Australian Open Day 6 highlights: As the stars begin to collide...

As we approach the midway stage of the Australian Open, the tournament has all the makings of a successful Grand Slam; early upsets to open up the draw, brutal dominance from the usual suspects, dream runs for unlikely teenagers, interesting press conferences. And Day 6, as expected, saw some vital twists to the story. Here are some interesting highlights of the day’s action as the plot begins to thicken down under.

Del Potro makes an early exit: No. 6 seed Juan Martin del Potro became the first major casualty of the Australian Open when he lost in five sets to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. In a match that lasted close to four hours, del Potro found no way to deal with the blistering forehands that Chardy was raining down on him. It was perhaps a little odd for the 6ft-6in Argentine to be given a taste of his own medicine as Chardy conjured 78 winners, 44 from his forehand side, while del Potro finished with 12 forehand winners. Chardy gave credit to his pre-game strategy of employing tennis’ version of the 1-2 punch – backhand slice followed by big forehand – for the upset victory.  “My tactic was very simple,” Chardy said. “I play slice with my backhand, and I try to play short slice because like this he has to come in the court. After, with my forehand, I can go full power.”  Jeremy Chardy d. del Potro 6-3 6-3 6-7 3-6 6-3

Contrasting wins for the top seeds: Meanwhile, the women ensured no such drama ensued on their side as top-seeded Victoria Azarenka and the tournament favourite Serena Williams picked up their wins in contrasting styles. Serena Williams made short work of her Japanese opponent Ayumi Morita with a straight sets victory which included a monstrous 207 kmph serve down the line, by far the fastest in this tournament on the women’s side. ‘’Now I am going to try 210’’ was what she said after the match, in a certain warning to her awaiting opponents. Victoria Azarenka however survived a scare against the big hitting American Jamie Hampton as she edged her out in 3 sets. Hampton, who took a medical time-out for a back problem, showed no signs of physical weakness as she ripped winners all over the court and even led 2-1 in the 3rd before Azarenka won five straight games to close out the match. Victoria Azarenka d. Jamie Hampton 6-4 4-6 6-2,  Serena Williams d. Ayumi Morita  6-1 6-3

The thin line between bold and flippant: Patrick Smith wrote, “There is a difference between being bold and being flippant. It might just be that Tomic can’t tell the difference” before the hyped-up 3rd round encounter between Tomic and Federer, and Tomic did everything on court to prove him right. The Australian, who talked up his chances of beating the World no 2 on every occasion possible, lost in straight sets to the Swiss. The match itself was not without drama though as Tomic forced Federer into defense in the second set which saw some amazing strokeplay from both sides of the court. At one point, Tomic had saved 12 of the 13 break points that Federer created with a display of some brilliant tennis under pressure. Federer eventually took the second in the tie-breaker before he gave the Australian a lesson in pressure tennis as he played near flawless tennis to close out the 3rd set 6-1. Roger Federer d. Bernard Tomic 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-1

Clash of the future stars: In what was dubbed as the next generation battle, American teenager Sloane Stephens picked up a straight sets win against Brit Laura Robson to advance to the fourth round. Robson seemed to be suffering the after-effects of her late-night epic with Petra Kvitova as she took a medical time-out for treatment on her shoulder. Robson, who was struggling to serve with her injured shoulder, could not hold up her game in windy conditions as she piled up 47 unforced errors. The crowd though was strongly behind the Melbourne-born Brit which prompted Sloane to comment after the match, “I felt like I was playing an Italian player in Italy. It was crazy.” This win takes the American into the top 20 in the rankings. Sloane Stephens d. Laura Robson 7-5, 6-3

Battle of the battered Frenchmen: This was perhaps the weirdest match of the tournament so far as Frenchman Gilles Simon beat compatriot Gael Monfils in a 5-setter that lasted 4 hours 43 minutes. Both of them received medical assistance during the match, Simon for his arm and quadriceps and Monfils for his blisters. After two high intensity sets, it started looking like a ‘last man standing’ contest. There was a point in the match when Simon complained to the chair umpire that he was hungry and asked if he could get a ‘chocolate bar or something.’ Monfils on his part was tackling the Australian heat by taking sips out of a Coke tin that he had brought along. Simon, whose fastest serve was 210kmph in the first set, was serving at an average of 136 by the third. Their physical condition, however, did not stop them from engaging in a 71-shot rally that took 2 minutes, and is by far the longest of the tournament. Gilles Simon d. Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 8-6