« Back to article

Print this article

Clijsters dominates again

Champion Kim Clijsters flirted with dishing out the fifth Australian Open 'double bagel' of her career on Wednesday as she steamrolled her way past France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0, 6-1 and into the third round.

Clijsters has recorded four previous 6-0, 6-0 victories at Melbourne Park, the most recent of which was her first round victory over Dinara Safina in 2011.

Tennis Australia said that former champion Margaret Court has also recorded four 'double bagels' at the tournament.

On Wednesday, Clijsters was rarely troubled by the Frenchwoman and despite Foretz Garcon managing to hold serve in the second game of the second set to end Clijsters' attempt to move past Court, the Belgian completed the victory in just 47 minutes.

Li steamrolls Rogowska

China's Li Na charged into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over local hope Olivia Rogowska in the sunshine at Rod Laver Arena.

The French Open champion, who set the tournament alight with a brilliant run to the final last year, mowed past the 168th-ranked wild card in 62 minutes as her husband-coach Jiang Shan nodded approval from the stands.

Asia's first Grand Slam champion appeared in fine touch, landing nearly 80 percent of her serves and overwhelming the 20-year-old Rogowska with raw power from the baseline.

Li captured the decisive break at 3-2 in the second set when Rogowska slapped a forehand wide and enjoyed her return to centre court, where she was beaten in the tension-charged final by Kim Clijsters last year.

"This year there's more fans (who have) come to watch me play, the fans aren't just from China, they're from all over the world," she said in a courtside interview.

Beck ache gives Federer walkover

Roger Federer was given a free ride into the third round after German Andreas Beck withdrew with injury.

The Swiss, seeded third, was due to play lefthander Beck on Hisense Arena but the 25-year-old was forced to pull out with a lower back problem.

Federer said his opponent had told him of the problem in the locker room.

"He said, 'I'm not so good actually. I have a bad back'," Federer told reporters. "It came as a surprise. He said he had a lot painkillers and pain during the last match. I think it happened four, five days ago.

"He doesn't want to risk it early in the season, best five sets against me.

"Nothing he could have done, even though he would love to play against me. I guess it's the only smart decision for him to take."

Falla gobbles up Fish in Melbourne

American number one Mardy Fish crashed out of the Australian Open, beaten 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 by Alejandro Falla in the second round.

Afterwards, eighth seed Fish questioned whether the Colombian had "abused" the rules by calling out the trainer as a tactical ploy during a tense third set.

Fish had to battle back just to force a tiebreak in the third set on court three but lost it 8-6 to fall at the second hurdle for the second year in a row at Melbourne Park.

Falla called the trainer out twice at changeovers in the third set as he appeared to be struggling with cramp, prompting Fish to ask the umpire and tournament referee for clarification of the rules.

"Third set obviously pretty important knowing that he's struggling, I guess. Maybe not. Maybe that was a ploy. I don't know," said the 30-year-old.

"Didn't seem like he was having too much trouble during the point. So it was a good tactic on his part.

"When you think someone is cramping or ailing physically, you sort of change your game a tiny bit," he added.

"I think it had a significant bearing on the third set, for sure."

Nadal eases past Haas

Rafael Nadal eased into the third round, showing no outward signs of physical discomfort as he beat Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

The second seeded Spaniard, whose last two Melbourne campaigns have been scuppered by injury and who wore heavy taping on his right knee, raced through the first two sets with little fuss before faltering in the third.

The 33-year-old Haas, twice a semi-finalist at the Australian Open, broke Nadal on his first service game but was unable to resist the power of the 2009 champion, who wrapped up the match when the German put a forehand wide.

Wozniacki overcomes Tatishvili to advance

Caroline Wozniacki dug herself out of a second set hole to grind down jet-heeled Georgian Anna Tatishvili 6-1, 7-6 on Wednesday and advance to the third round of the Australian Open.

After cruising through the first set at a sunbathed Hisense Arena, the World No 1 suddenly found herself 4-1 down against an 83rd-ranked opponent playing inspired tennis in her Melbourne Park debut.

But Tatishvili wobbled when serving for the set at 5-3 and blasted a forehand long to blow a set point a game later to allow the blonde Dane to scramble into a tiebreak.

After conceding a mini-break, the 21-year-old Tatishvili did well to claw back to 5-4 in the tiebreak but sent a pair of forehand shots into the tramlines to concede the match in 109 minutes.

Azarenka silences mockers with ruthless demolition

Victoria Azarenka underlined her credentials as an Australian Open contender, if not a crowd favourite, with a ruthless 6-1, 6-0 demolition of local wildcard Casey Dellacqua in the second round.

The Belarussian's loud grunts inspired a string of mocking imitators in the partisan crowd on Rod Laver Arena but the third seed ignored the jibes to brush aside her opponent in just 57 minutes.

The 22-year-old, one of four players who could emerge from the year's first grand slam as World No. 1, pointed a single finger into the night sky after setting up a third-round meeting with Mona Barthel of Germany.

Source:
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.