Rafa routs Dzumhur, Kostyuk crashes
Melbourne, January 19
Rafael Nadal stormed into the Round of 16 at the Australian Open with a vintage performance as Grigor Dimitrov and Elina Svitolina kept their Grand Slam hopes alive on a hot draining day.
The Spanish world No. 1 showed no mercy to 28th seed Damir Dzumhur on Margaret Court Arena, as he rediscovers his best form after ankle trouble. The top seed raced through the match in just one hour and 50 minutes, wasting as little energy as possible in the 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 rout.
Nadal will be up against against 24th seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarterfinals. Third seed Dimitrov, who could meet Nadal in the semis, had plenty to prove after a huge second-round fright from a qualifier, who pushed him to five sets.
And the Bulgarian delivered in a testing 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4 win over Russian rising star Andrey Rublev as temperatures touched 40 Celsius. He will next face Australian Nick Kyrgios who registered an impressive 7-6 4-6 7-6 7-6 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Kostyuk loses
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina also kept her title dreams alive by ending the hopes of young teenage pretender Marta Kostyuk. At just 15, Kostyuk was the youngest Melbourne Park third-round contestant since Martina Hingis in 1996, and was hailed after her previous win as “the future of tennis”. But she still has a lot to learn with fellow Ukrainian Svitolina handing out a 6-2, 6-2 lesson. Svitolina next plays another qualifier — big-serving Czech Denisa Allertova who romped past Magda Linette 6-1 6-4 — for a place in the quarterfinals on Sunday. In a tournament shorn of seeds, 81st ranked Petra Martic also swept into the Round of 16, celebrating her 27th birthday by holding off a gritty three-set challenge from Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum. Her reward is a match against Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who beat struggling Alize Cornet of France in two tough sets.
Brutal heat
No matches have been called off or roofs closed at the opening Grand Slam of the year despite the soaring temperatures, with tournament organiser Craig Tiley defending the decision. “These are professional athletes,” he said. “We are at the end of the day of an outdoor event. We want it to stay an outdoor event as long as possible but at the same time ensuring that the health and wellbeing of players is taken care of.”
Organisers only activate the extreme heat policy when the temperature exceeds 40 Celsius and the wet bulb globe temperature index hits 32.5 Celsius. — Agencies
Results (Day 5)
Men’s Singles: R Nadal bt Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-3 6-1, Grigor Dimitrov bt Andrey Rublev 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4 Pablo Carreno Busta bt Gilles Muller 7-6(4) 4-6 7-5 7-5, Diego Schwartzman bt Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7(1) 6-2 6-3 6-3, Kyle Edmund bt Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6(0) 3-6 4-6 6-0 7-5, Nick Kyrgios bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6
(Women’s Singles): Elina Svitolina bt Mara Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2, Anett Kontaveit bt Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 1-6 6-3, Magdalena Rybarikova bt Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5 3-6 6-1, Petra Martic bt Lusika Kumkhum 6-3 3-6 7-5, Denisa Allertova bt Magda Linette 6-1 6-4, Elise Mertens bt Alize Cornet 7-5 6-4, Carla Suarez Navarro bt Kaia Kanepi 3-6 6-1 6-3,Caroline Wozniacki bt Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-3
Sharan, Bopanna reach third round
Melbourne: Divij Sharan equalled his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the men’s doubles third round at the Australian Open, while Rohan Bopanna also entered the pre-quarterfinals with his partner. Sharan and American Ram faced stiff resistance from Fabio Fognini and Marcel Granollers before winning 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in the second round which lasted for two hours and eight minutes. Last year Sharan had made the third round at the French Open with Purav Raja. He had also reached the US Open third round in 2013. Also making progress was the 10th seeded Indo-French team of Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who knocked out Portugal’s Joao Sousa and Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-2 7-6 (3). — PTI
