Australian Open: Fish Biggest Casualty in Second Round


Melbourne, Jan 18 (IANS): Eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish became the biggest casualty in the men's singles draw as he crashed out in the second round of the Australian Open here Wednesday.

Fish lost to Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-7(4-7), 3-6, 6-7(6-8). He was in trouble from the very beginning and made 25 unforced errors and served with only 54 percent first-serve efficiency in the first set. The second set was the same story as the Colombian broke Fish in the fourth game to take a 5-2 lead.

The third set was a much tighter affair with the World No.8 looking more assured but Falla produced some powerful ground strokes to finally take the third set in tie-breaker and recorded an unlikely win.

Meanwhile, World No.2 Rafael Nadal hardly had to sweat as he thrashed German veteran Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard made 17 unforced errors to 38 of his opponent and finished the match in two hours and 29 minutes.

World No.3 Roger Federer received a walkover in his first match away from the Rod Laver Arena since 2004 as his second-round opponent Andreas Beck of Germany withdrew. Beck pulled out because of a lower back injury, leaving Federer likely to extend his record of 52 consecutive matches at the Rod Laver Arena.

China's Li Na charged into the third round of the women's section with a 6-2, 6-2 win over local player Olivia Rogowska at the Rod Laver Arena.

Li, who lost last year's Australian Open final to Kim Clijsters, steamrolled the 20-year-old Australian in 62 minutes with some power hitting from the baseline.

Kim Clijsters and World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, too, had little trouble making it to the third round. The Belgian beat France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0, 6-1, and the Dane defeateed Georgian Anna Tatishvili 6-1, 7-6.

The following are the results so far of Day Two at the Australian Open:

Women's singles second round:
13-Jelena Jankovic, Serbia, bt Chang Kai-Chen, Chinese Taipei, 6-2, 6-4
Romina Oprandi, Italy, bt 10-Francesca Schiavone, Italy, 6-4, 6-3
26-Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain, bt Olga Govortsova, Belarus, 6-1, 6-0

Men's singles second round:
11-Juan martin Del Potro, Argentina, bt Blaz Kavcic, Slovenia, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
2-Rafael Nadal, Spain, bt Tommy Haas, Germany, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Alejandro Falla, COL, bt 8-Mardy Fish, US, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7- 6(8-6)

  

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Title: Australian Open: Fish Biggest Casualty in Second Round



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