Federated victory of will, departure of Williams and Wozniacki, defeat of Alexandrova: results of the fifth day of the Australian Open

Reigning champion

Novak Djokovic did not experience the slightest problems in the match with Yoshihito Nishioka. Serb did not give his opponent a single set and spent only 85 minutes on the court. The final score is 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 2. For the entire game, the Japanese did not realize a single break point and made only one ace, while Novak filed right through 17 times.

Djokovic in the first three matches of the tournament allowed his opponents to win only one game. The German favorite Jan-Lennard Struff managed to complicate his life in the first round. In the fourth round, the Serb could meet with compatriot Dusan Lajovic, but he lost to the Argentine Diego Schwartzman - 2: 6, 3: 6, 6: 7.

Battle

Much more difficult was the third racket of the planet Roger Federer, who was faced with fierce resistance from Australian tennis player John Millman. The owner of the court not only managed to impose a fight on the Swiss, but was also close to leaving him overboard.

The fact that the veteran will not be easy, it became clear already in the first game, which his opponent left behind thanks to two breaks. Moreover, the second and fateful John did with a score of 5: 4 in his favor after he gave Federer his own serve. This was the first set lost by the Swiss in the current tournament.

In the second installment, the rivals confidently took their innings and determined the strongest only in a tie-break. It turned out to be Roger, who managed to get together at a crucial moment. The Swiss also reserved the next batch, having made a break with a score of 5: 4.

Feeling confident, the third racket of the planet tried to squeeze an unyielding opponent. Several times, the favorite was close to taking the opponent’s pitch, but Millman found a way to defend it. In the end, he himself made the favorite in the seventh game nervous, designed a break and brought the matter to victory.

The fate of the incredible match as a result was decided on a tie-break, which developed according to a completely unpredictable scenario. Millman led, first 3: 0, then 8: 4, but managed to yield. At the cost of incredible effort, Roger won six points in a row and reached the 1/8 finals. The meeting itself dragged on for 4 hours and 7 minutes, and turned for the 38-year-old Swiss into a serious test.

“Where to start .. John played a great match, he's a great fighter, a great guy and it came down to the wire. Maybe a bit of luck. What a match, John deserves over half of this one. ”- @ rogerfederer

Match report ▶ https://t.co/Q1jIn1nG28#AO2020 | # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / smI0hHQX7r

Battle

Five sets were held on the court and Marin Cilic with Roberto Bautista-Agut. Opponents met for the seventh time in their careers, and the advantage in face-to-face meetings was on the side of the Croat, who had previously defeated the Spaniard four times in two defeats.

However, a five-set player, which his rival spent on Wednesday with Benoit Peer, became a major advantage for Bautista-Agut. Then Marina had to stay on the court for 3.5 hours. But the 31-year-old Cilic demonstrated that such a load does not scare him. He lost the first game in a tie-break, but in the second he got the upper hand, and in the third he did not leave his opponent any chances - 6: 0.

At this moment, Roberto was able to get together, who in the fourth set made a decisive break and equalized. Well, in the fifth installment, Cilic again showed character and dogged Bautista-Aguta - 6: 3. Thus, Marin made it to the fourth round, but the victory was dear to him, because in the last two matches he spent a total of seven hours and 40 minutes on the court.

And in the next match, the Croat will face off against Milos Raonic, who unexpectedly easily knocked out another tennis player from the top 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Canadian dealt with the Greek in three sets. At the same time, the last game ended in a tie-break, in which Raonic was also stronger - 7: 2.

🇭🇷 Hrvatska in Melbourne 🇭🇷 # AusOpen | # AO2020 | @ cilic_marinpic.twitter.com / ygBeKkc3Mf

100th racket

The maximum allotted number of games in the second round was played by the American Tennis Sandgren, who closes the first hundred of the ATP rating. The 28-year-old tennis player sensationally knocked out the fight of the eighth seeded tournament of the Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Sandgren did not stop there and in the next round did not leave any chance to compatriot Sam Querrey, who is 55 points ahead of him in the world table - 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 4. So Tennis avenged the opponent for the defeat in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year. However, he is not accustomed to surprise fans at the Australian Open. For example, in 2018, Sandgren made it to the quarter finals, where he was stopped by Korean Chun Hyun.

Failures of Russians

But the reporting game day did not bring good news to Russian tennis fans. Actually, in singles, only the best tennis player of the country Ekaterina Aleksandrova went to court. Her rival was the seventh seeded tournament of Peter Kvitov. Moreover, in the previous round, a native of Chelyabinsk knocked out another representative of the Czech Republic Barbora Kreichikova from the fight.

As a result, Kvitova avenged her compatriot and easily forced Catherine to cover the racket. For the whole game, Alexandrova took only three games - 1: 6, 2: 6 and was not able to implement a single break point. But she immediately made five double mistakes, while the rival did without them at all.

“I think the first two games became key when I managed to keep my pitch. Then I was able to break. It was a great start. Then she felt great and played quite aggressively. I knew that I should act that way, attacking from the first blow. Alexandrova likes to play in the same manner as I do. I just tried to put pressure on her first, ”the official website of the tournament quotes Kvitova.

Now in the women's singles from Russia there was only Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. On Friday, she will fight with another seeded Czech Karolina Plishkova.

Sensation

And one of the main events of the gaming day, of course, was the sensational defeat of Serena Williams from Chinese woman Wang Qiang, who occupies the 29th place in the WTA ranking. Before the game, it seemed that the representative of the PRC did not have any chances, because the former first racket of the world in the first matches did not give a set to Anastasia Potapova and Tamara Zidanshek. These victories strengthened the fans' belief that the 38-year-old American could win the Grand Slam tournament again.

However, the trouble came, from where they did not wait. Qiang throughout the match acted faster than the venerable rival and looked fresher. She left the first set for herself - 6: 4, after which it became clear that Serena would not be easy. Williams won the second game with great difficulty in a tie-break, but she no longer had the strength for the third - 5: 7.

Qiang’s victory looks even more incredible, if you remember that last year she met with Serena in the US Open quarterfinal and then managed to get only one game from her. But in Australia, Van worked on the bugs and for the first time in her career reached the fourth round of the tournament.

“After a previous meeting with Serena, I worked hard on the court and beyond. She did a very good job and believed that I could do everything. In the second set, I was a little confused, but I knew that I needed to concentrate on each draw. Now I will rest and prepare for the next match, ”said the Chinese woman.

Serena, for the first time in her career, flew from the Australian Open at such an early stage. After the match, she could not resist the most self-critical statements.

“I was optimistic and thought that I could win. She said to herself: "Well, you need to finish the match in your favor." Honestly, I didn’t think I would lose. But today I did not accept as Serena. I lost myself. I should not play like that. In the literal sense, it should not act like that. This is unprofessional. That's not cool. I'm better than this, ”complained Williams.

Child prodigy

But the flight of Williams to American tennis fans more than paid for the victory of 15-year-old Corey Gauff over the current champion Naomi Osaka. Moreover, the Japanese athlete from the United States beat amazingly easily. She spent only an hour and seven minutes on this. The rival was clearly not in the best condition and at decisive moments every time it turned out to be weaker than Gauff.

In the first set, such an episode happened when the score was 4: 3 in favor of Corey on Naomi's serve. The American managed to realize the first breakpoint in the match and then confidently file for the game. Opponents started the second set with the exchange of breaks, but in the seventh game Osaka again gave her opponent her own serve.

And this time, the 15-year-old Gauff again did not have any problems in bringing the matter to victory in the confrontation with the fourth racket of the world. The Japanese after the match quickly left the court, head down. Corey tried to realize what had happened.

“I want to thank the audience for their help. This is my life, I lost in the first round of the junior tournament two years ago, now I beat Osaka ... I said to myself: "Calm down, fight for every point, like the last." I enjoy the atmosphere, I love Australia and I just don’t believe in all this, ”said Guff.

The rising star of world tennis not only made her way into the fourth round at the debut Australian Open, but also repeated the record of Martina Hingis 24 years ago. She became only the fourth athlete in history, who managed to get to this stage of the tournament at the age of 15 years.

Gracious in defeat 🇯🇵 @ naomiosaka | # AO2020 | # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / lJLQmJK6M5

First racket

Meanwhile, the world's strongest tennis player Ashley Barty, with the support of the home stands, left no chance for the representative of Kazakhstan, Elena Rybakina - 6: 3, 6: 2. The Australian sold five out of nine break points, while her rival only two out of ten. At the same time, Rybakina made four double mistakes and only twice filed right through.

Barty in the next round will meet with American Alison Risk, whom she lost last year at a similar stage in Wimbledon.

Retirement

And the ex-first racket of the world Caroline Wozniacki on Friday spent the last match of his career. The Dane said in advance that she would end her career right after the Australian Open. And at the last tournament she intended to slam the door loudly, especially in 2018 she won the final victory here.

Unfortunately, the campaign of the 29-year-old athlete for the trophy ended in the third round. Carolina sensationally lost to the 78th racket of the planet Ons Jaber. A tennis player from Tunisia showed herself better both on her own serve (six aces against one from her opponent), and on someone else's (42% of the implementation of break points versus 33%).

Having lost the first set - 5: 7, Wozniacki got together and confidently took the second. But in the decisive game Jaber was more aggressive and still squeezed the venerable opponent - 7: 5. She reached the fourth round at the current Australian Open, although she could not win a match here before. Now she has to meet with another sensation of the tournament, Wang Qiang.

Wozniacki left the court with tears in her eyes. At a difficult moment, she was supported by her friend Serena Williams, who was also defeated.

“We are both a little shocked by our matches. But this is not the end of the world. Life goes on. So far, everything connected with the end of her career seems so alive. God, this is so emotional. I will miss her. Guys, I can't answer questions about Carolina. I will cry now. She is one of my best friends. We will get along wonderfully, but I will miss her, ”the American admitted.

🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 @ CaroWozniacki takes one last lap of Melbourne Arena to the tune of 'Sweet, Caroline' 🎵 # AO2020 | # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / r3pIt1o86c