Australian Open: Nadal continue without loss of set

In the first round against Bolivian Hugo Dellien, Nadal had only given five games at all. Against number 79 in the world, the 19-time major winner on Thursday until the 3-1 lead in the third set only used one of 18 break chances.

In the fight for the round of 16, Nadal now meets his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk in four sets. In the round of 16 there could be a duel with Nick Kyrgios. The Australian local hero prevailed against the Frenchman Gilles Simon in four sets and now plays against the Russian Karen Khachanov.

The fourth day of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year also brought no major surprises. After Dominic Thiem had fought off a second round loss in five sets, his ranking neighbor Daniil Medwedew (RUS / 4) and Alexander Zverev (GER / 7) also prevailed. Round three also includes Gael Monfils (FRA / 10), who is a possible second-round opponent for Thiem.

Medvedev does not stop nosebleeds either

Medvedev is still on track in Melbourne to get his best result so far. However, the round of 16 from the previous year is probably not the goal of number four in the world. On Thursday he had to face Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez u. a. survive a nosebleed before he, unlike Thiem, then did a quick job under a closed roof with 7: 5 6: 1 6: 3.

“It was not easy, especially in the first sentence. But I persevered and got through because he had less experience, ”said the US Open finalist last year. Medvedev had had nosebleeds in Australia the previous year. “It happens to me sometimes, just not normally during a match. So I had to interrupt it, ”said the 23-year-old Russian.

Zverev continues in a donor mood

Zverev had come to Melbourne with little expectations after a completely misguided start to the season. Now he is in the round of 32 without losing a set. Zverev prevailed against Belarusian Yegor Gerasimov with 7: 6 (7/5) 6: 4 7: 5. After the victory, the cheerful German also specified his intention to donate: For each match won, he will donate 10,000 Australian dollars (6,178.94 euros) in aid of the campaigns to the regions affected by the devastating bushfire in Australia.

If he even wins the title, he wants to hand over the entire prize money of around 2.5 million euros. “Money doesn’t mean so much to me, and I don’t like money-hungry people either,” said Zverev on Eurosport.

Monfils defeated 40-year-old Evergreen Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 4: 6 7: 6 (10/8) 6: 4 7: 5 and now meets the protégé of Günter Bresnik, Ernests Gulbis. The Latvian has been somewhat surprising in the last 32. Should Thiem play into the round of 16, there could be a duel with his former teammate at Bresnik.

Pliskova and Halep loosely continue

For women, numbers two, four and six moved into the third round. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) left the German Laura Siegemund only six games, as did the Romanian Wimbledon winner Simona Halep of the British Harriet Darts. And the Swiss Belinda Bencic prevailed against Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 7: 5 7: 5.

Extreme weather conditions at the Australian Open, especially in Melbourne, often having almost four seasons in one day, are not uncommon. But at the beginning of the fourth game day there were new difficulties caused by very dirty rain as a result of sandstorms. The places had to be cleaned of mud with high-pressure water hoses, so there were hours of delays on the outside courts, and not just because of the rain. In some places it was only possible to start five hours late.

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