Tennis:Rafael Nadal had to battle all the way for a bruising 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over little known German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round of the Australian Open today.
His potential quarter-final opponent, Lleyton Hewitt, also had
to fight hard for his 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-4 success over Canadian Frank
Dancevic .
"I feel very good, he was a very tough player and was
returning very aggressively," second seed Nadal told the crowd
after receiving a standing ovation."
The muscle-bound Nadal has often made tennis look like a
contact sport and today he was given a taste of his own medicine.
Ranked 61st in the world, Kohlschreiber took little notice of
his underdog status and matched Nadal blow for blow, producing
bludgeoning forehands from every corner of the court.
Aiming to level the second set at 2-2, Kohlschreiber rammed
the ball straight into Nadal. The Spaniard doubled over but not
before his tremendous sense of reflex had allowed him to smack the
ball over the net.
Stretched face down on the ground, Nadal immediately pushed
up on to his hands to see if he had won the point. What he saw was
the ball floating past above his head as Kohlschreiber had made the
final contact.
Fired up by the audacity of his opponent, Nadal dusted off
his bulging biceps and then reacted the only way he knows how - to
come out fighting and after 3.5 hours he sealed victory.
As Nadal battled into the small hours of the morning, Kim
Clijsters and Martina Hingis were safely tucked up in bed.
Hingis and Clijsters entered the two showcourts at Melbourne
Park at almost the same time for their matches, both eager to get
back to the locker room the quickest.
Fourth seed Clijsters crossed the tape first, whipping
Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-3 6-0 in 59 minutes under a closed roof in
the Rod Laver Arena.
Hingis, seeded sixth, lagged behind by nine minutes but was
impressive in a 6-2 6-2 win over hapless Russian teenager Alla
Kudryavtseva.
Clijsters, aiming to add the Australian Open title to her
2005 Flushing Meadows success, said: "We almost won at around the
same time and then we came into the locker room and she's like,
'Damn, you beat me, you were there first'."
After struggling to stay on her feet during a three-hour
battle in the roasting conditions two days ago, Maria Sharapova's
ruthless streak was back on show today.
She whizzed around court as if she was on roller skates and
flattened Russian compatriot Anastassia Rodionova 6-0 6-3 in 58
minutes.
Blowing kisses around court, the top seed said: "My brain
cells were working today unlike my previous match.
"I'll be fine. It was good to get a quick one in today."
Sharapova led the Russian charge at the championships as one
of eight women from her nation through to the third round.
Fans can look forward to seeing a lot more of a bearded James
Blake after he dispatched fellow American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4 6-1
6-2.
"Once I start winning, I don't shave, it's a superstition,"
the fifth seed, who won the Sydney International title last
weekend, told the crowd.
"Once something starts working you've got to stick with it."
British teenager Andy Murray could have done with sticking to
the form of his previous match.
The 15th seed, who dropped only one game in the first round,
was made to hang around a lot longer for a 7-6 7-5 6-4 win over
Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco.
Burly Argentine David Nalbandian set up an intriguing
third-round showdown against Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean following
a 6-4 6-4 6-4 triumph over Nicolas Lapentti.
Hewitt gave his army of hollering fans plenty of anxious
moments as he continued his mission to end Australia's search for
their first men's champion since 1976.
Having come into the tournament with a question mark hanging
over his fitness, he was happy to follow up his previous five-set
win with a two-hour, 48-minute battle today.
Firing pin-point serves, the 19th sent down 14 aces. But the
fiery Australian almost wiped out all the free points by producing
12 double faults.
"Coming in, I didn't have too much match practice and I've
now had a lot of match practice. That can only be a good thing,"
said Hewitt.