AO Day 3 - The (Other) Big Four

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Have we really had three days? I guess the tennis calendar waits for no man. Or woman. On this day, Djokovic cruised, Ferru out-ground someone and only a few seeds fell. The fourth day will mark the final day of the preliminary rounds. The men's doubles has begun, but the tournament is already over for some. Lleyton Hewitt went down with Rafter 6-4, 7-5. Butorac and Klaasen were too good for the veterans. With that loss, two of the Aussie greats of the modern era bowed out. The top eight seeds remain intact, unlike on the ladies side of things, and the matchups we want to see could all happen. Much could still go wrong for the big seeds tomorrow, though.

Suicide pool watch:
Well, Dodig retired with severe cramps. On the suicide pool I am involved in, his retriement knocked out 106 people. Including me. I am still alive in the women's, however.

Day One: Madison Keys, Jeremy Chardy [29]
Day Two: Anastasia Pavlychenkova [29], Fernando Verdasco [31]
Day Three: Ekaterina Makarova [22], Ivan Dodig [32]
Day Four: Carla Suarez Navarro [16]

The Spanish number one plays Voskoboeva and she had better win. I need to get to at least the quarterfinals in the women's to retain any of my dignity.


PEARLER OF A MATCH: POSPISIL d. EBDEN, CAN/AUS
...Vasek and Matty put on a show for the bias crowd late on RLA. Ebden had the initial advantage, after taking the opener 6-3, and had opportunities to take this match in straight sets, but Pospisil proved too strong as he came back for a 3-6, 7-6 [6], 7-6 [9], 6-1 victory. Hewitt beat Roddick by that score in the 2005 Australian Open semifinal. Back in the present, Ebden had 38 winners but 46 errors. Pospisil had 59 winners and 50 errors. He also won 80% of his break points, too. Pospisil and compatriot Raonic are creating a very bright future for Canadian tennis at the moment as they consistently rise up the rankings. Pospisil has eighth seeded Wawrinka up next who beat him at Chennai earlier this year when the young Canuck retired. That is their only meeting. I think that is a very intriguing clash and I think it will be a tight four-setter, but Wawrinka is beatable. I think that the Wawrinka/Gasquet fourth round meeting will happen, however. Gasquet plays Robredo and he should win that match in four. Anyway, Ebden did himself proud this tournament, winning a match and playing the world number 28 close. The crowd will not be disappointed by that, he really couldn't have given more.
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ROSOL MOMENT: QUERREY, USA
....My pick for Querrey to make the fourth round is holding firm right now. He just needs to beat Seppi to equal his best ever slam result. He beat Gulbis in an hour and 37 minutes 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. He hit 19 aces and just 4 faults whilst his opponent had more modest stats of 7 and 4. He had just 21 errors and 30 winners whilst his Latvian opponent hit just 19 winners and 41 errors. That's a lot of unforced errors for a three set match, even for a four setter that's pretty high. Gulbis does not usually play his best at slams, particularly this one and he wasn't at the races today. He did break Querrey's serve once though, whilst Querrey broke him 5 times. Querrey is currently the tournament ace leader with 43 aces to his name. He and Fognini will have a great match and that is surely going four, if not five sets. I think Querrey's big serve and consistency should be enough for him to get through against Fognini. Unfortunately, Djokovic looms for the talented American.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: N/A
...I am afraid there was no really long match this week. I think there was only one five setter.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: BERDYCH/DE SCHEPPER, CZE/FRA
...It took Berdman an hour and 42 minutes to get past De Schepper 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. He hit 34 total winners and just 17 errors. He also won nearly double the points his opponent did. The Frenchman had 37 winners and 41 errors. Amazingly, Berdy never faced a break point, but he had eight himself. He converted five of those eight opportunities in this straightforward victory. These days, the top ten seeds rarely fall victim to early upsets, or at least not consistently. Berdych has Ferrer in two rounds time, if they both make it, and he will be thinking of that match. Another interesting stat is that Berdie came to the net 25 times and won the point 21 times. It is paying dividends so he should continue to attack the net.
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ELVIS AWARD: (N/A)
...My apologies again. I am hoping normal service will soon be resumed here, too.
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HOME GROWN HERO: MITCHELL/THOMPSON, AUS
...The young Aussie duo were playing against an experienced South American duo of Berlocq/Gonzalez on Court 7, much to the delight of the crowd. And, 43 winners later, they ran out winners 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. It was a tight match but the Aussies managed to be consistent and aggressive enough to win out. The Australian contingency has done well this Australian Open on the whole -led by Casey and Sam- with plenty of young talent there, too. The powerhouse that once was Australian tennis looks to be slowly coming back. The same can be said for America, France and, to a certain extent, Britian. I guess the big four never really go away.
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