimitrov to just 28% of second service points with the Bulgarian committing nine double faults.
McDonald, 22, was making only his second appearance at a Grand Slam after his debut at the 2016 US Open.
Nadal powers through
Rafael Nadal powered into the third round of the Australian Open in ominous form following his straight sets victory over Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday.
The world No.1 only dropped serve once as he reeled off a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over the 52nd-ranked Argentine in 2hr 38 min on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal will face Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 28th seed Damir Dzumhur in the third round.
It was a powerful performance from the 16-time Grand Slam champion, who conceded only 10 unforced errors, stacked up against his 40 winners.
Mayer played well and stuck to his guns, breaking serve for the only time in the match as Nadal was serving out to win, forcing the third set into a tiebreaker.
“It was an important victory for me, he’s a tough opponent,” Nadal said. “Leonardo is a player with big potential, he hits the ball so strong and you could see in the last couple of games how tough was he.
“I had to hit some great shots in the tie-break, he’s a very dangerous opponent. I am happy to be in the third round after being out of competition for a while, a second victory in a row is very important to me,” he added.
The win took the 31-year-old Spaniard’s Australian Open record to 53-11 as he chases his second Australian title after beating Federer in the 2009 final.
Nadal, who is gunning for a 17th major title, was hampered by a knee injury at the tail-end of the 2017 season.
It forced him to skip the lead-up Brisbane International this month, and he only had a one-match workout at the exhibition Kooyong Classic in Melbourne ahead of the Open.
Nadal needs to reach the quarter-finals to be certain of retaining his world number one ranking after the Australian Open, with Federer breathing down his neck.
Tsonga survives thriller
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought back to vanquish rising Canadian star Denis Shapovalov in a five-set thriller at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The 15th seed looked dead and buried trailing 2-5 in the final set before 18-year-old Shapovalov faltered and the experienced Frenchman seized the initiative.
Tsonga stormed into the third round after a 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 win in 3hr 37min on Margaret Court Arena and will face either Australian 17th seed Nick Kyrgios or Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the third round.
It ended his three-match losing run in five-setters and reversed his loss to Shapovalov in straight sets in the second round at last year’s US Open.
“I’m tired, but really happy,” Tsonga said. “I did a big fight today.
“It’s not easy against these young guns, they go for everything, but I just continued to fight.”
It extended Tsonga’s record at the Australian Open to 36-10 after he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 final.
Shapovalov quickly jumped out of the blocks, breaking misfiring Tsonga in the fourth game on the way to taking the opening set in 34 minutes.
Tsonga picked up his game and levelled one set all with a service break in the sixth game.
But the Canadian teen hit back, taking the third set with some sensational shot-making, including a running backhand winner on break point and then breaking again in the sixth game.
Tsonga stayed alive and took the match into a fifth set decider in a resolute tiebreaker.
Shapovalov began the final set strongly, breaking Tsonga in the second game and then holding off break points in the following game.
But Tsonga would not yield and broke Shapovalov as he attempted to serve out the match, breaking with a cross court backhand.
Shapovalov began to falter as Tsonga stepped up the pressure and broke the young Canadian again in the 11th game to hit the front 6-5. He didn’t need a second chance as he served out strongly for the match.
Kyrgios keeps his cool to see off Troicki
Nick Kyrgios was niggled by off-court distractions as he overcame Serbian journeyman Viktor Troicki in straight sets to reach the third round.
The explosive Australian 17th seed was largely in control, winning 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), but had to cope with a loud chanting fan and a helicopter hovering persistently over Hisense Arena.
After missing a match point and a couple of loose forehands, Kyrgios was broken by Troicki, who forced the final set into a tiebreak.
But the Australian was devastating, rifling through it to hold five match points before winning 7/2.
“It was tough, there was a lot of stuff going on out there, had a helicopter above us for three games and the (umpire) microphone wasn’t working for pretty much the whole match,” Kyrgios said.
“It was tough conditions out there, I know Viktor is a fighter, so I had to stick to my guns and he broke me back when I was serving for the match and I started freaking out a little bit.
“I tried to hold serve and then work it out in the breaker and I got lucky, it was a tough match and I’m happy I got through.”
With Kyrgios about to serve early in the match, a young man in the crowd stood up and chanted loudly before he was ushered out of the stadium by security staff. He then had to deal with the helicopter which stayed above the unenclosed stadium for several minutes before moving on.
In among all the commotion Kyrgios was in a different class to the 65th-ranked Troicki, who has reached the round of 16 five times at Grand Slams.
Kyrgios, who was slapped with a $3,000 penalty for colourful language in his first round match, looked imperious at times, mixing up blistering forehands with delicate touch shots to enthral the home crowd.
Oldest man in singles, Karlovic rolls back years
Ivo Karlovic, the oldest man at 38 in the Australian Open men’s draw, advanced to the third round with a titanic five-set win over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita
The 89th-ranked Croat needed over four-and-a-half hours in stifling heat before extinguishing the No.41 ranked Sugita 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 on an outside court.
Karlovic, who turns 39 next month, faces another tour veteran in 33-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi in the third round.
The Croat extended his record as the oldest man to win a Grand Slam match since Jimmy Connors was 40 at the 1992 US Open with his win over Sugita, 29.
The big-serving Croat served up 53 aces, made 110 winners and just two service breaks in the marathon match.
Here’s a look at his ridiculous stats
Cilic cruises
Croatia’s sixth seed Marin Cilic advanced to the third round with a straight sets win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Cilic, last year’s Wimbledon finalist, downed the 70th-ranked Sousa 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 and will next play American Ryan Harrison who knocked out Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.
Simon retires
Down 6-2, 3-0, Gilles Simon retired with an injury in his second round match against tenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
Results
Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP x10) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-2, 3-0 ret
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
Gilles Muller (LUX x23) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN) 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 6-2
Kyle Edmund (GBR) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO x6) bt João Sousa (POR) 6-1, 7-5, 6-2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x15) bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5
Damir Dzumhur (BIH x28) bt John Millman (AUS) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Ryan Harrison (USA) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU x31) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10
Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)
Diego Schwartzman (ARG x24) bt Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Andrey Rublev (RUS x30) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2
Nick Kyrgios (AUS x17) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 7-6 (7/0), 6-3, 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6
With inputs from AFP
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