Temperatures rise, seeds fall in scorching Melbourne
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA » On a day when shade was a valuable commodity in the searing heat at Melbourne Park, Roger Federer played it cool at the Australian Open.
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic, however, complained about the brutal conditions during his second-round win over Gael Monfils, when the temperature peaked at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Djokovic urged tennis organizers to be more flexible about the rules for drink breaks, time between points and suspension of play when the conditions were bordering on dangerous.
Federer, the defending champion, finished off a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Jan-Lennard Struff a halfhour before midnight, when the temperature was still around 29 degrees C (84 degrees F), and said playing at the height of the heat wouldn’t have bothered him.
“I may have thrived in those conditions,” he said. “It’s definitely a challenge. It’s hard to prepare for that in some ways, but you know when you come down here that can happen.
“Sure, I’m happy I played at night time. But, like I said on court, I would back myself playing during the daytime also. Used to go to Dubai when it was 45 — 38 seems almost OK.”
Temperatures are expected to rise on Friday, before cooling off considerably over the weekend, when Federer and Djokovic’s half of the draw is back for the third round.
Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open champion, No. 7 David
Roger Federer wipes sweat from his face during his second round match against Jan-Lennard Struff at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday.
Goffin and No. 13 Sam Querrey didn’t make it through the second round. Nor did Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, one of the five seeded women’s players who were eliminated on Day 4.
That left only Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber — who will meet in the next round — and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko as Grand Slam winners in the women’s draw.
Sharapova beat 14thseeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 7-6 (4) to avenge a loss in last year’s U.S. Open, the five-time major champion’s first Grand Slam after returning from a 15-month doping ban.
Kerber, the 2016 Australian Open champion, had a 6-4, 6-1 win over Donna Vekic before the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to celebrate her 30th birthday.
Still looking for a first major after two French Open final losses, topranked Simona Halep held off 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-2. Halep will next play Lauren Davis.
U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys opened with four straight aces and won the first 11 games in a 6-0, 6-1 win over 92nd-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova. PHILADELPHIA » How loud was it last Sunday when the Eagles defeated the Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field?
Punt returner Kenjon Barner had to ditch his mouth guard because teammates couldn’t hear him bark out a “poison” call to his teammates, resulting in a huge second-quarter turnover.
The Falcons recovered the muff at the 18-yard line of the Eagles, the ball bouncing off a small pile of players going this way and that in front of Barner, who chose not to field it. A few plays later, the Falcons scored their only touchdown to grab a 10-6 lead.
“I had this mouthpiece, the pacifier mouthpiece,” Barner said after practice Thursday. “When I say ‘poison, poison, poison,’ you couldn’t really hear it. So, what I did was get another mouthpiece that’s just on the top of my mouth. So, it’s almost as if I’m not playing with a mouthpiece in.”
Barner demonstrated Thursday how he was much more easily understood without the pacifier, which offers more protection than the traditional mouth guard.
Anticipating another loud and raucous crowd Sunday, the Eagles entertaining the Vikings, Barner will keep the pacifier on ice. Eagles fans might want to try to hush, just a bit, when the Vikings punt.
“I believe that’s why we were in that situation is because we couldn’t hear the call,” Eagles special teams ace Bryan Braman said. “Kenjon changed his mouthpiece in the second half so that way he could get more of a poison call out. When you get into these games, everything is magnified, whether it’s good or bad. I just feel like because it was the divisional round, it was in the red zone, and they ended up getting a cheap touchdown out of it, it was magnified.”
Rest assured, the Eagles reviewed their punt team communication to get ready for the Vikings.
The Falcons punt, by the way, bounced off three Eagles, including Braman. In order, it hit Rasul Douglas, Patrick Robinson and Braman.
Other than the muff, and a missed PAT by kicker Jake Elliott, the special teams helped the Eagles get solid field position. They’re going to need another stellar effort against the Vikings, who have a decent punt returner in Marcus Sherels, who averages 9.5 yards.
Braman atoned for the earlier mistake with a partially blocked punt. It set up a 53-yard field goal by Elliott.
“I feel like we played well,” Braman said. “The field position, besides that one bad punt return where we turned it over, we played well. I got my hand on the ball and it was a 22-yard punt that was crucial before the end of the half. We got a field goal. At the end of the game they needed a TD instead of a FG to win. It’s really just making sure that we stay at it instead of trying to do extra stuff. We could have tried to do extra after that turnover happened, but we just continued to push forward, do what we know how to do and just execute better than them.” ***