Tsitsipas, Tiafoe and Collins Into Second Week in Australia - Mondays With Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

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Australian Open

First Week

Danielle Collins beat second-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-2

Stefano Tsitsipas beat third-seeded Roger Federer 6-7 (11) 7-6 (3) 7-5 7-6 (5)

Maria Sharapova beat third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 4-6 6-3

Frances Tiafoe beat fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson 4-6 6-4 6-4 7-5

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-3

Roberto Bautista Agut beat sixth-seeded Marin Cilic 6-7 (6) 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4

Alexei Popyrin beat seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem 7-5 6-4 2-0, retired

Reilly Opelka beat ninth-seeded John Isner 7-6 (4) 7-6 (6) 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens 3-6 6-3 6-3

Roberto Bautista Agut beat 10^th-seeded Karen Khachanov 6-4 7-5 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky beat 10^th-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-0

SAYINGS

“There’s nothing I can describe, I cannot describe it, I am the happiest man on earth right now.” – Stefanos Tsitsipas, after upsetting Roger Federer.

“I have massive regrets tonight. I might not look the part, but I am. I felt like I had to win the second set. Cost me the game tonight.” – Roger Federer.

“Of course, he’s dangerous, He’s in the quarterfinals.’” – Rafael Nadal, talking about Frances Tiafoe, his quarterfinal opponent.

“I kind of like to jump in the deep end and swim and see what happens.” – Serena Williams, following her 49-minute victory over Tatjana Maria.

“Maybe I was a little bit overwhelmed.” – Tatjana Maria.

“I want to win this tournament. Right now.” – Amanda Anisimova, a 17-year-old American, after upsetting 11^th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-2 in a third-round match.

“I went to a different place. I dug insanely deep.” – Frances Tiafoe, on his comeback win over fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson.

“These types of matches are what I train for and it was really rewarding to win that last point.” – Maria Sharapova, after beating defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.

“There are no secrets in tennis. I think every day I try and challenge myself to add another string to my bow.” – Ashley Barty, after beating Maria Sharapova.

“It was very, very tough match for both of us. She played unbelievable tennis. I was … struggling. I just told myself, ‘I’m going to die or win.’” – Elina Svitolina, after beating Zhang Shuai in a match lasting almost three hours.

“Not too much to say. I mean, it was completely not my day.” – Angelique Kerber, following her loss to Danielle Collins.

“I could tell she was quite upset. I kind of liked that. It shows she wasn’t just there to play a good match – she was there to win.” – Serena Williams, following her victory over 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska, who cried after the loss.

SHOCKER

A 20-year-old Greek stopped Roger Federer’s bid for a third straight Australian Open title. In a close battle, Stefanos Tsitsipas sent Federer out of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament. It is only the second time in 18 years that Federer has failed to reach the quarterfinals as he failed to convert any of the 12 break points Tsitsipas faced. “I didn’t lose my patience, stayed in those rallies,” Tsitsipas said. “It was very important to save those breakpoints.” The victory makes Tsitsipas the first Greek to reach the men’s quarterfinals in Grand Slam history. “I lost to a better player who was playing very well tonight,” Federer said. “Hung in there, gave himself chances at some point, stayed calm. It’s not always easy, especially for younger guys.” Tsitsipas staved off four set points when serving at 4-5 in the second set, finally holding by going to the net and knocking off a winning volley. He leveled the match by converting the first set point in the tiebreak. At 6-5 down in the third set, Federer failed to make four straight first serves and lost the set with three unforced forehand errors. The match pitted the oldest and youngest players still left in the men’s draw. When he won the final point, Tsitsipas raised his arms in triumph and roared at the crowd.

STANDING ALONE

Frances Tiafoe celebrated his 21^st birthday by knocking off Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in a fourth-round battle 7-5 7-6 (6) 6-7 (1) 7-5 and becoming the lone American man to reach the second week of the Australian Open. “I told my parents 10 years ago that I was gonna do this, I was gonna change their lives and my life,” Tiafoe told the crowd, which sang “Happy Birthday” to him. “Now I’m in the quarters of a slam at 21. I can’t believe it, man.” Believe it. Earlier in the week, Tiafoe stunned fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson in four sets. Against Dimitrov, Tiafoe fended off four early break points to claim the opening set. A former Australian Open semifinalist, Dimitrov won the third set before Tiafoe sealed the victory by breaking the Bulgarian in the 11^th game of the fourth set. The victory sends Tiafoe into a quarterfinal meeting against second-seeded Rafael Nadal.

