JOY BLOG

15 Jan 2014

Australian Open 2014 – Day 2

Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokinakis flew the flag for us on day two, and Nick was pleasantly surprised to win his 4 setter over German Benjamin Becker, especially after battling a recent shoulder injury. Kokkinakis was also thrilled to be in the second round of his first grand slam. Thanasi has a big task up next with world number one Raphael Nadal.

The big Tomic v Rapha match lived up to the hype, with both players putting on a show of winners. That was until the end of the first set when Bernard was forced to retire from a groin injury. When he left the court, he was disappointed to hear boos from the crowd. He also had to faced the disappointment of playing so well and having to quit.

Aussie James Duckworth was also unlucky, facing the champ Roger Federer and going down in 3 sets. Leyton Hewitt also joined the list of Aussies bowing out of the tournament. He was was 2 sets down against Andreas Seppi, and even had a match point in the fifth set, but in the end at the hottest hour of the day he just couldn’t get over the line.

Marinko Matosevic played a big 5 setter for australia against Kei Nisikori of Japan, but the focus on the match was mainly on the time violation he was given. He seemed to lose his temper on court, and in the interview room, but perhaps we can put it down to the high temperatures.

Players were struggling everywhere with the temps in the mid 40’s. There were several fainting and being sick on court. Juan Martin del Potro won in 4 sets over Rhyne Williams but found the conditions tough, on the hottest day we’ve seen in years at Melbourne Park.