Australian Open: Naomi Osaka breezes past Caroline Garcia in straight sets to enter third round: Naomi Osaka breezed through the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday beating French player Caroline Garcia in straight sets to enter the third round of the tournament. The Japanese third seed continued her dominating show and defeated Garcia 6-2, 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic got off to a good start and went on to take an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but Tiafoe made a comeback of sorts and brought the scoreline to 4-3. However, the Serbian maintained his composure and took the first set 6-3.
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Relief 😅
3R 🔜@DjokerNole | #AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Bzfzon89Xq
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 10, 2021
The second set was a close affair and both Djokovic and Tiafoe went back and forth to bring the scoreline to 5-5. Tiafoe then managed to pile on the pressure and won 7-6.
Tiafoe also gave Djokovic a tough fight in the third set which also went down to the tie-breaker, but Djokovic managed to win it in the end. The Serbian was now just one set away from progressing to the third round.
“It feels like my living room.” 🛋@DjokerNole shares his @RodLaverArena recipe for success.#AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/PMadIfuD2k
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 10, 2021
Djokovic went for the kill in the final set and his efforts were rewarded as he ended up winning the match.
He will now play another American – Reilly Opelka or Taylor Fritz – in the third round.
Australian Open 2021 Day 3 – Serena Williams beat Nina Stojanović in Australian Open second round:
Former world number one Serena Williams continued her dominating show in the Australian Open as she thrashed Nina Stojanović 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and nine minutes on Rod Laver Arena to enter the third round of the tournament on Wednesday.
Superb form from @serenawilliams.
Our 7 time champion moves into the round of 32, dismantling Stojanovic 6-3 6-0.#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/hbacPSA5qJ
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 10, 2021
Williams was challenged in the first set before winning 6-3 but she went to a new level after that and Stojanovic was powerless to slow her down as the American huffed and puffed and blew down Stojanovic’s house in that second set capping off a 6-0 set with an ace.
23-Grand Slam winner Williams needed 44 minutes to win the tough opening set against the unseeded Serb, but only needed 25 minutes to claim the second.
Serena will now face promising 19-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova in the next round.
Australian Open 2021 Day 3 – Bianca Andreescu lose to Hsieh Su-wei
Bianca Andreescu’s return to tennis was cut short as she suffered a straight-sets defeat in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday against Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei. Bianca, who came back after a 15-month absence from tennis, lost 3-6, 2-6.
Notably, Andreescu hadn’t played a match for 15 months because of injuries and she was one of 72 players who could not leave their hotel rooms, even to train, for two weeks due to hard quarantine. Yet, she passed her first-round test on Monday, a three-set nail-biter against Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania.
However, Bianca looked out of sorts from the start in the second round and she attacked with her typical abandon at Rod Laver Arena but found a brick wall in the form of the double-handed Hsieh, who drove the Canadian to distraction with her defence.
With no apparent plan B, Andreescu doubled down on the power game and had 25 unforced errors as she slumped to a 5-2 deficit in the second set.
Andreescu saved two match points on serve but bowed out meekly with a double-fault on the third as Hsieh advanced to a third-round clash against Venus Williams or Sara Errani.
Interestingly, Hsieh, who is No. 71 in the world, is known for knocking off top players in Grand Slam tournaments, having previously beaten Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open and Simona Halep at Wimbledon.