Tennis - Australian Open tennis tournament

[Alexandoy]

The first major tennis tournament is the Australian Open that started on February 8. The early winners are #8 seed Diego Schwartzman, #15 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta of Spain, #6 seed Alexander Zverev, #3 seed DominicThiem, and world number 1 Novak Djokovic.

In the women's category the early winners on day 1 are #7 seed Aryna Sabalenka, #9 seed Petra Kvitova, 2nd seed Simona Halep, #10 seed Serena Williams and #3 seed Naomi Osaka.

 

[Alexandoy]

Day 2 of the Australian Open saw the fall of #12 seed Victoria Azarenka in the hands of Jessica Pegula. It is just the 1st round so it was a sorry goodbye for Kvitova who was a favorite of the tv coverage commentators. It was said that Kvitova developed difficulty in breathing that is why she availed of a medical time out. But she made no excuses on her loss.

 

[Alexandoy]

Top seed Novak Djokovic had a hard time in disposing of Francis Tiafoe who held Djokovic to 4 sets. Djokovic won the first set 6-3 but Tiafoe got even in wining the 2nd set in a tie break 7-6. The 3rd set was another tie-break but Djokovic prevailed for another 7-6. In the 4th set Djokovic was relieved for an easier win 6-3.

 

[Alexandoy]

The big news in the 2nd round of the Australian Open is the elimination of defending champion Sofia Kenin who is seeded 4th. She was bested by unseeded Kaia Kanepi in 2 sets 6-3,6 -2. It seemed that Kenin was not in her elements that she couldn't control the big serves of Kanepi. Prior to Kenin's match, top seed Ashleigh Barty was held to a tight contest in the 2nd set by Daria Gavrilova. Barty emerged winner after 2 sets 6-1, 7-6.

 

[Alexandoy]

There are 2 noteworthy games in the 3rd round of the Australian Open. The first is the tussle between #1 seed Novak Djokovic was held to 5 sets by unseeded Taylor Fritz. The excuse is the abdominal pain that Kjokovic was experiencing. The other match between Dominic Thiem who was also stretched to 5 sets by another unseeded player Nick Kyrgios.