Nadal overcomes both foe and heckler at Australian Open
Second seed ousts mmoh in third round
Rafael Nadal breezed into the third round of the Australian Open following Thursday's 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Michael Mmoh in Melbourne.
The second-seeded Spaniard recorded 40 winners and won 15 of 16 net points to dispatch the American qualifier in one hour and 47 minutes.
“I always try to be better (than the previous match). Sometimes (I am) better, sometimes not,” Nadal said. “I think (Thursday) has been a positive evening for me, winning in straight sets. (It is) great news, for everything.”
Not only did Nadal fend off Mmoh, the 20-time Grand Slam champion also had to contend with a heckler who yelled out and made hand gestures as he prepared to serve. She was escorted out of Rod Laver Arena as a result.
Nadal will face Cameron Norrie in the third round. The 25-year-old native of Great Britain rallied to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in three hours, 31 minutes.
Also on Thursday, fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia celebrated his 25th birthday with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 win over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
“I have the momentum and I feel like I can do a lot things,” Medvedev said after notching 13 aces to win the match in one hour, 44 minutes. “I hope I can keep it up. So far it's working and I hope it doesn't stop. There's no time to celebrate my birthday in a tournament. I got presents from my wife, but I'll soon look to my next match.”
No. 7 Andrey Rublev and No. 19 Karen Khachanov, both of Russia, and No. 21 Alex De Minaur of Australia recorded victories in straight sets.
Rublev secured a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8) win over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, Khachanov seized a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and De Minaur notched a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.
No. 9 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, No. 24 Norwegian Casper Ruud and No. 28 Filip Krajinovic of Serbia needed four sets to advance in their matches. Berrettini posted a 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, Ruud recorded a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Tommy Paul and Krajinovic collected a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and No. 16 Fabio Fognini of Italy had a much tougher time of it, however. Tsitsipas rallied to a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4 win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis and Fognini posted a 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12) win over countryman Salvatore Caruso.
KANEPI KO’S KENIN
Defending women’s champion Sofia Kenin was bounced from the Australian Open on Thursday.
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia recorded 10 aces en route to dismissing the fourth-seeded American with a 6-3, 6-2 decision in the second round in Melbourne. The 35-year-old Kanepi needed just 64 minutes to win the match.
“I'll take one match at a time and one tournament at a time and it all depends how I feel and how the opponent plays and so on,” Kanepi said. “But I played good today, I served really good and I think it was a good win.”
Kanepi advances to face No. 28 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia. Vekic posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.
Also on Thursday, fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine recorded a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Coco Gauff in a match that lasted one hour, 17 minutes.
Svitolina, who has twice reached the tournament's quarter-finals, said she missed being able to feed off the crowd.
“I missed that so much,” Svitolina said. “I knew that Coco is all the time playing with a crowd, like fired up. So I was expecting her to be straight into the match and playing well. I think I faced a break point the first game, and then from then on I was just pushing myself and I was playing great tennis. It was a really great performance."
Svitolina saved all four break points against her to set up a match against No. 26 seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Putintseva notched a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium.
Other seeded winners on Thursday were No. 6 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, No. 18 Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 21 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 22 Jennifer Brady of the U.S. and No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
Pliskova posted a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over American Danielle Collins, Bencic outlasted Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 and Mertens collected a 7-6 (8), 6-1 victory over Lin Zhu of China. Kontaveit notched a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Heather Watson of Great Britain, Brady breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 win over fellow American Madison Brengle and Alexandrova secured a 6-3, 7-6 (4) triumph over Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.