SURPRISE

Three American women reached the second week of the Australian Open, but no one expected one to be Danielle Collins. The 25-year-old Collins had never won a match in five Grand Slam tournament appearances, but this year has been different. She crushed second-seeded Angelique Kerber in only 56 minutes to reach the quarterfinals in her first main-draw appearance Down Under. “I think sometimes it depends a little bit on the opponent that she’s playing, but I think she’s most comfortable playing offensive tennis,” Collins’ coach, Mat Cloer, said. “Controlling the baseline, really stepping in, taking as much time as she can and she did a great job of that today. Her mentality, just her as a person, she’s aggressive.” Collins raced through the opening set in 20 minutes, breaking Kerber three times. After an early trade of breaks in the second set, Collins captured the final four games to oust Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one.

SHOW PROOF

Rules are followed, regardless of who you are. Roger Federer was stopped from entering the locker room at the Australian Open by a security guard who took his job seriously. Federer, who won the year’s first Grand Slam event six times, including the last two years, wasn’t wearing his identification badge when he was stopped. He was finally let in when a member of his team showed the badge to the security guard.

SHARAPOVA SHARP

Caroline Wozniacki’s attempt to repeat as Australian Open champion was rudely crushed by another former winner, Maria Sharapova. A five-time Grand Slam tournament winner, Sharapova stopped Wozniacki under the roof on Rod Laver Arena. “I thought he level was quite high. I knew it would be a tough match,” said Sharapova, who won in Melbourne in 2008.

SAD DAY FOR ANDY

Suffering a first-round Grand Slam tournament loss for the first time 11 years, an emotional and drained Andy Murray left open the possibility he might play Down Under again. “Maybe I’ll see you again,” the three-time Grand Slam champion told the crowd. “I’ll do everything possible to try.” Murray fell to Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-7 (4) 6-2 in a tournament Murray said could be his last as a professional due to his painful hip. “If I want to go again, I’ll need to have a big operation, which there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to come back from,” he said, “but I’ll give it my best shot.” Murray reached the Australian Open final five times, but never won at Melbourne Park. The crowd was clearly in Murray’s corner, something Bautista Agut understood. “Andy deserved this atmosphere,” Bautista Agut said. “It was an unbelievable match. … I want to congratulate him on all he did for tennis.”

SCORES A FIRST

Great Britain’s Katie Boulter became the first woman to win in a third-set tiebreak at the Australian Open when she stopped Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-0 4-6 7-6 (6). The new rule, a 10-point tiebreak in the final set, was introduced to the Open this year.

SAYING GOODBYE

Until this year, John Isner had never lost to a fellow American at a Grand Slam tournament. Then he faced Reilly Opelka, who is just a bit taller than Isner and can smack serves nearly as well. Opelka won his first Grand Slam tournament match by out-pounding Isner 7-6 (4) 7-6 (6) 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5). Isner was up a break in the fourth set and served to force a fifth. “I held serve the whole match, pretty comfortably. Kind of was uncharacteristic,” Isner said of the only he lost serve. “I was ready to play a fifth,” the 21-year-old Opelka said. “That’s kind of what I was thinking. … I got lucky to get a break.” He turned it into a win, even though Isner wound up with more winners, 79-64, and more overall points, 174-142. It was Isner’s second straight first-round defeat at Melbourne.

SICK BAY

Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who was seeded seventh, retired because of illness from his second-round match against young Australian Alexei Popyrin. A finalist at the French Open last year, Thiem trailed 7-5 6-4 2-0 when he stopped play. “I felt very bad during the game obviously,” Thiem said afterwards. “Today I started to feel like the whole body hurts, and generally I was not feeling well at all. In the match, it got worse, the whole body was hurting, I was feeling weak and no sense to continue.” Asked what the illness was, Thiem replied: “The cause, I don’t know 100 percent. I had some cold the last weeks and also when I arrived here. I have to check it when I’m home.”

SKIPPING MARSEILLE

Saying he “may have to undergo surgery again,” Andy Murray pulled out of next month’s Marseille Open. He also has entered Dubai next month. “It’s tough, Murray said in a statement, “but I don’t have a choice. I was very keen on returning to Marseille where I won the tournament in 2008. This title, one of the first of my career, remains a great memory,”

SEAGULL STOPPAGE

Seagulls doing what seagulls do literally messed up backup plans for a second-round Australian Open match. With Alexander Zverev and Jeremy Chardy battling for five sets on Margaret Court Arena, the women’s match pitting Garbiñe Muguruza and Johanna Konta was delayed from its scheduled 9 p.m. start. It was decided to move the women’s match to Court 3, but because of the lateness of the hour, there wasn’t enough staff available to help clear up all the bird poo that was on Court 3. The women finally began play at 12.22 a.m. on Margaret Court Arena with Muguruza beating Konta in a three-set match that ended at 3:12 a.m.

SURFING

Melbourne: https://ausopen.com/

Newport Beach: https://oraclechallengerseries.com/newport-beach/

Davis Cup: https://www.daviscup.com/en/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, hard (second week)

$162,480 Oracle Challenger, Newport Beach, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia, hard (second week)

$162,480 Oracle Challenger, Newport Beach, California, USA, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK