Third-seeded Dimitrov survives five-set thriller
Young American McDonald almost pulls off shocker.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — It was quite a predicament for Grigor Dimitrov, still basking in his triumph at the ATP Finals as he entered his second-round match at the Australian Open against a young American who had never won a tour-level match before qualifying for the first major of the season.
Mackenzie McDonald is ranked 186th and played college tennis at UCLA. He had never played anyone ranked better than No. 69 before facing the third-seeded Dimitrov on Wednesday.
McDonald broke Dimitrov’s serve three times in the fourth set and pushed the fifth beyond 12 games — there’s no tiebreakers in fifth sets at the Australian Open — before his first double-fault of the set suddenly gave Dimitrov a match point.
Dimitrov finished it off 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6 as midnight approached.
“Really the game wasn’t there today. I wasn’t feeling well on the court — fourth set was a disgrace,” said Dimitrov, who took Rafael Nadal to five sets in a marathon semifinal in Melbourne last year. “But I won with what I had. That was my fighting spirit.
“He played an unbelievable game (but) experience in the end really helped me.”
That seemed to be a theme of Day 3.
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had to save two match points and come back from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Jana Fett 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied from 5-2 down in the fifth to overcome Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
And Ivo Karlovic, 38, overcame Yuichi Sugita 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10.
Nadal, the 2017 runner-up, didn’t risk any close calls. The top-ranked Spaniard made only 10 unforced errors and had just one hiccup — dropping a service game while serving for the match — in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Leonardo Mayer.
On Thursday, five-time major winner Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over No. 14-seeded Anastasija Sevastova as the temperature was expected to rise to 102. Sharapova appeared to be in a hurry to get off the Rod Laver Arena court as quickly as possible and won the first set in 23 minutes. She was broken while serving for the match, but recovered in the tiebreaker to advance.
Ninth-seeded Johanna Konta was more exposed to the heat on an outside court, and lost to American Bernarda Pera 6-4, 7-5.
Tuesday’s Games Wednesday’s Games
(At) Bruins 4, Canadiens 1: David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner each scored an early goal for Boston. The Bruins have earned at least a point in 14 straight games (10-0-4), their longest stretch since going 15-0-1 in March 2014. The Bruins posted their second win over the Canadiens in five days. The teams meet again in Montreal on Saturday night.
Penguins at Ducks: Late
NHL notes
Penguins: Goaltender Matt Murray is taking a leave of absence following the death of his father. James Murray died on Tuesday in Ontario, Canada.
Blackhawks: NBC Sports Chicago reported Tuesday that goaltender Corey Crawford could miss the rest of the season. The Sun-Times reported Crawford has vertigo symptoms.