Fedex puts Tomic in place
Melbourne, Jan. 20: Swiss great Roger Federer put big-talking Australian Bernard Tomic firmly in his place on Saturday as he joined Andy Murray and Serena Williams in the second week of the Australian Open.
The revered 17-time Grand Slam-winner, afforded a bigger cheer than Tomic as he entered Rod Laver Arena, held court as he swept to a straight-sets win, after coming through a tight second-set tie-break, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
After Tomic had talked up his chances of an upset, Federer’s motivation was clear as he broke immediately and took the first set, clawed his way back from 4-1 down in the second-set tie-break and then sped through the third.
Federer, who became the first man to collect 250 Grand Slam wins, will now face Canada’s Milos Raonic in the fourth round as he continues his bid for a fifth Australian Open crown.
“Overall we both played a great match. Bernard has had a great run and he really got the best out of me tonight, so I hope he can keep it up, I really wish him the best,” Federer said.
“You’ve got to expect the unexpected and Bernard’s got the tools to do that. The court was playing a touch faster when we played last year so it allows him to play a bit more aggressive and he’s a big guy with a powerful serve.” SERENA, AZARENKA
THROUGH Earlier, Serena and defending champion Victoria Azarenka came through their first uncomfortable moments, and Murray was also tested before reaching the last 16 at Melbourne Park.
Williams, eyeing a calendar-year Grand Slam, was broken for the first time in the tournament by Japan’s Ayumi Morita, before recovering from 0-3 down in the second set to win 6-1, 6-3.
World No. 1 Azarenka screamed at herself and thrashed her racquet before overcoming an unexpectedly stiff challenge by America’s Jamie Hampton, who bravely played through severe back pain. Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, seeded s ix , b e c a me the tourna- ment’s biggest casualty when the 2009 US Open champion slumped to a five-set defeat to unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet also went through, and Gilles Simon came through a nearly five-hour, fiveset marathon with Gael Monfils as four Frenchmen made the fourth round, equalling
the country’s performance. In the most compelling day so far, Murray extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 10 matches but not before a thorough workout from hitting partner Ricardas
best Berankis, and he let his frustrations show in the 63, 6-4, 7-5 win. BHUPATHI, NESTOR
IN THIRD ROUND Veteran Mahesh Bhupathi entered the men’s doubles third round but it turned out to be a bitter-sweet outing for Rohan Bopanna.
Bhupathi and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor,
seeded fifth, defeated Romania’s Victor Hanescu and Slovak Martin Klizan 6-1 7-6 (8).
Bopanna and his American partner Rajeev Ram were stunned 2-6, 6-7 (3) by Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.
But the Indian tasted success later in the day in the mixed doubles event. Bopanna and Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh defeated AustralianAmerican pairing of Ashleigh Barty and Jack Sock 6-3, 6-3.
RESULTS
— AP, PTI