Top 5 matches of the 2014 Australian Open

Among the surprise winners, major upsets, scorching heat and inspirational stories, the Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific has given us a lot of memorable matches to reminisce about. Not many expected the dominating Serena Williams to crash out so early in the tournament, or defending champion Novak Djokovic to lose in the quarter-finals. However, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year has thrown various surprises in our way, and many players who emerged victorious now seek to enter the fray. We look back at the top 5 encounters of this year’s Australian Open:

Maria Sharapova of Russia against Karin Knapp

5. Maria Sharapova’s 2nd round win over Karin Knapp

Third seed Maria Sharapova battled the heat and a stern challenge from Italy’s Karin Knapp to win 6-3 4-6 10-8 in a gripping second round encounter that lasted over three hours. Sharapova was made to sweat in conditions that were later deemed unplayable, and she made a flurry or errors to lose the second set to Knapp, sending the second-round match into a decider.

In the third set, the Russian failed to convert match points at 5-4, and finally broke in the 17th game of the set to take the lead and serve for the match. “There is no way of getting around the fact that the conditions were extremely difficult, and have been for the last few days,” said Maria, after surviving the scare.

Not many expected the Russian to be stretched so far at such an early stage, but this match turned out to become one of the most exciting matches of the first week.