Frances Tiafoe eliminated fifth seed Kevin Anderson in the second round of the Australian Open. Photo / Getty Images
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova are among the big names in action on day three of the Australian Open.
Top-ranked locals Ash Barty and Alex de Minaur will attempt to clear the murkiness created by a controversial opening yesterday, but it will take some clearing as Bernard Tomic's feud with Lleyton Hewitt continues to dominate the headlines.
ROD LAVER ARENA
(5) Sloane Stephens (USA) def. Timea Babos (HUN) 6-3 6-1
(15) Ash Barty (AUS) def. Yafan Wang (CHN) 6-2 6-3
(3) Roger Federer (SUI) def. Daniel Evans (GBR) 7-6 7-6 6-3
(2) Angelique Kerber (GER) vs Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
(2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs Matthew Ebden (AUS)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Ana Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) def. (9) Kiki Bertens (NED) 3-6 6-3 6-3
Frances Tiafoe (USA) def. (5) Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4-6 6-4 6-4 7-5
(3) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) def Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-1 6-3
(27) Alex de Minaur vs Henri Laaksonen (SUI)
(30) Maria Sharapova vs Rebecca Peterson (SWE)
MELBOURNE ARENA
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BEL) def. (20) Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-3 6-3
(6) Marin Cilic (CRO) def. Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7-5 6-7 6-4 6-4
(11) Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) def. Katie Boulter (GBR) 6-3 6-4
(22) Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs John Millman (AUS)
Francis Tiafoe caused a massive upset when he knocked No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson out of the tournament in the second round.
The South African took the first set but his 20-year-old opponent stormed back to win the next three and claim the match 4-6 6-4 6-4 7-5.
Anderson called for the trainer to treat a right elbow problem during the match and World No. 39 Tiafoe pounced, claiming the biggest scalp of his career.
Anderson played in the US Open final in 2017 and the Wimbledon final in 2018.
Heading into the Australian Open, Tiafoe was 0-7 from singles and doubles matches this year. He celebrated wildly, roaring to the crowd and slapping his bicep.
"It means the world to me. I lost to Kevin three times last year and I was down a set and a break, it looked like he was going to get it for the fourth time," Tiafoe said.
"But I dug insanely deep.
"It's just how bad you want it and I want it really bad."
Roger Federer, slammed in the past for snagging too many night sessions away from the sun, looked to be set to cop the full brunt of Victoria's summer in his day clash with Daniel Evans.
Wrong again.
In a typical Melbourne twist, the weather has dipped to a comparatively chilly 25C on Wednesday, eight degrees cooler than yesterday's 33C. Tomorrow is looking uncomfortable as well with forecasts predicting highs of 32C.
Well played, Rog.
Ash Barty, serving up a blistering seven aces, has blasted through Yafan Wang in little over an hour, skittling her Chinese opponent 6-2 6-3 in a dominant display at Rod Laver Arena.
A particularly fiery cross-court return from Barty late in the second left Wang baffled and all but sealed the deal for the Aussie as she proceeded to serve out the match.
The Aussie has now made it to the round of 32 for the third year in a row and will face the winner of Astra Sharma and Maria Sakkari for a shot at the fourth round.
Roger Federer is now warming up to take on Daniel Evans on center court.
Australian wildcard Zoe Hives has been eliminated in the second round by France's 19th seed Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-3.
It leaves top local hope Ash Barty, qualifier Astra Sharma and wildcard Kimberly Birrell as the remaining Australians in the women's singles.
Despite the defeat, the Ballarat-born 22-year-old will leave Melbourne Park $105,000 richer after earning the biggest cheque of her career.
US tennis commentator Brett Haber has heaped praise on Alex de Minaur amid the ongoing feud in Australian tennis involving Lleyton Hewitt, Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios.
Haber said De Minaur's quiet manner had somewhat pushed him to the footnotes despite being Australia's top ranked star, but also suggested the Sydney product's incognito approach to tennis is something Australia could use more of.
"There's nothing outside his tennis that calls for attention," he said on Tennis Channel ahead of day three. "He doesn't have an outrageous look, he doesn't say outrageous things at the press conference, he's not confrontational and his social media isn't particularly noteworthy."
Once again, the on-court feats of spectacular tennis from Australian stars have been kept in the shadows as mouthy press conferences and dummy-spits take centre stage.
"But if you look at the big story in Australia this week, it's this feud where Bernie Tomic is going to punch out Lleyton Hewitt and all that. What name have we not heard entered into the fray? It's Alex de Minaur," Haber continued.
"He's doing his thing, he's top 30. Nadal looms, but (de Minaur) is just doing his job, something we're not seeing in Aussie tennis much."
Nick Kyrgios has delivered another bewildering media conference in which he showed tepid support for under siege Aussie Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt while also announcing he is not upset that Bernard Tomic declared he has issues with Hewitt's captaincy.
