Of effortless brilliance and undying efforts - a day of contrasts at the Australian Open

On day 3 of the 101st Australian Open in Melbourne, it was the turn of the top half among the men and the bottom half of the women’s draw to battle out for a place among the 32 men and women that reach the third round. Even as the mercury started to rise, it turned out to be a day of fine contrasts – of brilliance and perfection against the backdrop of drawn out battles and tireless struggle. On an otherwise uneventful day, it was the surprise (or is it really?) exit of Samantha Stosur, the effortless perfection of Maria Sharapova and the outrageous brilliance of Novak Djokovic which were some of the acts that grabbed the headlines. But beyond the headlines and in stark contrast, it was the sweat and toil of men such as Janko Tipsarevic, Jerzy Janowicz, Evgeny Donskoy and Jurgen Melzer, who all needed five wearing sets to advance, capturing the imagination of the insatiable tennis fans.

Let us get the simple things out of the way first – given the struggle of some of the other players to just bag a set, it is purely embarrassing how brutally easy it is for Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic to arrive and depart with the match in their bags without so much as getting a strand of hair out of its place. The Russian diva became the first woman since Wendy Turnbull in 1985, when she was not even born, to repeat a double bagel to coarse her way through to the third round. Sharapova gave the hapless Japanese Misaki Doi a pounding she would want to forget. A much harder test awaits the Russian though in the form of the seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the next round.

Samantha Stosur is a shy warrior who needs to be miles from home to unleash her true persona. Back among the familiar Aussies, the world No. 9 made yet another early exit from her home Grand Slam. To give credit where due, it wasn’t as if the Aussie laid over and let her opponent run riot. Jie Zheng played out of her skin to stay ahead despite being pushed to the wall by the wildly-cheered Stosur before eventually prevailing 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to reach the third round. Another seeded hurdle awaits the Chinese in R3 – Julia Georges, the 18th seeded German had an easy 6-3, 6-2 passage over Romina Oprandi to reach the round of 32.

Djokovic was playing a relatively superior opponent, but with the world No. 1 in his elements it barely mattered who stood across the net. In a display that is bound to send shivers down the others trundling into his rampaging path – the Serbian offered prime time lessons to the vastly talented but the unfinished American Ryan Harrison. Djokovic made it seem ridiculously easy, as he teased his opponent into a humbling 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 submission – often toying with the fleet-footed American. Next on his path is the Czech Radek Stepanek, who came out with a surprisingly easy 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 winner over Feliciano Lopez.

Speaking of the Czechs, another of those that had an easy day at the office was Tomas Berdych. Berdych has almost certainly inherited the weighty mantle of being the most talented player without Grand Slam glory from the transitioned Andy Murray. The world No. 6 showcased why that is so by treating Guillaume Rufin to a free lesson that ended 6-2, 6-2. 6-4 with the Czech taking his foot off the pedal towards the closing stages. Berdych will take on Jurgen Melzer – one of the few toilers on the day who needed five long sets to earn their right to stay on in Melbourne – in the third round.

It will be a fan’s delight to see Ana Invanovic take on Jelena Jankovic in a battle between former No.1 players for a spot in the last 16. Both ladies are far removed from their glory days and their second round encounters just about summarised why – as they toiled past their opponents and inbuilt inconsistencies to eventually prevail in three sets over Yung-Jan Chan and Maria Joao Koehler respectively.

One match that clawed the attention of the tennis world – the precociously talented 17-year old Madison Keys made a mockery of the rankings to pin down the 30th ranked Tamira Paszek 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round. Believed by many to be the next big American player alongside Sloane Stephens, Keys showed maturity beyond her age to tame her experienced opponent. She will be confronted in the next round by Paszek’s neighbour from Germany, the world No.5 Angelique Kerber, in what promises to be a far sterner test of her readiness for the big stage.

Pole Agnieszka Radwanska is touted by some as an outside bet, and she is busy pulling down those odds with yet another convincing victory. Radwanska, the fourth seed, got past Irena-Camelia Begu 3 & 3 with the minimum fuss. In her way next is the ever improving Heather Watson. The British star overcame a first set deficit to overcome a stiff challenge from Ksenia Pervak 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 to book her date with the Polish star.

Back with the men, Sam Querrey got lucky – advancing to the third round thanks to an injury marred withdrawal by Brian Baker, who was leading 7-6(2), 1-1 when he was forced to retire with an injured leg. In a strange coincidence, his opponent in the third round too was the beneficiary of a retirement. Stanislas Wawrinka though was leading 6-3, 7-6(4) when the German Tobias Kamke could no longer bear the pain in his shoulder.

David Ferrer and Marcos Baghdatis set up another of many mouth watering clashes at this edition of the Australian Open – both men made the third round in four sets after overcoming a brief spell of vulnerability through the middle of their respective matches. Russian Donskoy created an upset of sorts when he ousted a fighting Mikhail Youzhny in five sets. Youzhny, the 23rd seed, was playing well below himself and the fact that the three hour 45 minute match contained just 4 winners from his racket told a story of its own. Eventually Donskoy prevailed 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round in his first ever Grand Slam event. Up next for the Muscovite is the 16th seeded Kei Nishikori, a straight set winner over Carlos Berlocq.

After a strenuous first round, Nicolas Almagro had a routine straight set victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver to reach the third round. Somdev Devvarman threatened to take it away from Jerzy Janowicz, who was dealing as much with the tempest raising from within as much as the Indian’s tenacity. But the Pole scripted a remarkable comeback from two sets down to snuff the burgeoning hopes of the Indian’s considerable caravan of crooners. It will be interesting to see how much Janowicz has left in the tank for his match against the Spaniard.

Janko Tipsarevic survived a tense five set battle that swung one way then the other when Lukas Lacko showed tremendous spirit to keep the contest alive by taking the third and fourth sets. But Tipsarevic prevailed after battling through the final set for a hard-earned 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5 to book his spot in the third round. Up next for the Serbian is the Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who was a four set winner over his compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin.