Mondays with Bob Greene
STARS
Australian Open (First Week)
Zhang Shuai beat second-seeded Simona Halep 6-4 6-3
Barbora Strycova beat third-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 6-3 6-2
Fernando Verdasco beat fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (6) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-2
Daria Gavrilova beat sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4
Johanna Konta beat eighth-seeded Venus Williams 6-4 6-2
Kei Nishikori beat ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-2 6-4
Ekaterina Makarova beat ninth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-2
Denisa Allertova beat 10th-seedded Sabine Lisicki 6-3 2-6 6-4
SAYING
“It’s a hard and painful loss.” – Rafael Nadal, after losing his first-round match to Fernando Verdasco.
“I just hit everything. I think I played unbelievable in the fifth set from the break. I just started hitting winners. I don’t know how. I was closing the eyes and everything when I was coming in.” – Fernando Verdasco, on his win over Rafael Nadal.
“To win the Grand Slam here you are going to have to beat Serena (Williams). It will be great if I can play against her.” – Garbiñe Muguruza, before losing her third–round match to Barbora Strycova.
“I’ve had a really good career. I’ve achieved a lot of things. You know, winning a Grand Slam was my dream from when I was eight or nine years old, and I’ve been able to do that. There’s been a lot of good in my career. But I’d obviously like to do better here at the Open.” – Samantha Stosur, who lost in the first round.
“You know, everyone can lose, everyone can win. I know that. I have just to take it like it is and look ahead.” – Simona Halep, after losing a first-round match to Zhang Shuai.
“I try to be positive. In my life, I don’t want to be negative. I want everything positive. I don’t want to always be thinking bad things. Maybe, year, I lost 14 times first round. Maybe 14 times gave me a lot more energy to work hard.” – Zhang Shuai.
“I don’t think I’m looking for perfection. I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus. I like that I was very composed today from first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was. I was there on every point.” – Victoria Azarenka
“Oh, to be the number one and to win a lot of Grand Slams and to play Fed Cup and then to play the Olympics and to be happy.” – Naomi Osaka, when asked what her future goals are.
“It’s completely different to when I started. I remember being seeded … would you get to third, fourth round without dropping too many games. Now every match it’s a battle and you just have to try and push yourself because it’s all a challenge. They are young girls and they’re fearless.” – Ana Ivanovic.
“I’m feeling pretty good. It’s amazing what adrenaline does.” – Johanna Konta, who upset Venus Williams in the opening round.
“Like when I reached 1,000 (career wins) last year, it was a big deal for me. Not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it’s very special. You look deeper into it, I guess, where it’s all happened and how. So it’s very nice, I’m very happy.” – Roger Federer, after becoming the first man to win 300 career Grand Slam tournament singles matches.
“Yes, I won against Serena but now when I go on the court it’s like I’m back at the office. And today, I didn’t play so good.” – Roberta Vinci, after losing to Anna-Lena Friedsam.
STUNNED
For the second time in their careers, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco engaged in a five-set battle at the Australian Open. This time, the winner was Verdasco, who stunned his Spanish compatriot in the opening round at Melbourne. It was only the second time Nadal has lost a first-round match in a Grand Slam tournament. Strangely it was Nadal’s game that came apart. The fifth-seeded Nadal took a 2-0 lead in the final set, only to have Verdasco rip off the next six games for the victory. “The real thing is I was not aggressive enough with my forehand during the whole match,” Nadal said. “I didn’t feel it. I tried. I fought. I was ready to do it, and I didn’t. So I am sad for that.” The last time the two played a five-setter in Melbourne was in the semifinals in 2009. Nadal went on to win his only Australian Open title.
Verdasco fell in the second round to Israel’s Dudi Sela, 4-6 6-3 6-3 7-6 (4). The Spaniard’s cause was not helped by consecutive double-faults in the fourth-set tiebreak, giving the 30-year-old Sela a 5-2 lead.
SWEET DREAMS
Second-seeded Simona Halep was supposed to have an easy time beginning her Australian Open run. After all, her opponent, Zhang Shuai, had never won a Grand Slam tournament match in 14 tries. Zhang, however, ended her streak with a shocker. “I think in my life it’s the best tennis,” she said while bursting into tears. “To win against a top-two player, I’m so happy, so excited.” The Chinese player wasn’t through. She celebrated her birthday by stopping Alize Cornet 6-3 6-3 in the second round. “It’s like a dream come true,” said Zhang, who was ranked 133rd in the world coming into this season. “I don’t want to stop right now. I want to keep winning.” She did just that to advance to the second week in Melbourne, running her Grand Slam tournament winning streak to three by besting Varvara Lepchenko 6-1 6-3. Once ranked 30th in the world, Zhang contemplated retirement after losing in qualifying at the US Open last August. Her victory over Halep was made even more special by having her parents in the crowd, the first time they had seen her play. “I wanted them to see what the last 20 years were for,” the 26-year-old Zhang said. “This is my life.”
SETTING RECORDS
When Roger Federer reached the Australian Open fourth round with a victory over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, he became the first man to win 300 Grand Slam tournament matches. “It’s very exciting, I must tell you,” Federer said of the feat. His first win also came at the Australian Open, when he beat Michael Chang in the first round in 1999. Federer trails the all-time leader, Martina Navratilova, who finished her career with 306 Grand Slam match singles victories.
Maria Sharapova also reached a career milestone at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. Her 6-1 6-7 (5) 6-0 third-round victory over 22-year-old American Lauren Davis was her 600th career match win. “Oh boy,” Sharapova said. “Is this a friendly reminder that I’m getting old.” The winner of five Grand Slam tournament titles, the 28-year-old Sharapova is currently ranked fifth in the world. “I think it’s a proud number,” she said. “I’ve been doing it a long time. That’s a fact.”
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka won his 400th ATP World Tour-level match when he beat Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-3 7-6 (3) in a third-round match. It’s the fourth straight year that Wawrinka has made it into the second week at Melbourne Park. He won Australian Open in 2014.
STRYCOVA SHOCKER
Barbora Strycova didn’t win a set the first two times she played Garbiñe Muguruza. Their third meeting was completely different. The Czech right-hander outplayed the third-seeded Spaniard to take their third-round battle 6-3 6-2. Muguruza won just 27 points from the baseline in the 76-minute struggle. Strycova grabbed a 4-1 lead in the opening set, then used a break early in the second as Muguruza was unable to find any answers. Last year, Muguruza was runner-up at Wimbledon. It was the first time Strycova reached the Australian Open fourth round.
SAYS GOOD-BYE
Playing in his 20th Australian Open, Lleyton Hewitt finished his singles career when he lost 6-2 6-4 6-4 to eighth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain. The 34-year-old Hewitt won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, and he is the last Australian player to be ranked number one in the world. Hewitt also was in doubles, teaming with fellow Australian Sam Groth. They lost to Vasek Pospisil of Canada and American Jack Sock 6-4 6-2. Hewitt also won the US Open men’s doubles in 2000. He received one last standing ovation from the Melbourne Park crowd at the end of the doubles match before heading down the tunnel for the last time.
STARS AND STRIPES?
When Eugenie Bouchard described her lightweight tank dress she was wearing at the Australian Open, she compared it with a national flag, saying it had “red and white stripes like an American flag or something.” The 21-year-old Canadian immediately changed the country. “Actually, red and white like Canada, I should say. Whoops!”
SVETLANA STOPPER
Kateryna Bondarenko got tired of traveling around the world hitting a fuzzy yellow ball. And she wanted to start a family. “I retired because I had a baby and I didn’t really think to come back,” the Ukrainian said. “Suddenly I missed tennis so much so I decided to come back and compete again.” Bondarenko pulled off one of her biggest wins since giving birth to a daughter, Karin, in 2013 and coming out of retirement when she knocked off two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 7-5 in the second round. The 92nd-ranked Bondarenko lost her third-round match to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 4-6 6-2 6-4.
Bondarenko was one of three mothers in the Australian Open singles draw. The others were Tatjana Maria of Germany and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.
SKIPPED AND FINED
A decision not to talk about her first-round loss will cost Venus Williams a fine of USD $5,000. Seeded eighth, the 35-year-old Williams was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Johanna Konta, a British player making her debut in a Grand Slam tournament’s main draw. Williams then skipped the mandatory news conference and was fined after a meeting by the committee of Grand Slam supervisors. It was the eighth time the world former number one has lost in the first round at a major. The USD $5,000 fine is the highest a female player has faced for skipping the news conference and is the second highest since Marta Safin was fined USD $10,000 at the 2001 French Open.
