Stan made to work hard

As defending champion, Stanislas Wawrinka has not had the level of attention placed upon him as expected this tournament, that spotlight taken up in large doses by his countryman Federer and to a lesser extent the Australian contingent.

Nevertheless as he progresses through the rounds his name will no doubt be thrown around as a possible semi finalist and the talk of a repeat clash with Novak Djokovic, the player he defeated in last year's quarter final.

Today he crossed swords with huge serving Romanian Marius Copil, ranked 194, before changing his mind and resorting to tennis racquets instead.

The first four games were shared, with one break point, and that one saved by Stan in the opening game.  Very few clean winners were hit during this stanza, although a number of errors were forced through weight of shot from serve or off the ground. 2-2 and the two were just warming up.

Serving dominated proceedings further with Copil winning an extraordinary percentage of points on his second serve alone.  The Romanian faced no break points whereas Stan had to deal with two more before the tie break was inevitably reached.

The first two points went against serve and from1-2 Copil delivered three successive unforced errors which Stan lapped up, and with three set points ultimately available he secured the first set using the second of them, a backhand winner the final nail. 7-6 Wawrinka.

Set two soon became another serve fest with neither player in serious danger apart from the third game for Copil and the eighth game for Wawrinka where the one trick couldn't cover all contingencies.  The Wawrinka backhand had some glorious moments and the speed clock continued to be interesting reading whenever Copil put his mind to a decent first serve.

It was going to need another tie break success for Stan to take a two set lead - nothing was coming easily today.

Copil with two successive aces led 3-2, but with his next two serves failed to inspire, unforced errors enabling Wawrinka to serve for the set.  His forehand winner at 6-4 did the trick and the Swiss star led 7-6 7-6.

The third set was fairly uncomplicated and no more breaks for seven games.  Even in the eighth game it appeared that Stan may have wasted the chances he had on the Romanian serve.  However the gift came from Copil himself when he double faulted, handing Wawrinka a 5-3 advantage.

Stan rode the break home with glee and with more match practice than expected from Marius Copil, entered the first weekend safely in the third round 7-6 7-6 6-3

Venus shines bright in the Southern skies

Two Americans began day four on Margaret Court Arena - 19th seed and recent victor in Auckland Venus Williams was in second round action with Lauren Davis with Venus eyeing off a short term weekend spot and longer range possible semi final with her younger sister.

Currently ranked 53, Davis annoyed the seven time major winner with 2 forehand winners to break the opening Williams serve.  She doubled her lead thanks to a number of Venus mistakes, some forced due to the positive work around the court from the 21 year old.

Once Venus settled, and she traditionally takes a time to so do, the stride was hit with marked effect. Once she held serve to register her statistical impact on the match, we became witness to vintage Venus, the serve setting up the powerful forehand and a backhand which was especially venomous today.  Venus tore Lauren to shreds, and scattered the pieces anonymously over the court during the six game blitz which gave her the set 6-2 and Lauren plenty of headaches.

Lauren arrested the pain when she bucked the trend at the start of set two, volleying and rallying cleanly in contrast to Venus' sloppy forehand attempts and breaking for a temporary edge.  Venus objected and Lauren agreed to the request for unforced errors and a careless double fault and a 1-1 score.

Game four confirmed the final direction of the match when from 30-0 Lauren managed to drop serve again, mainly due to her failings, but certainly the constant pressure of a consistent Williams not helping.

Both players resumed an attractive battle for the remaining five games but the real battle had been won, and Venus knew that her serve would not be threatened again.

A 6-2 6-3 victory saw Venus Williams advance to round 3 and a probable round four meeting with sixth seed Radwanska.

Simona Sensational

The late late match on Rod Laver Arena featured world number three and 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep against Australian Jarmila Gajdosova.  Both impressed in first round matches, but Halep was heavily favoured to prevail here, already a winner in China earlier in the month.

Thanks to the schedulers who don't give a stuff about women's tennis, the match began extremely late - it is OK for Rafa, Lleyton and Roger to play their matches at a prescribed time but let's just keep the girls waiting because they don't rate.  It is logical to play a best of three set match first (as used to be the case) because the start time for the second match will normally be earlier as a consequence, but clearly logic doesn't play a part here.

Simona was out of the blocks quickly, breaking the Gajdosova serve thanks largely to a few nervous errors from the Aussie, and then finding her range with silky smooth ground strokes which forced Jarmila into problems.  2-0 and the initial paragraph of the writing on the wall.

Game three gave Jarmila a spark as she put a score on the board for the loss of no points.  We then lingered long over the fourth game in which Simona was in trouble 0-30 due to backhand beauty from Gajdosova.  3 deuces and a break point save later, 3-1 was the score line.

Backhand winners and errors dominated the fifth game and it was Halep who chose the correct moments to apply the better shots, breaking the Australian serve again and virtually parcelling up the first set.

5-1 followed with Halep bookmarking her game with a double fault and an ace, fortunately each at the right ends of the game.  Jarmila soldiered on, actually serving quite well despite the score, and meeting Halep in rallies competitively.  She forced the Romanian to serve for the set and this Simona did successfully, but not until being taken to 30-30 through some excellent forehands from Jarmila.

