1. Seeds scattered on scorching Thursday
The temperature may have been the talk of Melbourne Park on Day 4, but so was the sudden nosedive in the number of seeds. All told, eight of the 27 seeded players in action on Thursday are heading home before meeting another player with a number by their name, bringing the total tally of seeded casualties to 29 of 64 already.
Only twice since the introduction of 32 seeds at the slams in 2002 have more fallen before the third round at the Australian Open: in both 2002 and 2015, 30 seeds had been eliminated after two rounds.
While Stan Wawrinka’s hobbling loss to Tennys Sandgren was not much of a shock, the exits of No.7 seed David Goffin and Sam Querrey, the No.13 seed, were unexpected – the American against a player at his first AO, the Belgian to a man at his last.
The trend was even more marked in the women’s draw, where 10 of the top 16 seeds – including each one from No.9 to No.16 – have now been sent packing before the third round. Five fell today, with No.9 seed Johanna Konta’s off-key performance against lucky loser Bernarda Pera the real turn-up behind Garbine Muguruza’s demise (more on that shortly).
With former champions Maria Sharapova – unseeded on her AO return – and birthday girl Angelique Kerber meeting in the third round and Jelena Ostapenko the only other Grand Slam champion in the field, it really does feel like an open Aussie Open.
2. Playing her Wei
Of all the shock departures on Thursday, none comes bigger than that of reigning Wimbledon champion and No.3 seed Muguruza, who was ousted on Rod Laver Arena by Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh 7-6(1) 6-4 in a match of starkly contrasting styles.
For the uninitiated, Hsieh’s game is anything but orthodox. What her double-fisted strokes lack in pace, they make up for it placement, while her late chops at the ball make it almost impossible to read her intentions, constantly keeping her opponent guessing at what might be coming next. Case in point: Muguruza, who was left every bit as shook by the straight-sets defeat as her opponent was by the victory:
So where does Hsieh’s game style come from? “I was doing a lot of different training,” she explains. “I do the topspin, I mean, the flat balls and slice. I try to practice all the stuff, so against different players I try to do a little bit different stuff, not try to play the same game.”
Nevertheless, she’s not one to step out on court simply to bamboozle. Hsieh had a gameplan for the world No.3, and executed it to perfection. “Today I tried to be hitting the ball a little bit harder, because my girlfriend told me, ‘oh, she's hitting the ball very heavy’. I say, okay, I gonna try to don't let her destroy me on the court, so try to be aggressive, to get the first point going. I was going pretty good when I was hanging there.”
The plan will probably look a little different against her next opponent, No.26 seed Agnieszka Radwanska – something of a chess player on a tennis court herself. “Yes, I think totally different game as today. I think I will try to be enjoy more on my game and try to play Su-Wei style.”
Offbeat and unpredictable? Su-Wei style suits us fine.
3. Bye-bye Benneteau? Not just yet…
There is a small corner of the Twittersphere devoted to a cause that is yet to fulfil its promise – and time is running out. A quick search for the hashtag #JulienBenneteauTitleWatch allows you access to these defenders of the faith, waiting for the day that the Frenchman, a veteran of 10 ATP finals in his 18 years on tour, finally wins that elusive trophy.
Their watch will soon be ended, however, with Benneteau announcing late last season that he would call time on his career sometime in 2018 – which makes this his 13th and last appearance in the main draw at Melbourne Park. So it stands to reason that he should mark it in style, ousting No.7 seed and dark horse for a deep run Goffin in four sweat-soaked sets out on Show Court 2, 1-6 7-6(5) 6-1 7-6(4).
It was a battle of wills as much as skill as Benneteau, his serve betraying him towards the end, recovered from missing two match points in the fourth set to save Goffin’s sole set point to take the match into a fifth, clinching victory with a five-point burst from 4-2 down in the decisive tiebreak.
The title dream is still alive: Benneteau will face Italian No.25 seed Fabio Fognini for a place in the fourth round.
4. Quick grilled bagels
With the mercury is creeping towards 40 °C and there’s not a cloud in the sky, it pays to keep your time on court as brief as possible – and there’s no faulting Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova’s blistering displays in that regard. Czech No.6 seed Pliskova set the bar in the second match on Hisense, racing away from Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1 6-1 in just 44 minutes, to which Keys responded: hold my Gatorade.
Out on MCA, Keys was simply unstoppable for 11 games straight against Ekaterina Alexandrova. It looked as though the No.13 seed was set to post the first double-bagel at the Australian Open since Annika Beck blitzed Petra Martic in the first round back in 2014, but her Russian opponent rallied to avoid her place in the history books by winning the penultimate game of the 6-0 6-1 drubbing – match time, 41 minutes.
Keys may not have unlocked the chance to become just the ninth woman credited with a 6-0 6-0 score, but there was a double-bagel on Day 4 – kinda. Earlier in the day, Lauren Davis recovered from a set down against Andrea Petkovic to book her spot in the third round – final score, 4-6 6-0 6-0.
5. Funny man Ferrell gives Wozniacki serious props
“Right now I'm… well, that's part of the reason I wanted to hold this press conference. I'm retiring.”
The assembled reporters laughed, which may seem a little heartless – until you learn it was Will Ferrell behind the mic, vamping it up with Jim Courier. The American gave as good as he got while yukking it up with the Anchorman star, but found himself bowled over by Ferrell’s tennis acumen as he reeled off Courier’s Davis Cup teammates and captain from back in the day.
“Didn't set it up,” Courier confirmed, high-fiving the comedian.
And Ferrell’s appreciation for the sport didn’t stop there. He’s watched both Federer and Rafael Nadal from prime locations on Rod Laver Arena over the last few days, but it was Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback win over Jana Fett that left a lasting impression, describing it as “the perfect metaphor for just how tough it is, even when you're up 5-1. In fact, I turned to my wife and I said, ‘If she can get it to 5-3, she has a chance to win this whole thing.’
“I think it just shows the mental side of the game and how she was able to draw on her experience,” Ferrell added. “It's funny how, when a less experienced player is up 5-1 in the final set, the pressure is on them to close it out.
“You knew she was just sitting there going, Okay, if I just get one game, try to get another, otherwise no one expects me to win it at this point. It was just fun to see her kind of slow the game down and draw on that.”
Classy take, Mr Ferrell. Seriously - this time, at least...
