MELBOURNE – World No. 4 Sascha Zverev was once again upset by a lower ranked opponent in the early rounds of a Grand Slam tournament. After failing to reach the quarterfinals in all of the four Grand Slams in 2017, the young German didn’t go much further at this year’s Australian Open either. After his surprising loss to Chung with the score of 6-0 in the fifth set, I asked Zverev if his issues were more physical or mental: He honestly admitted that they were more mental.
After prevailing over Richard Gasquet in his third-round match, Federer told the press that he met Sascha in the locker room and tried to cheer him up: “I told him that he doesn’t have to put too much pressure on himself. I used to succumb to the pressure and lose early at the Slams until I turned 22 in 2003. At that age, you don’t have to consider a failure every time that you don’t win a tournament. He is young and has to be patient.”
Many predicted that Zverev will be No. 1 in the world once the new generation of players replaces the old one. Hyeon Chung of South Korea, who won the NextGen ATP Finals in November last year and surprised Zverev in yesterday’s third round match, is a very solid and promising player as well. “These guys look more experienced than their actual age. They are very professional and extremely well-prepared. Besides the technological evolution that occurred in the past ten years, the biggest change in today’s game is that younger players are much more professional,” Novak Djokovic said.
Yesterday Djokovic and Federer didn’t have any problems defeating Ramos Vinolas and Gasquet respectively. Maria Sharapova produced a very disappointing performance against “the wall” that was erected by Angelique Kerber in the most anticipated third round clash of the women’s tournament. Sharapova was extremely inconsistent throughout the match and never really challenged the German, who – after a disappointing 2017 season – seems to have found the same form that took her to No. 1 in the world a couple of years ago. This was only the 10th time in 50 Slams that Maria Sharapova failed to reach the second week of competition.
Local favorite Ashleigh Barty was surprisingly eliminated by Naomi Osaka of Japan, while Simona Halep and Lauren Davis treated the crowd to an epic match, which saw the Romanian prevail 15-13 in the third set after saving four match points. A couple of days ago, Simona fell on the court after rolling her ankle and many wondered if she was going to withdraw from the tournament. In week two of competition, not only Halep will have to deal with an ankle injury, but she will also have to overcome the fatigue that such a brutal match entails.
For the first time in 42 years, Italy has two male players in the round of 16 of a Grand Slam tournament. The last time that it happened was in 1976 when Adriano Panatta and Corrado Barazzutti both reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros. Panatta went on to win the title in what were considered the golden days of Italian tennis. It is fair to say that Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini had a pretty comfortable road in the tournament so far and are yet to face any higher ranked opponents. Seppi – who is currently ranked No. 76 – defeated No. 155 Moutet, No. 168 Nishioka and No. 89 Karlovic to reach the round of 16 in Melbourne for the fourth time in six years. World No. 25 Fognini defeated No. 66 Zeballos, No. 72 Donskoy and No. 59 Bennetteau. Nevertheless, kudos to both Italians for taking advantage of very favorable draws. At the end of the day, you can only defeat who is in front of you.
The task will get much tougher for both Italians in the round of 16, where Seppi will face the in-form Kyle Edmund of Great Britain and Fognini will play Tomas Berdych – who has recently slipped to No. 20 in the ATP rankings after a difficult 2017 campaign, but has consistently been a top-ten player for almost a decade.
Berdych played an impeccable match against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in a third-round match that promised to be a classic on paper and turned out to be a walk in the park for the Czech instead. Tomas showcased some vintage form throughout the entire match, while Del Potro looked fatigued and uninspired.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
