Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios will be back in action at the Australian Open on Wednesday after picking up routine first-round victories. Nadal is going up against familiar foe Leonardo Mayer, while Kyrgios has a date with Viktor Troicki.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Leonardo Mayer
Nadal and Mayer will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and at a second consecutive Grand Slam when they meet again in round two of the Australian Open on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 4-0 in favor of Nadal, who is 10-1 in total sets against Mayer without requiring a single tiebreaker to win any of those 10 sets–whereas Mayer’s lone set against the Spaniard came in a ‘breaker. One of Nadal’s toughest tests (which still is not saying a lot) during last summer’s routine run to the U.S. Open title was presented by Mayer. In a third-round showdown in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Argentine led by a set and had a break point to lead by a set and a break before Nadal stormed back to prevail 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. The world No. 1 was off to the races once he finally converted his 14th break point of the match at 3-3 in the second.
That was a relative thriller compared to what Nadal enjoyed in his Melbourne opener on Monday night, when the top seed and 2009 champion issued a triple-breadstick to 37-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos. The 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 affair required only one hour and 34 minutes, the duration of which saw Nadal race around the court with no signs whatsoever of the knee injury that forced him out of the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals and the Brisbane International earlier this month. Mayer, meanwhile, punched his ticket to the last 64 by beating Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6(1), 6-3. The world No. 52 is off to an unspectacular start this season, with an opening loss in Brisbane to Ryan Harrison and a second-round exit in Sydney at the hands of Benoit Paire. Based on a healthy Nadal’s performance against Estrella Burgos, this should be one-way traffic for the most part.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing more than 11 games
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(17) Nick Kyrgios vs. Viktor Troicki
It’s too soon to start thinking about a potential semifinal affair in the top half of the bracket between Nadal and Kyrgios. Or is it? Kyrgios was just as dominant on Monday, dropping a few more games than the 16-time Grand Slam champion only because his competition (Rogerio Dutra Silva) was slightly more formidable than Estrella Burgos. The 22-year-old’s 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 thrashing came as no surprise, and not just because he was playing at home in Australia and on a favorable surface. This is also arguably the best form Kyrgios has displayed heading into a major, coming off his fourth career title in Brisbane–where he toppled world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov along the way.
Up next for the world No. 17 on Wednesday is a second career meeting with Troicki, who got blown out 6-1, 6-2 last summer in Montreal. The 65th-ranked Serb did well to survive his opening match, but the scoreline was hardly encouraging against Alex Bolt–a 25-year-old ranked No. 192 who obviously needed a wild card to get into the main draw. Troicki battled out of a two-set deficit to prevail 6-7(2), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. A much different kind of adversary in this one will almost certainly bring a swift end to Troicki’s stay Down Under.
Pick: Kyrgios in 3
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I have busy schedule and don’t get to enjoy watching AO! I only managed to see the first set! Rafa IMO was standing too far behind the baseline and missed some good opportunities for break. I hope he did not get tired in the third set -that would be worrying. I just think he got tight and tentative as he usually does when serving for the set or for the match!
Certainly not an easy draw for Rafa…hope he builds his form and confidence as the tourney progresses enough to get ready for big matches with Cilic/Kyrgios/Dimitrov…
Vamos Champ!
Dolgopolov will be better at the AO because the courts here play quicker than the USO and he’s serving aces after aces! I doubt Schwartzman can handle those aces on a fast HC.
It will be a hot day on Thurs, can’t help but think of Dzumhur vs Rafa at Miami one year where Rafa retired in the third set; that Dzumhur guy can hit hard and run fast!
Rafa is better at the USO than at the AO; it’s only in 2015/2016 that he had poor results at the USO! He hardly was being pushed to five sets at the USO, and since 2008, he was reaching at least the SF there ( excluding 2015/2016 of course).
The AO used to be played on slower courts, hence Rafa had to grind there and he played many five setters there; even when the court was sped up last year, Rafa still had to grind in his three five setters, hardly playing better than when he’s at the USO.
*I mean it’ll be a hot day on Friday when Rafa has to play against Dzumhur.
I thought Dzumhur was a Ferrer type of player , not much to hurt Rafa with ? Maybe its the conditions that bother Rafa more.
correct
Exactly. No clue where lucky is getting this “hard hitting” style of Dzumhur from lol
Nah, he’s not a Ferrer type of player; he can run fast and hits hard. Ferrer is more a retriever and good returner of serves; I doubt Dzumhur can return serves as well as Ferrer.
Ferrer does hit his forehand pretty hard.
Ha, Dzumhur definitely not of Ferrer’s pedigree; Ferrer was a top five, even top three player during his heydays, not even Delpo or Cilic could get to world no.3 ranking.
And Ferrer was no match for Nadal,interesting to see what this hard hitter can do.He’s only a wee guy!
Depends on the weather conditions.
Snowed in here in UK, minus three C .Some difference !