Day 4: More Of The Same

Highlights


Upset Special



Sam Querrey upset No. 32 seed and Sydney champion Dmitry Tursunov with a surprising display of patience and defending and his signature big serve and forehand. It was great to see that the young American, who had been quoted last year as being more interested in his mother's Porsche than in practicing, had changed his mind and worked hard in the offseason on his fitness. He even turned down an invitation by Patrick McEnroe to be a practice partner for the Davis Cup final so he could work with his team on his game. Tursunov didn't appear to know what hit him as Sam court coverage forced the Russian into error.

Sam will be joined in the third round on Day 6 by Vincent Spadea, who won his second grueling 5-set victory in a row, this time over German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr; James Blake, who blitzed compatriot journeyman Micheal Russell; and Venus Williams, who struggled to hold serve but managed to pull off a straight-set win over Camille Pin to move into the third round.

Double Trouble



Speaking of Venus. I have never seen Venus in a chair umpire's face. But in her doubles match with Serena against the Australian team of Monique Adamczak and Christina Wheeler, the chair umpire failed to overrule a call on a Adamscak's serve that was clearly a fault, and when the umpire said she'd seen the ball out but refused to call it as such, Venus went off. It probably didn't help that a few points before, the umpire overruled a call on the baseline against the sisters, causing them to drop serve and give up their break advantage in the first set. "What are you even doing there? Right is right, wrong is wrong. I'm not a fool!" There was a whole lot more said than that, but you get the gist. I must say, it was lovely to see that side of Venus. Perhaps the chair umpire didn't want to be booed by the hometown crowd. Whatever the case, the sisters regrouped and took all their anger out on the Aussies. Serena's ferocious volleys were punctuated with louder grunts than normal. Venus gritted her teeth after every shot and the sisters moved into the second round with a straight-set beatdown. And they even shook the umpire's hand.

Daily Discovery



Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan earned his wildcard into the main draw by winning the Asian play-off. With a game reminiscent of Yvgeny Kafelfnikov, he gave Lleyton Hewitt all he could handle on Rod Laver arena. A solid serve and return, a potent backhand, and an all-court game earned him a set off Australia's only hope to win the title. With a little more experience on the big stages of tennis, he might become a player no one wants to see in their draw. Here's hoping he graduates from the challenger circuit.

Match Of The Day



The nighttime second round showdown between Marcos Baghdatis and Marat Safin didn't fail to deliver, but despite patches of great shotmaking, it didn't have as much tension and drama as I wanted it to have. Probably because the final three sets were virtual blowouts.

After Marcos took a two-set-to-love lead 6-4, 6-4, he lost his concentration. His forehand broke down. Safin fought back by elevating his game and took the third and fourth sets 6-2, 6-3. Somewhere in there, he won a big point with a dive and roll stretch volley that brought a roar from the crowd.



Marat had never come back from a 0-2 deficit in his entire career; Marcos had never lost a match from a 2-0 lead. Neither had ever lost a fifth set at the Australian Open. Something had to give.

As it was, Marat had run out of fight. He gave up an early break in the fifth set and that was all she wrote.

The tournament needs some electricity. Yes, this was the best men's match so far on a show court (though I'm not willing to dub it a classic, tangerine), but I want more excitement. I'm greedy that way.

What Did You Say?

In the middle of the over-the-top Roger Federer love fest bestowed upon us by Tennis Channel's Martina Navratilova, Bill Macatee and Justin Gimelstob, Justin, who delivered his valentine from courtside, shouted, "Challenge it, Roger! I'm sitting on that baseline and Santoro's shot was clearly out." Raja heard him, challenged the call and got the overturn. We ask for some objectivity from the commentators, no? But when they are cheering so overtly for a player who's already delivering a dismantling that they help him win a point he doesn't even need, surely a line as been crossed. But what can you expect from the same man who said that Santoro was playing the best match of any player in tennis history and was still down 1-6, 1-5. Hyperbole much? And get a thesaurus, people. English has more adjectives than ridiculous, insane, and sick.

Photo of the Day