6-2 and the task half completed.

Gajdosova's forehand maintained its potency in the first game of set 2 and she held to lead 1-0.  Halep played a good first set but her second set was even better. After doing enough to level at 1-1 she ripped into her opponent with some sizzling shots to break in the third game, hardly making a mistake.

At 1-3 Jarmila still played reasonably but even her very best would most likely not have troubled an in form Halep.  Serves were held respectively and 2-4 displayed.

At 40-15 there was still a hope for the Australian, but a double fault cleared the way for Halep to come back, achieve the break with a backhand winner and give herself the chance to serve for the match.

15-30 thanks to a great Gajdosova shot was given a two ace response from Halep and her winning backhand was the final shot of the night.

6-2 6-2 to Simona Halep, a real threat to win this years championship.

Nadal Chooses Day Three for an Epic

Rafa Nadal admittedly entered the 2015 Aus Open on a limited preparation, but on the back of a useful first round win no one suspected his battle with 112 ranked US player Tim Smyczek would be anything more than a decent hit out in readiness for a third round match.

How wrong we were to be.  The first two games typified the night to come as Nadal stuttered his way to holding serve in contrast to Smyczek's love game featuring winning shots.

Blinded by the dose of American brilliance we soon were brought back to reality when the Nadal forehand began its damaging foray in the fourth game.  The break and comfortable hold boosted Rafa's stocks to 4-1 and the market was looking less bullish by the point for Tim.

The Spanish bull, while apparently now on his familiar march to a set win, was committing more than his normal share of unforced errors and while not being penalised as he might due to the generous judicial system prevailing in the first few rounds,  tougher sentences are promised when the second week commences for offences such as short returns, innocuous backhands and netted volleys.  He could be fined a whole set rather than the occasional game that he was losing here so far tonight.

Tim lifted the standard of his game now and then, even daring to serve volley with good effect, but his dips were costly, and he could not hang on while serving at 2-5.  Rafa offered a winning backhand as a deposit on the break of serve which he later collected with interest to go towards a first set 6-2.

That was about as good as it became for Nadal for now because the match changed dramatically over the next period.
At 30-30 on serve, Nadal crumbled, losing the game with a double fault and Smyczek led the second set 1-0.  The response was to break back and then the two played four games of high class tennis full of the shots we expect from the Nadal arsenal, but many of them played by Smyczek.

Tim was over the disappointment of the second game and the Rafa implosion in game seven was additional reason for joy for the American.  The game was lost to love with some terrible shots from Nadal, a double fault the final point given away.

Not only did Smyczek hold his next serve but he broke Nadal for a second successive time to win the second set 6-3 and stun the majority of the worlds population.

Nadal began the third set with a break chance but his backhand was all over the place and that chance evaporated with the forehand of Smyczek causing havoc, saving that game and doing much to create the break of Nadal's next serve for a 2-0 advantage.  Six straight games had gone to the American.

Nadal's recovery began immediately with a break after Tim led 30-0, and games went with serve until 3-3 where Nadal broke once more.  At 5-4 the third seed served for a 2 sets to 1 advantage but Smyczek played amazing tennis, including a wicked drop shot and yet again Nadal double faulted on break point.

The required tie break continued the remarkable wave for Tim Smyczek as he routed the Spaniard 7 points to 2 and led the match 2-6 6-3 7-6.

The fourth set was on serve until the sixth game in which Tim found an enemy in the net which he kept hitting and losing points.  Nadal broke to lead 4-2 and this time when serving for the set managed to keep the ball in play with Smyczek not as damaging.  6-3 Nadal and a fifth set to decide.

On serve again with some terrific tennis from both players, Nadal having to play catch up while serving second.
Rafa played a great 10th game to level at 5-5 including glorious backhand winners, and the momentum carried into the next Smyczek serve.  The scintillating groundstrokes proved too much for the gallant American and the break arrived.

40-0 became deuce and Tim had a slight chance, but Rafa soon put that to rest with a brilliant backhand, and the final point provided him with a 6-2 3-6 6-7 6-3 7-5 victory in one of the best second round Aus Open clashes we have seen.

Errani voices her claim

Sara Errani has been to a Grand Slam tournament final before - Roland Garros 2012 - she still represents a challenge for any opponent even if she has slipped from a regular top ten player to number fourteen seed for this year's Aus Open.

Her dogged determination to chase down every ball is almost the female equivalent of Lleyton Hewitt, and Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa would have her work cut out to overcome the Italian in their second round clash. 

The future looked dim for Silvia when her serve was broken with ease, Sara's shots hitting the mark each time.

From that point the contest developed with little between the pair apart from the net.  Silvia was the more adventurous, and with the risks came more mistakes.  However she did manage to break back in the fourth game and that signalled a streak of four more such ruinations of serve.

4-4 grew into 6-6 and the inevitable tie break, the only way the two were going to be separated.  Errani's experience showed when after spotting Silvia a lead she stormed home to take the break and the set 7-6.

