Australian Open 2011 LIVE!
Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Kim Clijsters will take the court on Day Six of the Australian Open.
Venus Williams became the highest profile casualty in Melbourne after bowing out of the Australian Open in Day Five through due to a leg injury she suffered in the previous round against Sandra Zahlavova.Which big names will crash out of the competition on Day Six?
World number one Rafael Nadal will come up against Bernard Tomic of Australia while fifth seed Andy Murray will face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
In the women's draw, Kim Clijsters will be expected to beat Alize Cornet of France while home favourite Samantha Stosur will face off with Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.
Another stand out match sees number two seed Vera Zvonareva coming up against Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic.
Australian Open Day 6: Order of Play
Play starts in all courts at 1100 unless stated. All times are local. GMT is -11hrs.
Rod Laver Arena: (31) Lucie Safarova (Cze) vs (2) Vera Zvonareva (Rus), (32) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spa) vs (5) Andy Murray (Gbr), Alize Cornet (Fra) vs (3) Kim Clijsters (Bel), (5) Samantha Stosur (Aus) vs (25) Petra Kvitova (Cze), (1) Rafael Nadal (Spa) vs Bernard Tomic (Aus)Hisense Arena: (4) Robin Soderling (Swe) vs Jan Hernych (Cze), (16) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) vs Iveta Benesova (Cze), (22) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) vs (10) Shahar Peer (Isr), (11) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) vs (21) Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp)
Margaret Court Arena: Simona Halep (Rom) vs (12) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol), Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) vs (13) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra), (20) John Isner (USA) vs (15) Marin Cilic (Cro), Dustin Brown (Jam) & Rogier Wassen (Ned) vs Colin Ebelthite (Aus) & Adam Feeney (Aus)
Show Court 2: Feliciano Lopez (Spa) & Juan Monaco (Arg) vs (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Leander Paes (Ind), Richard Berankis (Lit) vs (7) David Ferrer (Spa), (13) Nadia Petrova (Rus) vs Ekaterina Makarova (Rus), (5) Kveta Peschke (Cze) & Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) v Rennae Stubbs (Aus) & Chris Guccione (Aus)
Show Court 3: (10) Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) v Milos Raonic (Can), Shuai Peng (Chn) vs Ayumi Morita (Jpn), Sophie Ferguson (Aus) & Alicia Molik (Aus) v (12) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) & Maria Kirilenko (Rus), Monica Niculescu (Rom) & Eric Butorac (USA) v Sally Peers (Aus) & Carsten Ball (Aus), (7) Iveta Benesova (Cze) & Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) vs Jarmila Groth (Aus) & Samuel Groth (Aus)
Court 6: Ivan Dodig (Cro) & Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) v Daniele Bracciali (Ita) & Potito Starace (Ita), (10) Monica Niculescu (Rom) & Zi Yan (Chn) vs Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Abigail Spears (USA), Jarmila Groth (Aus) & Klara Zakopalova (Cze) vs (7) Julia Goerges (Ger) & Lisa Raymond (USA), Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) & Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) v David Marrero (Spa) & Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spa)
Court 8: Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) & Magdalena Rybarikova (Svk) vs (16) Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) & Tathiana Garbin (Ita), Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) & Lucie Hradecka (Cze) vs (2) Kveta Peschke (Cze) & Katarina Srebotnik (Slo), (1) Liezel Huber (USA) & Bob Bryan (USA) vs Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Mark Knowles (Bah), Andrea Petkovic (Ger) & Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Pol) vs Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind)
Court 13: Benjamin Becker (Ger) & Michael Kohlmann (Ger) vs Filip Polasek (Svk) & Igor Zelenay (Svk), Maria Kondratieva (Rus) & Sophie Lefevre (Fra) vs (9) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Meghann Shaughnessy (USA), Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa) & Nicolas Almagro (Spa) vs Olga Govortsova (Blr) & Marcin Matkowski (Pol), Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) & Andy Ram (Isr) vs Vania King (USA) & Marcelo Melo (Bra)
Court 18: Olga Govortsova (Blr) & Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) vs (15) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa), Xavier Malisse (Bel) & Jamie Murray (Gbr) vs Bjorn Phau (Ger) & Janko Tipsarevic (Ser), (4) Cara Black (Zim) & Leander Paes (Ind) vs Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Max Mirnyi (Blr), (13) Marcel Granollers (Spa) & Tommy Robredo (Spa) vs Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) & Jan Hajek (Cze)
Day 5 Men's Review
The Swiss had to endure a tough five-setter against Gilles Simon on Wednesday night, but showed no ill-effects as he crushed Belgian Xavier Malisse for the loss of seven games on Rod Laver Arena.
Federer's heroics against Simon came 24 hours after David Nalbandian edged out Lleyton Hewitt in a similarly titanic struggle.
In Nalbandian's following match he lasted just over two sets before defaulting through exhaustion against Richard Berankis.
There was no chance of Federer following suit today, the 16-time grand slam winner looking in great shape as he won 6-3 6-3 6-1 to set up a last-16 clash with Tommy Robredo, who overcame Sergiy Stakhovsky in four sets.
"I pulled up with no back problems after the match with Simon which, in the past, would have scared me a little bit," he said.
"What with the cold conditions, a little bit of wind and with the sweat on the back and everything.
"But I was perfectly fine the same night, the next day and today.
"I'm happy with how my body is feeling and I'm moving well.
"That's obviously key to playing good tennis.
"It's not the easiest thing to come back after a five-setter but I managed and I am sure another day of rest is going to do me good."
To most observers, Federer was hardly tested against Malisse but the world number two saw it differently.
