Learn who your favourite ATP World Tour star will play in Melbourne
Don’t miss out on following the Australian Open draw ceremony Friday at 11:00 a.m. local time (Thursday 12 midnight GMT, 7:00 p.m. ET).
Heather Watson saw the defence of her Hobart International title come to an end at the hands of Sweden’s Johanna Larsson in the quarter-finals.
The British number two lost 3-6 6-4 6-4 to Larsson, ranked one place below her at 54 in the world.
It was Watson’s second match of the day after she earlier wrapped up a three-set win over Romania’s Monica Niculescu.
That match had taken three hours and 13 minutes over two days to complete.
Double duty for players on Friday
Play was cancelled due to rain on Friday shortly after 8 p.m. local time at the Apia International Sydney. Only one doubles match had been completed.
It will be double duty for ATP World Tour players on Friday, with top seed Bernard Tomic kicking off play tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. local time against Teymuraz Gabashvili.
Quarter-final winners will also have to play their semi-finals on Friday, as the final is scheduled for Saturday.
When play was suspended due to rain, third seed and defending champion Viktor Troicki was locked at 2-2 in the first set against Nicolas Mahut. Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov was leading Alexandr Dolgopolov 4-6, 6-3, 4-2. Gilles Muller had taken the first set 7-6(5) against sixth seed Jeremy Chardy.
Fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea, who reached the title match at last year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Sam Groth and John Peers.
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were leading Matt Reid and Jordan Thompson 6-4, 3-3 when play was suspended.
Μετά από ένα συγκλονιστικό πολύωρο αγώνα, με αντίπαλο την Τουρκάλα Cagla Buyukakcay, η Μαρία Σάκκαρη πέρασε στο δεύτερο γύρο των προκριματικών του Australian Open με σκορ 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Η Μαρία έχασε το πρώτο σετ με σκόρ 4-6, αλλά ξεκίνησε δυνατά το δεύτερο και πήρε το προβάδισμα με σκορ 3-1. Ο αγώνας διακόπηκε λόγω βροχής για μιάμιση περίπου ώρα και το σετ ολοκληρώθηκε με νίκη της Μαρίας με σκορ 6-4.
Το τρίτο σετ η Σάκκαρη προήγηθηκε στην αρχή με 4-1, όμως η Buyukakcay κατάφερε να να φέρει τον αγώνα σε ισοπαλία 5-5. Εκεί η Μαρία πήρε με break το προβάδισμα 6-5 και τελείωσε το σετ και τον αγώνα με σκορ 7-5, δίνοντας μάχη μέχρι την τελευταία στιγμή σε ένα εξαντλητικό αγώνα που κράτησε πάνω απο τρείς ώρες.
Επόμενη αντίπαλος η Βελγίδα Elise Mertens Νο162 στην παγκόσμια κατάταξη.
Britain’s Naomi Broady was knocked out of the first round of Australian Open qualifying, losing 6-3 2-6 6-3 to French world number 166 Alize Lim.
Broady, ranked 112th, was seeking a first appearance in the main draw in Melbourne but struggled with her ball toss and serve throughout.
After losing the opening set, the 25-year-old played more aggressively in the second to force a decider.
But a number of errors gave her opponent the initiative and the match.
American roars back to oust No. 4 seed Anderson 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
Jack Sock had reason to worry. After all, South African Kevin Anderson is often at his best when playing Americans. In 2015, he went 8-4 against them. But Sock reversed that trend on Thursday at the ASB Classic, storming back from a slow start to oust the No. 4 seed 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to his first semi-final of 2016, marking the moment by unveiling a new celebratory tradition.
“It feels great,” said Sock, who was out-aced 14-7. “He came out serving really well. He didn’t miss many first serves, didn’t let me get in the match. That’s why he’s No. 12 in the world, Top 10 last year. I knew it was going to be tough, but I was able to get in a little bit of a rhythm on returns and lucky enough to get a win.”
With his wife, Kelsey, watching court-side, Anderson secured service breaks in the fourth and sixth games to take the first set in just 28 minutes, capping the stanza with his seventh ace of the afternoon.
Sock, No. 26 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, cut down on the unforced errors in the second set and had a pair of break points with Anderson serving at 4-5. The 23-year-old would make good on the second, leveling the match at one set apiece.
With his opponent’s first-serve percentage wavering each set (80%/48%/55%), Sock cranked up his return game. With Anderson serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the deciding set, Sock converted his second break of the day to punctuate the one-hour, 38-minute comeback. Anderson, who was making his fifth Auckland appearance in the past six years, is still seeking his first ASB title.
How did Sock celebrate? Aptly, he gave away one of his match-used socks to a fan.
“We were talking about it in warm-up today,” said Sock. “Jo [Tsonga] has got his thing, a few people have their own things. I think with such a unique name that I have, we figured I might start a new tradition and give a sock away if I win.”
Next up for the American is top seed David Ferrer, who is through to his seventh semi-final in Auckland after a 71-minute 6-3, 6-4 win over Lukas Rosol. The Spaniard is now an unblemished 6-0 against the Czech in Fed Ex ATP Head2Head encounters.
“I played better than my first match (d. Matthew Barton 6-2, 6-4),” said Ferrer. “With Lukas, I have to play well to beat him. I tried to serve good and be aggressive with my forehand. The important thing is I am in the semi-finals playing good tennis.”
Playing his 10th quarter-final in 11 appearances at the ASB Classic, the World No. 8 converted a pair of breaks in the opening set, in the third and ninth games. With Rosol serving to stay in the match down 0-40, 4-5 in the second set, Ferrer smacked a forehand winner to secure his third and final break and close it out.
Rosol, who finished with 28 unforced errors, fell to 3-21 against Top-10 competition.
It hasn’t all been about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.
ASB Classic
Big-serving American John Isner showed off his fastball when he visited the Howick Pakuranga Baseball Club in Auckland. Read
No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga climbed Auckland’s tallest building and took time out for a sweet treat. Read
David Ferrer visited the Ronald McDonald house in Auckland and signed a Moet and Chandon gold jeroboam, which is being auctioned off for the charity. Ferrer took the time to visit some of the families and children staying at the House.
Apia International Sydney
Bernard Tomic overcame his fear of heights and got a bird’s eye view of the city atop the Sydney tower. Watch
Animal lover Grigor Dimitrov stopped by the Taronga Zoo and fell in love with the local wildlife. Watch
Dimitrov also joined Sam Groth, Viktor Troicki, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan at Kids’ Day.
The Bryan Brother were the life of the Sydney Players Party. MyATP