Stan Wawrinka survives Australian Open first-round scare
Tuesday 17 January 2017 07:03, UK
The Australian Open men's draw nearly suffered several major casualties as Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, and Marin Cilic were all taken to deciding sets in their opening matches.
The order of play for day one of the 105th Australian Open was a star-studded affair, although not all seeded players had it their own way.
Wawrinka, finalist here in 2014, took just under three-and-a-half hours to quash Slovakia's Martin Klizan, dropping the first set and struggling to find any consistency.
The three-time Grand Slam champion eventually triumphed 4-6 6-4 7-5 4-6 4-6, roaring with delight as he finally overcame the world No 34, whose onslaught of topspin-heavy groundstrokes had left the fourth seed floundering.
It will come as no surprise to tennis fans that Kei Nishikori also required five sets to advance. The 27-year-old holds the all-time record for deciding sets, triumphing in 100 of the 130 he has contested during his career.
The fifth seed has reached the quarter-finals three times in Melbourne - 2012, 2015, and 2016 - but looks unlikely to exceed this year unless he irons out the inconsistencies he displayed against Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov - an encounter he eventually won in three and a half hours, 5-7 6-1 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-2.
At one point, the 2014 US Open finalist led the fourth set tie break 5-2, before conceding six of the final seven points and bringing around a decider.
Next, Nishikori faces Jeremy Chardy of France, who will be much the fresher of the pair after Nicolas Almagro retired at 0-4 in their opening round.
Marin Cilic also made hard work of his opening match, although had landed a tricky draw in Jerzy Janowicz - a former top-15 player - slightly justifying his bruising five-set battle.
The 2014 US Open champion eventually found some of the sparkling form with which he ended last season, firing 40 winners to just 14 unforced errors in the final three sets to win 6-4 6-4 2-6 2-6 3-6.
His next opponent is Britain's Dan Evans, who opened his campaign with a straight sets win over Facundo Bagnis of Argentina.
Making his eagerly-anticipated return after a lengthy injury lay-off, Roger Federer - four-time champion here - stuttered only briefly against a spirited Jurgen Melzer as he progressed 7-5 3-6 6-2 6-2.
Allaying fears that he was lacking in match fitness, the former world number one was swift to discard any rustiness which might have developed since Wimbledon, soon finding his trademark implausible angles, and utterly dominant on his serve.
Federer will face Noah Rubin in the second round, but his lowly seeding of 17 has lined up a challenging first week, with Tomas Berdych, Nishikori, and Andy Murray all lurking in his quarter of the draw.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to play a fourth set against Thiago Monteiro after losing a tie break in the third. Dominant for much of the match, the Frenchman sentenced himself to unnecessary court time with a few costly errors, but should not be troubled by Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in his next match.
Nick Kyrgios dropped just five games against Gastao Elias, progressing to the second round of his home slam with a 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory. He was on court for just 84 minutes, but faces the stiffer competition of Italy's Andreas Seppi on Wednesday.
Bernard Tomic made light work of his opening match in seeing off Thomaz Bellucci for the loss of just seven games.
Tomas Berdych had secured his second-round place in just 32 minutes as Italian qualifier Luca Vanni retired with a hip injury, having lost the opening set 1-6.
The five-time Grand Slam semi-finalist has now reached the second round here in his last twelve outings, and will - this year - come up against American Ryan Harrison, who defeated Nicolas Mahut of France in straight sets to begin his fortnight.
Check our game-by-game updates from Andy Murray's matches at the 2017 Australian Open by following our blog on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad or our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
