Nadal mows down Mayer to reach third round

Thursday, 18 January 2018 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Melbourne (Reuters): Top seed Rafa Nadal continued his marauding path through the Australian Open, hammering Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4) to reach the third round on Wednesday.

Channelling his early years with a sleeveless shirt, the muscular Mallorcan threw Mayer like a rag-doll around the Rod Laver Arena court for two hours and 38 minutes, pounding the world number 52 with a barrage of top-spin bombs.

A masterful performance was blighted only by a late wobble, when Nadal was broken serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider. But the Spaniard found an extra gear in the tiebreak, wrapping up the match with a monster serve to the corner that Mayer battled to get a racket to.

Nadal’s bid for a 17th grand slam title continues against Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur.

Karlovic becomes oldest man in third round for 40 years

Melbourne (Reuters): Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic became the oldest man to reach the third round of the Australian Open for 40 years when he edged Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in five sets in withering heat on Wednesday.

Karlovic, 39 next month, served down 53 aces as he came through 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-5 4-6 12-10 in four hours 33 minutes -- the longest match in the tournament so far.

He will face Italian Andreas Seppi in round three when he will be the oldest player to contest that round since Ken Rosewall, aged 44, in 1978 when the draw was only 64.

The 2.11 metre Karlovic finally got the decisive break in the fifth set in the 21st game and held firm to complete victory with a nerveless backhand volley.