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Britain's Evans hopes to move on from 'dark times'

  • Posted: Jan 18, 2017

British number three Dan Evans believes he has come through a difficult period in his career after beating world number seven Marin Cilic at the Australian Open.

The 26-year-old caused a massive upset to beat the former US Open champion 3-6 7-5 6-3 6-3 and reach the third round.

It comes after a struggle at the end of 2016 following a heartbreaking defeat by Stan Wawrinka at the US Open.

“There were some tough times after the Wawrinka match,” he said.

“I still think about that match on the court today. It’s not easy when you had the opportunity to sort of close out the big match and then lose.

“Yeah, I’m happy it happened. But, you know, hopefully there will be no more dark times, as you put it.”

World number 51 Evans squandered a match point in the fourth set of his third-round match with two-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka in September.

He was devastated afterwards and went on to finish the year with three defeats from four matches – all against lower-ranked opposition.

But he is now into the third round of a Grand Slam for only the fourth time of his career – and the first time in Melbourne.

  • Kyrgios beaten as Federer progresses
  • Champion Kerber survives scare
  • Day three: All the results

No kit? No problem

Evans said the victory over Cilic was the “biggest” of his career as he joined compatriot Andy Murray in the third round.

He did it wearing shirts and shorts bought from a shop after his kit deal with Nike expired in December and was not renewed by the sports clothing company.

“I just went to the store and bought a load of clothes the other day, plain clothes,” he said.

“What was it, Sunday? Sunday or Saturday, yeah. £19.99, the shirts are.

“I think I bought about 18 shirts, something like that. I went back this morning to buy some more. They’re not the best quality, to sweat in and wash.

“I only wore one shirt today. I’m good until Friday.”

A renewed rivalry with Tomic

Evans will face Australian Tomic in the last 32, a man he beat in four sets in the second round of the 2013 US Open.

It was a win the Birmingham player enjoyed, after the world number 27’s father suggested he was not good enough to have a practice hit with his son.

“I’m not going to bother saying anything about that again. He confronted me about that. We’ll leave it at that,” he said on Wednesday.

“I’d say it’s a 50-50 match. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to playing him.”

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No Drama For Kei This Time

  • Posted: Jan 18, 2017

No Drama For Kei This Time

Jan182017

Tsonga also cruises through to the third round

Kei Nishikori must have learned his lesson. After playing a five-set opener in the Melbourne heat on Monday, the Japanese avoided such serious tension during his second-round match, dismissing Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours on Wednesday at the Australian Open.

Nishikori saved six of nine break points faced and made Chardy work all match long on his serve. The fifth-seeded Nishikori converted seven of 18 break points against the 29-year-old Chardy, who was trying to reach the third round in Melbourne for the third time.

Nishikori moves through to the third round for the seventh consecutive year. But the 27-year-old Shimane native has bigger targets in mind for this Melbourne visit. Nishikori will try to improve on his best showing at the Australian Open, the quarter-finals in 2012, 2015, 2016. He’ll next face Israel’s Dudi Sela or Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko next.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played more efficiently than even Nishikori. The Frenchman, who reached the Melbourne final in 2008 (l. to Djokovic), spent one hour and 45 minutes on court during a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 rout against Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

The 31-year-old Tsonga crushed 39 winners to only 25 unforced errors. He’s now reached the third round at Melbourne Park nine times. Tsonga will next meet American Jack Sock or #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov.

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Australian Open 2017: Angelique Kerber makes third round

  • Posted: Jan 18, 2017
Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website.

Defending champion Angelique Kerber survived an onslaught from fellow German Carina Witthoeft to advance to the Australian Open third round.

Kerber – top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time – struggled with her serve in a second-set tie-break before prevailing 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.

The top seed, who was 29 on Wednesday, faces Czech Kristyna Pliskova next.

Venus Williams advanced 6-3 6-2 against Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele to reach the third round for a 13th time.

  • Live scores, results and order of play

Venus still going strong at 36

Williams, who played her first Australian Open in 1998, is the oldest woman in the singles draw at 36 and is competing in her 73rd Grand Slam.

“I have to talk about my age every interview!” the American said. “I’ve played some of the greats.”

“It’s an honour and privilege to start that young, and play this old.”

She later pulled out of the doubles competition with her sister Serena as a precaution to rest a sore elbow.

The 17th seed has never won the title, with her best result coming in 2003 when she was runner-up to Serena.

She will next play Duan Yingying after the Chinese player beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-1 3-6 10-8.

‘Pressure is a privilege’

World number one Kerber has started the year in less-than-convincing style, going out in the last eight in Brisbane and the second round in Sydney.

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And Witthoeft, 21, posed a far more serious challenge in this meeting than in the 6-0 6-0 defeat she suffered against her compatriot at Wimbledon 2015.

After a frustrated Kerber coughed up successive double faults in the tie-break, Witthoeft’s powerful groundstrokes took the opening game of the decider against serve.

But Kerber won the next four to regain control and avoid an upset.

“To have this pressure is a privilege. It’s completely new for me, but I’m doing well. I’m just trying to enjoy it,” she said.

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Murray set for 'big-hitting' Rublev on Wednesday

  • Posted: Jan 17, 2017
Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.

World number one Andy Murray has admitted he does not know much about his Australian Open second round opponent Andrey Rublev.

Murray will face the 19-year-old Russian, ranked 152nd in the world, on Wednesday from 09:30 GMT.

Fellow Briton Dan Evans will also be in action in Melbourne, against seventh seed Marin Cilic.

“I’ve never hit with him or played against him, but I’ve seen him play and he goes for it,” Murray said.

“I know a little bit about him and he doesn’t hold back. He hits a big ball.”

  • Order of play – who plays when?
  • BBC TV, radio and online coverage times

Rublev is appearing in his second Grand Slam – he was knocked out in the first round of the US Open in 2015.

“I’m so excited, I have nothing to lose. He’s the best tennis player at the moment. So I will just try to take a great experience from this,” he said.

Murray was left frustrated after his first round victory over Illya Marchenko, taking two hours and 48 minutes to register a three-set win.

“I have had a lot of tough losses here, for sure,” said Murray, who has been beaten in the final in Melbourne five times in seven years.

“I have played some of my best tennis on hard courts here. But I keep coming back to try. I’ll keep doing that until I’m done.”

Elsewhere, Roger Federer faces American Noah Rubin from 04:00, while fourth seed Stan Wawrinka will play Rubin’s compatriot Steve Johnson.

World number one Angelique Kerber plays Germany’s Carina Witthoeft, while Serena and Venus Williams appear in the first round of the doubles, playing Hungary’s Timea Babos and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Analysis

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith

We’ll learn a lot more about Rublev in this match. He is a big-hitting player who goes after the shots and plays high-octane tennis.

It’ll be good to see what this young man can bring but it’s a very tough ask for someone of that age against Andy.

It’s an environment that Andy really enjoys. You would expect him to get the job done, but he will study him and won’t take anything for granted.

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