SEEKING PARTNER?
Garbiñe Muguruza is not sure she wants to team up with Rafael Nadal and play mixed doubles at the Rio Olympics. Ranked third in the world, Muguruza is set to play singles and team with Carla Suarez Navarro in the doubles. But she is hesitant to commit to the mixed doubles because of concerns about the hectic schedule. Conchita Martinez, who captains Spain’s Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, wants Muguruza to pair with Nadal. “I think it’s going to be crazy if I play like three modalities in a week, but for sure it will be amazing,” said Muguruza, who was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and moved to Spain with her family when she was six. Nadal has expressed his desire to represent Spain in all three formats.
SEARS COLLAPSE
Nigel Sears is returning home after collapsing at the Australian Open during a match. The 58-year-old Briton, who coaches Ana Ivanovic, thanked the “incredible people” who rushed to his aid when he collapsed at Rod Laver Arena while watching Ivanovic play American Madison Keys. Sears also is the father-in-law of second-seeded Andy Murray. “My medical advice is that I will be allowed to leave the hospital shortly and I have been cleared to fly back to the UK in the next day or so,” Sears said in a statement Sunday. Sears reportedly told members of Ivanovic’s coaching team that he wasn’t feeling well a half hour before he fell in the stands. After a 30-minute delay the third-round match continued with Keys winning 4-6 6-4 6-4. Murray wasn’t told of the incident until after he finished his third-round 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2 win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa. The men’s second-seed went immediately to the hospital. Murray and his wife Kim are expecting their first child next month.
There was more drama on another court on Sunday during a third-round men’s doubles match featuring Australians Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt. After the fifth game in the second set Groth’s mother fell down the stairs, requiring attention from paramedics. Groth appeared quite concerned during the delay and had a towel covering the bottom half of his face.
There had been two other incidents in the stands during the first week of the tournament. Ivanovic’s second-round match with Anastasja Sevastova was delayed for 30 minutes when a woman fell down some stairs and was taken away on a stretcher in a neck brace. And there was an incident during Bernard Tomic’s battle with Denis Istomin.
SUSPICIONS
Play at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament has taken a backseat to corruption. The BBC and BuzzFeed reported that 16 players who reached the top 50 over the past decade had repeatedly been suspected of fixing matches but never punished. Chris Eaton, director of integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) criticized the sport’s “opaque and secretive” anti-corruption body. Tennis authorities rejected claims that evidence was suppressed and defended the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), which was set up in 2008 and has handed out 18 convictions, including six life bans. The initial story said at least eight of the “core group” of players on the fixing radar were at this year’s Australian Open. Novak Djokovic, ranked number one in the world, said he was once offered USD $200,000 to fix a match in Russia. Several top players, including Roger Federer and Andy Murray, have called for more details on the fixing charges, including naming the players involved.
STEPPING DOWN
Three members of the Tennis Australia board resigned their posts on the eve of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. Peter Armstrong and two former players, Kerryn Pratt and Janet Young, left the board three months after two others had quit. Harold Mitchell and Scott Tanner both left the TA board in October, although Mitchell returned last month to help “bring some stability” to the organization as it prepared to stage the Australian Open.
SAD NEWS
Gerald Williams, who for years was a tennis commentator on BBC, is dead at the age of 86. “Gerry was one of the finest tennis commentators of our time,” said Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport. “His famous Wimbledon commentary and his on-screen partnership with des Lynam will be remembered with fondness by everyone at BBC Sport. He was a man of great talent and will be sadly missed.”
SURFING
Melbourne: www.ausopen.com/index.html
Quito: www.ecuadoropenquito.com/
Montpellier: www.opensuddefrance.com/
Sofia: http://sofiaopen.bg/en
Dallas: www.tennischampionshipsofdallas.com/
St. Petersburg: http://wta.formulatx.com/en/
Kaosiung: www.taiwanopen.com.tw/EN/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
MEN & WOMEN
Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, hard (second week)
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$485,760 Open Sud de France, Montpellier, France, hard
$485,760 Ecuador Open, Quito, Ecuador, clay
$485,760 Garanti Koza Sofia Open, Sofia, Bulgaria, hard
$100,000 Tennis Championships of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA, hard
WOMEN
$685,900 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard
$426,750 Taiwan Open, Kaosiung, Taiwan, hard
