Vintage Federer demolishes Berdych

Melbourne, January 20

Andy Murray and Roger Federer put on a masterclass today as they swept into the last 16 of the Australian Open, hoping to take advantage of Novak Djokovic’s shock exit.

Murray swamped Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and Federer humbled Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in just 90 minutes, maintaining his 100 percent record over his old rival at Melbourne Park. 

World No. 1 Angelique Kerber also hit form as she dropped only four games against Kristyna Pliskova to race into a fourth-round meeting with America’s Coco Vandeweghe. Murray put Querrey away 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in just under two hours, winning 77 percent of points on his first serve and facing only three break points in a clinical display.

Commentator axed from Oz Open coverage

Venus Williams brushed off a Doug Adler, a former tennis player and a commentator has been stood down by ESPN after he appeared to say Venus Williams was playing with a “gorilla effect”. Williams, an African-American, was keen to play down to the controversy. “All I can say is it’s been a wonderful, wonderful career for me full of positives. That’s what I focus on. I mean, what else can I do? It’s a beautiful life. That’s how I feel about every single thing,” she said. Adler said he had said “guerrilla”.

Sania advances, Bopanna beaten in second round

Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova beat the Australian-Chinese pair of Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang 6-1, 6-4 to move into the third round. Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas lost to the unseeded Australian pair of Alex Bolt and Bradley Mousley in the second round 6-2, 6-7 (2), 4-6. — Agencies

Results

(Men’s singles): (Round 3): R Federer bt T Berdych 6-2 6-4 6-4, K Nishikori bt L Lacko 6-4 6-4 6-4, D Evans bt B Tomic 7-5 7-6(2) 7-6(3), S Wawrinka bt V Troicki 3-6 6-2 6-2 7-6(7), A Murray bt S Querrey 6-4 6-2 6-4, J Tsonga bt J Sock 7-6(4) 7-5 6-7(8) 6-3, M Zverev bt M Jaziri 6-1 4-6 6-3 6-0, A Seppi bt S Darcis 4-6 6-4 7-6(1) 7-6(2).

(Women’s singles): (Round 3): M Barthel bt A Barty 6-4 3-6 6-3, S Cirstea bt A Riske 6-2 7-6(2), V Williams bt D Yingying 6-1 6-0, S Kuznetsova bt J Jankovic 6-4 5-7 9-7, A Kerber bt K Pliskova 6-0 6-4 A Pavlyuchenkova bt Elina Svitolina 7-5 4-6 6-3, C Vandeweghe bt E Bouchard 6-4 3-6 7-5.