Kyrgios suffered his worst ever performance at the Australian Open – eliminated in the first round for the first time in his career in a 6-4 7-6 6-4 scrap with boom-serving Milos Raonic.
Raonic needed just under two hours to wrap up his passage through to a second round match with Stan Wawrinka after proving untouchable on serve. Kyrgios did not get one break point opportunity in the entire contest.
Having been unable to defend his ATP Tour Rankings points from his fourth round appearance at last year's Open, Kyrgios is expected to slide outside the top 70.
The Canberra native saved his best performance of the night for his media conference where he largely sidestepped prickly questions.
Kyrgios said he hadn't seen Tomic's explosive accusations against Hewitt, which included a claim that both Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis do not want to play for the former two-time grand slam champion.
When asked directly if there is a rift between himself and Hewitt, Kyrgios replied: "Not really".
Q. What did you make of Bernard's comments last night?
NK: I didn't see them.
Q. You're unaware of him saying anything?
NK: (Shaking head negatively.)
Q. Will you play Davis Cup?
NK: What?
Q. Would you make yourself available to play Davis Cup?
NK: Yeah. I don't think I'd be picked. There's a lot of good players right now. Obviously De Minaur, Millman, they're all playing great. There's a lot of depth, which is pretty good for us.
Q. Is there a rift between you and Lleyton Hewitt?
NK: Not really.
Q. Not really?
NK: Is there an echo in here?
Q. Bernard named you and Kokkinakis as both having told him that you don't want to play while Lleyton is captain. How do you respond to that?
NK: I don't know what to say. Like, I don't have a big deal with anything. I've always wanted to play Davis Cup. I love Davis Cup. If I don't play, I don't play. Like, I'm available. That's all I got to say. Like, what do you want from me?
Q. Are you upset that Bernard made those comments last night and mentioned you?
NK: I am not upset.
Q. What is it like being part of a tennis country that always makes this much news for this stuff all the time? Is it fun? Is it exhausting?
NK: I think it's ridiculous, to be honest. With all the issues that are going on in the world, we're focusing on someone's comments about Davis Cup. It's pretty sad. It's pretty sad.
Q. Do you support Lleyton as captain going forward?
NK: This bloke does not stop (laughter).
Tomic on Monday night said he has spoken with Kyrgios and Kokkinakis and that both have told him they do not want to play for Australia while Hewitt remains captain.
"It's all Lleyton," Tomic said.
"I'm going to say it honestly. Nobody likes him anymore. He's doing the wrong thing. He's playing Davis Cup and I thought he'd retired?
"Absolutely. Kokkinakis, Kyrgios, we don't want to play anymore because he's ruined the system. I mean, go away. Why are you still in tennis?
"He doesn't put the players first from what I hear in the past year. He doesn't put the players first. He doesn't put Nick first. He doesn't put Kokkinakis first. He always thinks of himself. It's not good."
Hewitt responded to that extraordinary claim by declaring Tomic has thrown both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis under the bus by leaving them to face questions from the media about the rift following their round one matches on Tuesday.
"The disappointing thing that the Aussies men and women had a great day and it was overshadowed by Bernard Tomic," Hewitt told Channel 9.
"He threw a couple under the bus.
"Those boys (Kyrgios and Kokkinakis) are going on for big matches today … we've spoken before the Australian Open and we will continue to speak after the Australian Open leading into the Davis Cup tie."
Kokkinakis just four days ago described reports he has fallen out with Hewitt as "bulls***". He then refused to elaborate on his relationship with the Davis Cup captain.
Kyrgios also used his press conference to shower praise on Raonic, declaring he had "never seen serving like that in my life".
He also refused to blame his knee soreness, despite complaining about the injury repeatedly through his match.
When receiving treatment for a second time in between the second and third sets, Kyrgios told the Tour physiotherapist that his knee felt like "dogs***".
"It hurts to walk, it hurts to rock on my serve, I've just given up basically," Kyrgios said.
"I've taken four tablets and it's gotten worse. It's f***ing terrible. By this stage, it's f***ed. It feels like dogs***, mate. Absolute dogs***."
He earlier called his knee complaint a "joke".
"It's f***ing ridiculous," Kyrgios said to the trainer.
"I put a bucket load of deep heat on it.
"I don't know how it can get so painful in the space of three games.
"Honestly bro, I don't really care. I'm trying my nuts off and then my f***ing knee starts flaring up. At this stage I can't even rock back on my serve.
"This is a joke, I warmed up. It flared up. I feel good, I was feeling fine. I've been doing treatments, extended warm-ups, it's like nothing is working."
But after opening his post-match press conference by saying "I don't think it was at all the reason I lost", Kyrgios railed when he was hit with a follow-up question.
"I don't know why we're talking about it," he said. "I literally just said it had nothing to do with my loss. Really pointless to keep asking me questions about it."
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