"I thought today was intense," he added.
"The first two sets did not reflect how tough it could have been or how tough it was."
Fitness concerns were the order of the day with Viktor Troicki and Robin Haase also suffering.
Haase was able to complete his match against Andy Roddick despite injuring an ankle early on but Troicki lasted just one set of his clash with countryman Novak Djokovic.
Holland's Haase bravely won the first set but once the American, seeded eight, won the second-set tie-break there was only ever going to be one winner.
"Yeah, the breaker was pretty important," said Roddick, who prevailed 2-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 6-2.
"It was pretty apparent that I needed to turn it. He blinked for a second for the first time in the day and I was able to turn it the way I wanted it to go.
"The biggest thing was that breaker. He wins that and I think that was the match."
Next up for Roddick is Stanislas Wawrinka, who edged a close opening set before running away with his third-round clash against 12th seed Gael Monfils, winning 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-3.
Djokovic had mixed feelings following his match, which he was leading 6-2 before Troicki defaulted.
While he was concerned over his opponent's injury he was equally pleased to have got through without expending too much energy.
He said: "After the match he told me that he could not make a full movement of the serve. I could see that, because he serves well over 200 kilometres per hour and he couldn't do that today.
"He obviously tried his best. It's the third round of a grand slam, it's not the way you want to finish the tournament. It's sad for him but I have to move on.
"It's good that I didn't spend that much time on the court, maybe saving some energy. But I'm going to be ready for the next match."
That next match will be against Spain's Nicolas Almagro, who beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 7-6 (10/8) 6-3.
Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych also progressed today with a 6-2 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 defeat of Richard Gasquet.
He will meet Fernando Verdasco, who was too strong for rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori, the Spaniard cruising to a 6-2 6-4 6-3 triumph in the night match on Hisense Arena.
Day 5 Women's Review
Caroline Wozniacki has been trying to change perceptions of herself ever since she rose to the number one ranking.
Wozniacki's ascent to the top of the women's game was achieved without a grand slam victory and there remain doubts as to whether she has the mental toughness to win a major.
She has certainly impressed in Melbourne so far, however, her 6-4 6-3 victory over Dominika Cibulkova moving her into the fourth round and a clash with Anastasija Sevastova, who beat Russian qualifier Vesna Manasieva 6-1 6-3.
After continuing to defy the on-court doubters, she then attempted to right another wrong after being accused of being boring in press conferences by South American journalists for continually giving the same answers.
Wozniacki argues she always gets asked the same questions so she came prepared today, reeling off the answers to the questions she was expecting, before opening up the floor and answering queries on a wide range of topics from global warming to Kenny Dalglish's return to Liverpool.
During her five-minute appraisal of the match, she revealed: "I felt great out there today on the court, I think I played a pretty good match.
"I am happy I got revenge since I lost to her in Sydney.
"It was not an easy match. She went out there, she was really on fire. I'm happy to be through to the next round.
"I was really focused and tried to step it up, especially with my serve a bit. When she put the second serve in, I tried to take advantage straightaway."
As for global warming, Wozniacki admitted she was not best placed to give an opinion due to the amount of time she spends on aeroplanes while she hopes Dalglish will "give some positive energy to the lads".
A good day for the Dane continued when two of her major rivals for the trophy, Belgian 11th seed Justine Henin and fourth-seeded American Venus Williams crashed out.
Henin lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova while Williams was clearly feeling the effects of the leg injury she suffered against Sandra Zahlavova in the previous round as she could only manage a game and two points before defaulting against Andrea Petkovic.
Henin's lowly seeding can be largely attributed to an elbow injury which saw her miss the latter part of 2010, but having impressed in her first two matches here, she was expected to come close to landing an eighth major crown and second at Melbourne Park.
But she met a tough opponent in Kuznetsova, who conquered some nervy moments to edge through 6-4 7-6 (10/8) and set up a last 16 meeting with French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
"It's disappointing to lose like this," Henin said.
"She was better than me, especially in the important moments. I got some opportunities in the second set to come back, but I never really took the lead in the match.
"I never took the opportunities and she was much more aggressive than me. So that made a big difference."
Kuznetsova twice served for the match, at 5-4 and 6-5, before it went to a tie-break in which she threw away three match points before finally clinching it on the fourth.
"She got a bit nervous so I just went for my chances," added Henin.
"It was a bit better at the end, but not enough, as I served a few double faults in the tie-break and made too many mistakes.
"It wasn't good enough to win that match."
As for the elbow injury she sustained at Wimbledon last year, she said: "I know I'm not 100%. I knew it before walking on the court. That's why I say there are no excuses. I decided to play not being 100%.
"It's been difficult the last three days on my elbow and I just did everything that I could to be okay, but it wasn't enough.
"I think Svetlana played a good match."
Schiavone will present a tricky test for Kuznetsova.
The French Open champion looked strong in her 6-0 7-6 (7/2) win against Monica Niculescu to join two other high-ranked seeds in advancing.
China's La Ni, a semi-finalist here last year, crushed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 6-1 while Victoria Azarenka beat Chanelle Scheepers 6-3 6-3. The pair will now meet in the last 16.
Maria Sharapova is still going strong after coming from a set down to beat Germany's Julia Goerges 4-6 6-4 6-4.
The match was delayed when it was discovered the court had a 'dead spot' - a problem rectified by a man with a toolbag - and when the action got under way Sharapova soon found herself under the hammer.
But she recovered well to beat hard-hitting Goerges and will now meet Petkovic.
No comments:
Post a Comment