Silvia claimed the initiative in the second set, spurred on no doubt by the disappointment of losing a tight first set.  She broke in the opening game and her dangerous forehand was becoming of increasing concern for Errani, with that shot winning the bulk of the points in the second game where Silvia held serve for a 2-0 lead.

At 2-1 and 40-15 Silvia lost her chance to consolidate her position and Sara grabbed onto the opportunity like a dog with a bone.  Silvia was not to be denied however and struck straight back, her lethal forehand creating mayhem and she went to the front again 3-2.

That was to be her last hurrah, because Sara Errani switched up three or four gears and played the best tennis of the match for the next four games, moving the astonished Spanish player to all parts of the court at times she didn't want to be placed there, using just the right proportions of deftly and punishingly played ground strokes.

The Italian Job was complete 7-6 6-3.

Murray a class or two too much for Matosevic

Marinko Matosevic had done well to progress to the second round of the Aus Open for the first time, coming from behind to win in five sets - his reward an even tougher assignment against 6th seed Andy Murray.

Murray served first and served notice from the outset that the gap between the two players was significant and that Marinko would need all the planets to align to give him a chance of prevailing today.

All of the Aussie's errors in the opening game were hit with so much force in contrast to the easy rhythm with which the winners were peeling off the Scottish racquet.

The energy was visibly being sapped from Matosevic at a similar rate as his confidence while Murray moved with cool calm assurance.

14 minutes passed and already Matosevic had been broken twice and at 0-5 needed to hold or face the ultimate embarrassment.  To his credit he turned his obvious nerves into positive adrenalin to win some rallies and at least post a score against his name.

Andy just took this to be handy hitting practice and nonchalantly stepped out to pocket the first set 6-1, allowing the Aussie one down the line winner in the final game for his trouble.

Set two and Marinko deep in drama again 0-40 before managing to fight hard for deuce.  Sadly those efforts were in vain and Murray broke serve once more.  

The Australian offered better opposition in this set and after four games the damage was contained to the single break.  Not content, Andy pushed until the insurance break arrived in the fifth game and he was serving at 6-1 4-1.

Matosevic neutralised Murray's weapons suddenly in the sixth game with the most proactive display of his own abilities for the whole match to date.  He achieved a totally unexpected break and continued his positive play into the next service game to close the gap to 3-4.

Murray found a way to 5-3 but it was a rough and longer path than the smooth freeways he had travelled for most of the match, and under normal circumstances he would have had to serve again to take the set but some poor shot selection and execution, plus a double fault by Marinko determined that the set was over 6-3 upon the umpteenth break of the Aussie serve.

For the sake of the match, a solid service game from Marinko to start set three would have been the tonic, and at 40-0 it appeared that might be a real chance, but it was blown with a stack of unforced errors and sealed with a double fault - Murray led 2-0 and merely had to hold serve a few times more to win the match.

Matosevic did not make it easy, both entertaining and frustrating, but insufficient to prevent Murray playing continued high quality tennis, breaking once more in the final game for a resounding 6-1 6-3 6-2 victory.

Goerges too accomplished for Koukalova

On day three on Margaret Court Arena, Germany's Julia Gorgeous (or Goerges depending on which spell check you use) had a meeting with Klara Koukalova from the Czech Republic the winner to receive a visa to the third round.

Julia had burst into the world's top twenty a few years back, but since has been unable to maintain that level and is currently a lowly 73 compared with Klara's 46. From the outset, rankings meant little though with Goerges in command, her forehand strong and reliable, serve convincing, and able to deal comfortably with the options chosen by Koukalova.

The early break and follow up hold (albeit after a struggle) gave Goerges 3-0 and enough of a buffer to prevent an improving Koukalova from making inroads for the remainder of set one.

The forehand as expected caused the most damage and was the saviour whenever Julia found herself in any semblance of difficulty, hitting clean winners down both lines in particular to great effect.  At 5-3 and serving for the set a few wobbles appeared, notably two double faults, each on set point, but eventually the better shot making won through 6-3.

Set two opened with a game lasting almost as long as the entire first set, complete with six deuces before Koukalova finally held serve.  Goerges continued painting the lines with her forehand and her efforts bore fruit in the third game where she broke serve to lead 2-1.

Koukalova sensed the urgency of the situation and broke back immediately and matched the German player with attractive ground strokes from her own collection for the rest of the set.

Serving for the first set double faults nearly cost Julia, and the serving jitters came again while serving to stay in the second set at 4-5.  This time the doubles were not offset by anything positive and Klara broke to win the set 6-4 and tie the match.

At the change of ends Julia turned to her bag of tricks, pulled out her mirror and had a long hard look at herself.  It worked wonders because the system returned to her game, the winners once more poured off her racquet which was no longer disinterested and poor Klara was about to be sent packing.

Five straight games, including three breaks of the crumbling Czech serve, featured the fully resurrected forehand in ultra damaging mode and, but for a minor blip when serving for the match at 5-0, Julia Goerges completed her assigned task in three sets 6-3 4-6 6-2.