Fans caught a fleeting glimpse of Novak Djokovic at Rod Laver Arena yesterday as the Serb hurtled into the fourth round of the Australian Open, while Andy Murray’s mauling of the French continued at Melbourne Park.
Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova were on court for less than an hour as injuries and mismatches again blighted the women’s draw, while Maria Sharapova handled the first true test of her Open credentials in style to sweep into the next round.
World No. 1 Djokovic secured his place in the last 16 by beating Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, whose 11 hours and five minutes marathon match with John Isner at Wimbledon 2010 was the longest in tennis history.
It took the Serb nine hours and 51 minutes less to beat Mahut, who was hindered by heavy strapping on his knee.
“Obviously I feel for my opponent, who evidently could not move on the court,” Djokovic said after his 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 romp. “I think most of the people expected him to just retire ... and walk out of the court, but he managed to stay. So all the credit for him.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga planted the first French flag in the fourth round by steamrolling Portugal’s Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, but, while Richard Gasquet joined him after an impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Janko Tipsarevic, three more of their countrymen fell by the wayside.
Gael Monfils battled back bravely from two sets down before losing in five to Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, Julien Benneteau was upended by Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Michael Llodra fell to French executioner Murray.
The Scot has been runner-up at Melbourne Park for the past two years. but his game is of a different quality this year. With confidence coursing through his veins and stoic coach Ivan Lendl supporting from the stands, Murray’s maiden Gand Slam might not be far off.
World No. 4 Murray, who beat France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round, now has 25 wins in his past 26 matches against French opposition.
“My movement was way better than the first two matches. I moved great tonight,” Murray said after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 win.
“That’s a good sign for me because when I move well, the rest of my game goes well. That was the most pleasing thing for me about tonight,” he said. “I need to keep improving, do things a bit better each round. Tonight I did a lot of things better, so I look forward to the next one.”
Benneteau’s conqueror Nishikori is the first Japanese man to advance to the last 16 of the Australian Open since tennis was declared open in 1968.
In the last singles match of the day, Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt scored an emotional 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win over Canadian Milos Raonic.
Wild card Hewitt will now meet Djokovic in the fourth round.
Williams, the last American standing after Vania King’s exit yesterday, raced into the last 16 in 59 minutes with a powerhouse display that left Greta Arn stunned after a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing.
“I’m definitely going to keep representing the flag as best I can,” the 13-time grand slam champion said. “I really don’t think when I go out there that I’m the last American. I just think I’m trying to come in here and win this match, play this girl. That’s all I really think about.”
Wimbledon champion Kvitova’s match was only 38 minutes old when Russian Maria Kirilenko retired hurt. The 24-year-old Kirilenko had dropped the first set 6-0 and was broken in the first game of the second before retiring.
Sharapova needed nearly 90 minutes to get past German Angelique Kerber, an eternity compared with Williams and Kvitova.
The Russian, who beat Kerber 6-1, 6-2 and has conceded just five games in three matches, has been the model of concentration so far, refusing to let conditions or other factors affect her.
“I think your time and commitment has to be on the court, the ball and racquet, what you’re doing with it, instead of paying attention to what’s around you,” she said.
Marion Bartoli lost to China’s Zheng Jie to leave France without a representative in the women’s draw.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite