Australian Open- Djokovic, Federer and the Williams Sisters move to the Third Round
Novak Djokovic had a difficult match against the Swiss Marco Chiudinelli; the match was taken to four sets, with the Serb committing 9 double-faults and 52 unforced errors before he was finally able to take victory 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. Djokovic said after the match that he was impressed by Chiudinelli’s skill against him. It was the Swiss player’s first Australian Open. “I was well aware of his quality, and he played extremely well, especially in the first set and the start of the second,” Djokovic said. “I was very lucky to get two sets to one up.” The win was also an especially sweet one. Said Djokovic: “This court is most special because I won my only Grand Slam here.” Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title in the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals and winning the title at the end. His preparation for this year’s tournament has been very intense indeed. Roger Federer, world No. 1, also defeated his opponent, Victor Hanescu from Romania, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 , in a match that didn’t seem a challenge for the top player. He was able to break Hanescu’s serve several times and took advantage of the Romanian’s errors to win in straight sets, in a match very different from the one he had on Tuesday against Andreev. At the end of the match Roger discovered that Prince William of England had attended the match, sitting in the VIP area. “Your Royal Highness, welcome to the world of tennis. Thanks for coming,” Federer said. The last time that Federer played in the Rod Laver Arena was last year in the final, when he left with tears in his eyes after being defeated by Rafael Nadal. Roger has won the Australian Open on three occasions and has a 49-7 record at Melbourne Park. For the female tennis stars, the Williams sisters advanced to the third round. Both won their respective matches: Serena, who is the defending champion of the tournament, beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1; Venus defeated the Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-2, 7-5. Venus first played on a very warm day at Melbourne; she played for an hour and a half against a left-hander, the second she has faced in the tournament. She said she was unused to playing against a left-hander, but welcomed – and rose to – the challenge. Serena played her second match of the tournament and finished in less than an hour. She appeared to be in very good shape and complete 4 of 11 break point chances. She has been winning every odd-numbered year since 2003, when she beat her sister Venus in the finals; since then, Venus hasn’t been able to advance from the fourth round to take the Australian Open. Venus has, however, won seven Grand Slam titles in her career. This year there is no chance of seeing a Williams final, although the sisters, in the same group, will have to face each other before then if both continue forward. The showdown may occur in the quarterfinals, after which only the best continue for the title.
Audrey Nolan has been a prominent writer on daily Australian Open Games; sports news and the sportsbettingindustry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.
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