The Open(ing Day) in Melbourne

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Well, the first day of the first slam of 2014 is upon us. Serena has obliterated someone, seeds have tumbled and there have been five-setters. So, nothing's changed. There were few upsets on the men's side despite the blistering heat, and I am still alive in the suicide pool I'm playing, though only just. My picks of Madison Keys and Jeremy Chardy nearly went wrong. For tomorrow I have picked Pavlychenkova and Verdasco. But I digress. Lots happened on the first day, though there hasn't been a great amount of drama thus far.


PEARLER OF A MATCH: JANOWICZ d. THOMPSON
...the Australian Thompson played a bruised and out of form Jerzy Janowicz on Hisense. It really was a marquee match for the crowd to get into. The match did not disappoint. Thompson swept through the first two sets 6-1 and 6-4, hitting 17 winners and seven aces compared to just 7 errors and a single double. The match turned on a dime when Janowicz won a 52-minute third set when he broke Thompson serving at 4-5. He didn't look back and closed out the last two sets 6-2, 6-1. Janowicz looks vulnerable, but he is through to the second round, partially thanks to hitting a total of 80 winners. He plays the steady and consistent Andujar next and that will be a real test for the fiery Pole. All in all, it was a nice warm-up for the Aussie crowd despite the result not going their way.
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ROSOL MOMENT: ISTOMIN , UZB
...well, the end must surely be nigh for Marcos Baghdatis. 2006 feels like a long time ago now. Ranked 109 and rapidly approaching the dreaded thirty mark he is in a steep decline. He crumbled to Istomin here, losing in two and a half hours to the Uzbeki 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. He hit 50 unforced errors, more than his 45 winners whilst his opponent came up with 50 winners compared to just 42 errors. Baghdatis was inconsistent and crashed out at his 'home slam.' Despite avid crowd support here as always, the Cypriot was unable to rekindle his old magic and simply burned to a crisp in the Melbourne heat. His opponent goes on to play Tursunov, the thirtieth seed, next. The winner of that plays Djokovic, realistically.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: ROBREDO/ROSOL, ESP/CZE
...in the sweltering heat, Rosol battled Robredo for 3 and a half hours before succumbing in five epic sets. He lea Robredo 6-1, 7-6 [9-7] before Robredo took the third 6-3. The fourth went to another tiebreaker in which Rosol led 5 points to one. The match now was surely over. No, not quite. Rosol lost six straight points to drop the set and it looked as though he would crumble. He got up for the final set but still lost it 8-6. Robredo loves to come back from 2 sets to love down. He did it three times in a row at the French Open -- a slam record. The stats were incredible for this match. Rosol had 11 aces but 12 doubles. This was complemented by his 82 winners and 96 unforced errors. Live by the sword and you die by the sword. Robredo hit 50 winners and thirteen aces. He had no double faults and only 38 errors. Robredo faces Benny next and it will be interesting to see if he has any gas left for that match. The winner of that will likely meet Richard Gasquet in the third round.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: L.MAYER/MONTANES, ARG/ESP
...we all have bad days at the office, but none quite as spectacularly bad as the one Monatanes had. Playing against clay courter Mayer, he lost in 70 minutes. He won just 42 points in a 1-6, 3-6, 1-6 loss. His opponent had thirteen winners and won 80 of the points. It was a very quick Australian Open for Montanes, who didn't even get a break point and won just 19% of receiving points. Mayer has a reward for winning so easily -- he gets to play Djokovic. If Mayer beats Djokovic for the loss of just 5 games I will be impressed.
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ELVIS AWARD: ANDERSON, RSA
...Anderson's woes looked set to continue. Vesely took the opening two sets against Anderson in an hour and 31 minutes 6-2,7-6. After that, however, Anderson found his mojo and won the last three sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, all in 46 minutes, which is a bit of a weird coincidence. After losing his serve twice in the opening set, Anderson never lost it again. He was too strong for Vesely in the end and the South African number one ended up hitting 21 aces on his way to a five set victory. It could so easily have gone the way of his opponent, however. Anderson could be a real dark horse to get through this section what with that big delivery he has handy.
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HOME GROWN HERO: Ebden, AUS
...The young Aussie -who is best friends with Ryan Harrison- upset Mahut in five. After going up two sets to love, 6-3, 7-5, Ebden appeared to be cruising. However, Mahut came back strongly, taking sets three and four 6-4, 6-0 to even it up. Ebden was not to be denied and got the break with Mahut serving at 3-4 in the fifth and then safely served it out to finish. Ebden hit 45 winners to his opponents 49, but had two fewer unforced errors. Mahut, in fact, won 137 points, six more than his opponent, but it didn't help him in the end. Both men also won 23 games and it was a good match that the crowd could really get into. Perhaps the crowd support finally got Ebden through.
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