Australian Open Day 6: Matches to Watch
We’ve almost reached the end of week one at Melbourne Park and the tennis is just getting hotter, as is the weather. And alongside getting hotter, the days are also passing by fast and furious in the blink of an eye. Day Six is already upon us with certain line-ups that were already anticipated and some that have caused more than a few raised eyebrows.
Morning Session
Show Court 2: Laura Robson v/s Sloane Stephens
Incidentally, none of the matches being played in the morning session on the bigger courts are as attractive as the ones scheduled on the smaller, show courts. The American Sloane Stephens has proved that she has the game to her name and looking back at her performances in her two opening rounds, no one can deny that she has the potential to become the next best thing in women’s tennis. In what is surely going to be a challenge for her, her third round opponent is also someone with a similar armory of skills.
The competition between the teenagers heats up as 19-year old Stephens, seeded 29th, takes on 18-year old Robson who played a faulty yet inspiring match to upset the world no. 8 Petra Kvitova in tough conditions at the Rod Laver Arena.
Show Court 2: Svetlana Kuznetsova v/s Carla Suarez Navarro
Unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro created waves on the second day of the 2013 Australian Open when she defeated last year’s French Open finalist Sara Errani in straight sets. A similarly easy win in her second round match put her face-to-face against the once-been Russian Kuznetsova in the third round. Kuznetsova – equally without a number preceding her name – too had two simple and fairly easy opening rounds, which makes this match worth checking out.
Show Court 3: Milos Raonic v/s Philip Kohlschreiber
Tall, big-serving Raonic will take on a relatively shorter, yet someone-with-a-good-serve-of-his-own Kohlschreiber. How easy will it be? Don’t know. How difficult can it be? Can’t predict. How exciting could the action be? Very. All of which make the Raonic-Kohlschreiber match a highly compelling one to catch.
Evening Session
Rod Laver Arena: Bernard Tomic v/s Roger Federer
Where the morning session is comparatively sedate with several seeded players taking on unusually lower-ranked opponents, it’s the evening session on the Rod Laver Arena that sets up Saturday evening – high-talking Bernard Tomic against Ice-man Roger Federer.
A lot has been heard and read about Bernie talking about his so-called taking on of the four-time Australian Open champion. And a lot of those who have seen Federer over the years know how ruthlessly Federer can demolish players talking so loftily. Novak Djokovic has seen it before, and for all of Tomic’s flawless performances in the initial rounds, he probably will be seeing it too.
How ruthless Federer can be versus how flawless Tomic can be under pressure – that’s what tomorrow’s match will be all about.
Other Picks of the Draw
Azarenka starts off day six’s proceedings against American Jamie Hampton, followed by Serena Williams taking on Japanese Ayumi Morita at the Rod Laver Arena. Andy Murray, who surprisingly hasn’t played a single evening session match, is scheduled to play Lithuanian Richardas Berankis after the first two women’s third round matches.
Other seeds playing tomorrow include 20th seed Yanina Wickmayer against 15th seed Russian Maria Kirilenko and 6th seeded Del Potro against Jeremy Chardy of France while countrymen and Davis Cup teammates Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils face off in the evening session in the Hisense Arena.