Australian Open Day: Day Three

By Haruka


Well thanks to three overtimes of the college basketball match, American viewers were not able to really see much of the Andy Roddick match. What I did manage to see, Roddick played much better than his first round match. His serve, as expected, was phenomenal. His court awareness has greatly improved and his returns are improving. Considering Roddick’s part of the draw, there is little doubt in my mind that he will make at least the fourth round if he can get past the Russian.



Though there is live tennis going on, including former world number one and Australian Open winner Marat Safin’s match, they have continued on with their “schedule” and have continued on showing Serena Williams match.


Serena Williams

From the let go, I start to wonder are they seriously going to list her disappointing stats every match she plays? It gets more than a little repetitive and hopefully after her win they will maybe cut the narrative a bit. Serena did not help her cause or mine, as she slowly and awkwardly started the first set. Her rhythm was almost non-existent, her footwork was sloppy and she seemed too timid to go for her shots like she needed to. By the time she woke up she was already in the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Serena Williams because of her hesitance was trailing in the tiebreak but managed to pull it out and win with superior shots and her improving serve. In the second set Serena stormed through the first three games but was unable to keep her momentum going and slightly let her opponent back into the game. Kremer only managed to win two games and Serena moved ahead to the third round. On a plus side her final rally brought memories of a old Serena.

Serena’s main problems are her confidence and fitness. Her confidence can be boosted over a big win, which can possibly come from her next match. Her body, however, was/is still unaccustomed to the long rallies and she really tested the extent of her fitness. The more Serena keeps it up and plays by the French she will be ready to win her next slam.

Marat Safin

And Safin has a lot of nerve. Wow. But I guess an injured leg will do that to a person. Safin, who by a miracle of God and rain, called a stop of play as he was two points away from defeat. As he came back on court, he appeared to be another person. Starting with an ace, Safin did not look back as he continued to dominate the tie break and fifth set. Next Safin plays Roddick in what should be an amazing match. Safin better come ready to play because Roddick is looking at the final and Safin cannot always depend on the rain.

Marcos Baghdatis vs Gael Monfils

Also, in other news. Monfils scored a huge upset over Baghdatis. Because of ESPNs in abilty to show the coveerage of the match and they pretty much speak for themselves. Monfils had a higher first serve percentage, more aces, considerably less amount of unforced errors than Baghdatis, more winners, a higher percentage of break point conversions and total ammount of points won. In Bagdatis' first round match his sluggish play, lack of heart, and just tiredness, his loss in the second round is not overwhelmingly surprising.

Tootles