1. Same difference for Novak’s new serve
The more things change, the more they stay the same, as they say in France. In French. And so it proves with Novak Djokovic’s new service motion, a bit of an eyebrow-raiser when the Serbian made his return to court at the Kooyong Classic last week.
The six-time Australian Open champion is sporting a flesh-coloured sleeve from shoulder to wrist on his right arm these days – compression aid for his ailing elbow no doubt, but it has the unnerving effect of making the limb look as if it was borrowed from a crash-test dummy. Along with that is the slightly but noticeably abbreviated service action, with the racquet starting higher than in the past to keep the wind-up more compact.
It’s a subtle but significant shift, as anyone who has tried to rip up their motion and stick with a modified delivery will tell you. But has it affected Djokovic’s potency? Don’t let your eyes deceive you – the stats suggest it’s as dangerous as ever…
On Tuesday against Donald Young, Djokovic made 58 per cent of first serves, hit four aces, flubbed just one double fault, and was broken once. It was a solid if not spectacular display, as the man himself noted.
“I'm very happy with the second serve,” he said. “First serve was kind of up and down. When you come back after a long time and you play first match, all the things are a bit exaggerated, whatever is not working well.
“All in all, I'm quite pleased. I know that it's going to take a little bit of time for me to kind of work my way in and get used to the specific changes that I've made in my service motion. It wasn't ideal, but it was still good. I'm looking forward to work on it more. I hope to improve in this aspect.”
Don’t we all, Novak. Don’t we all…the Serbian will take on Gael Monfils in a showstopper of a second-round tie.
2. Going the distance
Call me sentimental, but Andrea Petkovic versus No.27 seed Petra Kvitova always looked too good a tie for the first round of a Grand Slam, but that’s the luck of the draw for you. All we could do was sit back and enjoy the spectacle out on Show Court 2 – and what a show it proved to be, Petko toppling Petra 6-3 4-6 10-8.
The German careered around the court to counter Kvitova’s booming flat strokes, getting so low at times she was all but kneeling mid-point to fire her backhand – take note, kids: that’s what your coach is talking about when they say bend your knees. Twice Petkovic surged away with the match, opening up a double break to lead 5-1 in the first set and racing out to a 4-0 lead in the third. And twice Kvitova proved to be the dogged battler, saving eight break points before serving out the second set, then clawing her way back to parity in the decider.
Then it got fun. Behind on the scoreboard from the outset, Kvitova broke for a 6-5 lead, leaving her serving for the match – only for Petkovic to break back. Same thing three games later: 8-7 Kvitova, break back Petkovic. And that would prove decisive. The German, far better than her No.98 ranking, held and broke to seal the win after two hours, 53 minutes, before sharing a warm embrace at the net with the ever-magnanimous Czech.
From the life-affirming to the head-scratching in our second women’s match to enter extra innings on day two: Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei beats China’s Lin Zhu 0-6 6-0 8-6 to set up a second-round showdown with Garbine Muguruza. Answers on a postcard to the usual address, please.
3. Ponchet’s penchant for the panhandle backhand
Speaking of Muguruza, the reigning Wimbledon champion eased to victory against French wildcard Jessika Ponchet – a player who had the press pack scrambling when her name was announced. Little was known about world No.256 ahead of her Grand Slam main-draw debut; she had never so much as stepped on court with a top-100 player before, but over the last two seasons the 21-year-old has slashed her ranking from No.791 to the cusp of the top 250.
But those that saw her play on MCA on Tuesday won’t forget Ponchet in a hurry. The Frenchwoman has a rather unique set of strokes: a forehand swing that starts behind her ankles and ends high above her head; a one-handed backhand played from a gun-slinger’s head-on stance, and a slice backhand in defence that required virtually no backlift. Unorthodox, sure, but it was tricky enough to push the world No.3 to a 6-4 6-3 scoreline. See for yourself:
4. Sonego’s Grand Slam bingo
Is there a Grand Slam bucket list that players endeavor to work through during their careers? If so, Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego is racing through his card at breakneck pace on this, his first appearance at a major:
- Reach the main draw as a qualifier? Check
- Beat a former top-20 player in front of a home crowd in the process? Check
- Blow a bunch of match points on your main-draw debut, and still earn your first tour-level win? Check
Yes, after beating Bernard Tomic in the final round of qualifying, Sonego found himself in a bona fide battle out on Court 22 with Robin Haase – and coming out on top. Having sealed a two-set lead and taken the third to a tiebreak, the world No.219 was as good as home when he opened up a 6-1 lead in the breaker. And then, seven lost points later, he wasn’t.
Haase’s reprieve lasted 12 games, however, as Sonego denied the Dutchman the chance to come back from 5-2 down in the fourth to seal a 6-3 7-5 6-7(6) 7-5 victory and book a second-round showdown with Richard Gasquet (Face a seed at a Grand Slam tournament? Check). Beyond the Frenchman, one Roger Federer may well be lurking – and that’s one bucket list showdown every player would like to check.
On the subject of checks (or cheques as they are correctly called here), Sonego’s run over the past seven days has also taken his career prizemoney into six figures for the first time. Not that he needed to go too far to add an extra digit to his earnings: he arrived in Australia with $99,999 to his name. You’d be excited too:
5. Those of a squeamish disposition…
...look away now. If you thought Stan Wawrinka’s pre-tournament press conference was a tad on the self-doubting side, ask yourself how you’d feel making a comeback to professional sport with this staring up at you each change of ends:
Good to see you back, Stanimal – and before anyone has nightmares, he was still able to do this en route to the second round, beating Rikardas Berankis 6-3 6-4 2-6 7-6(2) for his first win in six months: