Juan Martin Del Potro stunned in the Australian Open second round

Juan Martin Del Potro

Roberto Bautista Agut, the young Spanish player posted his first top 5 win as he dismantled Juan Martin Delpotro to book a spot in the third round winning 4-6 6-3 5-7 6-4 7-5.

The most telling stat of the match was the break point conversion. Del Potro converted just 4 of the 17 break point chances he got, while Agut utilised 5 of the 8 chances he created.

Del Potro won the first set 6-4 and did not face a break point. In the second set, Agut converted the only break point he created while Del Potro failed to convert any of the 5 break points he created, and Agut ended up winning the set 6-3.

As the match went on, Agut kept up his aggressive tactics, lost a tight third set, however, from then on he matched Del Potro in every aspect and forced him to play from far behind the baseline and it paid the dividends as he went on to win the fourth and the fifth sets to earn the biggest win of his career and move into the third round of Grand Slam for the first time.

Any thoughts on the upset?

Navarro oulasts Voskoboeva in Australian Open

As Maria Sharapova and Karin Knapp were engaged in a thrilling encounter , Carla Saurez Navarro and Galina Voskoboveva made sure that the people watching their match on the show court 2, got their money's worth.

Carla Saurez Navarro won a tight first set in the tie-break 7-6(2), winning 5 more points than her opponent. Second serve return let Voskoboeva down as she won just 3 of the 11 points played on Navarro's second serve.

Voskoboeva upped her aggression in the second set posting a +2 winner-unforced error differential, Navarro on the other hand had -2 differential. Better return of second serve helped her cause and she succeeded in forcing the decider as she took the second set 6-3.

As the third set started, errors began creeping into Voskoboeva's game and Navarro welcomed those errors and won the enthralling 81 minutes 3rd set 8-6.

Navarro will try to recover from the heat and exhaustion and be ready for another battle against Dominika Cibulkova in the third round, who had a very easy match winning 6-0 6-1 over Stefanie Voegele.

Interesting Stat : Cibulkova's win took less time than the first set of the Navarro-Voskoboeva match. Cibulkova won in 57 minutes, whereas the first set of Navarro-Voskoboeva match lasted 60 minutes.

Muguruza sets Wozniacki clash in Australian Open

Garbine Muguruza, who has been dubbed as a talent to watch, eased past Anna Schmiedlova in the second round of Australian Open. Muguruza defeated Schmiedlova 6-3 6-3 to set a date with former World no.1 Caroline Wozniacki.

The winners-unforced errors differential tells the whole story of the match. In the first set Muguruza hit 13 winners to just 1 by Schmiedlova, though both players converted 100% of their break point chances. Schmiedlova broke Muguruza twice, but Muguruza went one step ahead breaking her opponent 3 times to seal the opener in just 28 minutes.

The second set last almost as long, as Muguruza blasted 11 winners past Schmiedlova and converted 3 of her 5 break point chances to win the set and match. The match lasted 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Muguruza will have her hands full in the next match, however, if she keeps up the aggression she showed today, she will definitely be up for an upset and a trip into the second week of Australian Open.

Wozniacki passes McHale Test

Caroline Wozniacki started off in flying colours as she baggled Christina McHale to win the first set in just 28 minutes. The difference between the two was clear, Wozniacki was the aggressive one of the two and McHale seemed to be error machine. McHale had 16 unforced errors to Wozniacki's 3 in the first set.

As the second set started, McHale cleaned her game and Wozniacki got error prone. McHale bread sticked Wozniacki to win the second set and force a decider. McHale had 7 unforced errors to Wozniacki's 14.

As the third set went started, both players went after each other, however, it was the break points that decided the third set. Wozniacki was 2 of 3 on break points, while McHale failed to convert either of the two chances she got, sending Wozniacki into the third round of Australian Open, where she will play Garbine Muguruza for a spot in the fourth round. The final score of the match was 6-0 1-6 6-2.

It was a sort of revenge and relief for Wozniacki to get the win, however, it should be an encouraging sign for McHale, who has not been the same player since she has returned to the tour after battling Mononucleosis.

Sharapova battles past Knapp and Heat in Australian Open

It was a straight match for Maria Sharapova at least on paper, when she walked on to the Rod Laver Arena to play Karin Knapp. For quite sometime it seemed that Sharapova will run away with the match in straight sets as she won the first set 6-3.

Knapp was not willing to go down without a fight, as she fought hard to take the second set 6-4 to force a decider. It was the third set where the battle really started.

Sharapova was the first to draw blood in the third set as she raced to a 3-1 lead in the decider. Knapp kept on fighting and brought the set back to serve by levelling at 3-all.

In the 7th game of the third set, Knapp saved 4 break points but Sharapova made it the fifth time and went up a break again. Sharapova served for the match at 5-4, but Knapp was not yet ready to go down as she fought off 3 match points to stay alive in the heated contest. I mean heated literally, with temperatures souring to 39 degrees Celcius and yes, it was Sharapova's double fault on the break point that gifted the break to Knapp.

Sharapova broke Knapp again at 8-all to serve for the match a second time. Sharapova known for her fighting instincts and never give up attitude, showed that when serving for the match. She threw in 3 double faults, one of which took her down a break point again. Sharapova overcame those 3 double faults to outlast heat and valiant efforts from Karin Knapp winning the third set 10-8.

Maria Sharapova is now into the third round of Australian Open where she will play Alize Cornet.

Quotable Quotes - Australian Open Day three

Day three saw players moving into the third round. Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Li Na all winning their matches and making it to the third round. The quote of the day award, however, goes to the Canadian Young gun, Eugenie Bouchard.

Let us take a look at the extracts of what some of the players said

Eugenie Bouchard

“No, I just thought because she was French they do the kissy thing.  I thought she maybe kind of wanted to.  I was hesitating.  I just kind of went for it (laughter).” – when asked that she was warm during hand shake at net.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

“That's a good question. But for me it's important to always know where I come from, be grateful for the life that I have, of course cherish and nurture every moment spent on the court.” When asked what is the best thing about being Novak Djokovic

Serena Williams

“I never look at the draw ever, ever, ever.” – when asked does she look at the draw.

Li Na

“Don't try to ask that, okay?  (Laughter.) Both players pretty good, really “– when asked whether Ana Konjuh is better player or Belinda Bencic

“On that moment I'm not think about retired, because is not about how is the ball I hit on the court.  It's about so many thing off the court, you know.” – when asked if she would have retired had she not performed better at Wimbledon.

“I think I answered before.” when asked about comments regarding hot weather in Melbourne.

Belinda Bencic

“I don't know.  Go shopping (smiling)?” – when asked what she will do with her prize money.

Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka

“I'm not going to win the tournament, so we're not there yet. I can go skydiving without winning the tournament.  It's not a problem for me.” – when asked if he would go skydiving if he wins the tournament.

Ana Ivanovic

“I just feel happy competing.  I find strength and I enjoy having long points, long rallies, long games, and tough matches.  That's what I was lacking in the past.” – when asked if she has to be positive on the court.

“I really tried to also listen to lot of people's advices.  It wasn't always the right choice.” – when asked about her coaching changes since 2008.

“Actually I've been not reading that much last few days.  I've been reading this book by Jeffrey Archer.  It's trilogy.  I'm on the third book “– when asked what she is reading these days

Quotable Quotes - Australian Open Day two

First round of the Australian Open 2014 completed. Let us take a look at what the players said. Quote of the day award goes to Marinko Matosevic. 

Here is an extract of some the interesting quotes from players.

Caroline Wozniacki

“Yeah, just had an ice bath now.  Yeah, I could go out and play another two sets now (smiling).”

Victoria Azarenka

"It felt pretty hot, like you're dancing in a frying pan or something like that." - on the heat during the day 

Jo Wilfried Tsonga

"So when I come back, you know, it's always a party (smiling).  It's great." - on what he loves when he is home 

Roger Federer

Roger Federer 

“I realize after a set I didn't look up once yet.  I better check if he's actually sitting there.  I did see them.  He was wearing sunglasses.  Okay, he is there.” - when asked he did not look up to his coach Stefan Edgberg

Marinko Matosevic

"That was bullshit." – when asked about time violation in the third set.

"I wanted my coach to vocally support me, but he wouldn't"

"I don't give a shit, man.  What do you want me to say to that?" – when asked that you have yet to win a grand slam match.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray

"I don't know." – When asked should Odesnik being on tour.

Lleyton Hewitt

"Every Grand Slam loss is tough.  There's no easy ones."  – on how tough the loss was.

Sloane Stephens

"It is pain free, but I feel like I have like an old person's hand."  – on her wrist

Rafael Nadal

"No, the period off didn't create me more love for the game or more passion for the game.  I always played with that intensity, in my opinion" – when asked if the extended time off made him fall in love with tennis again.

Who do you think had the most interesting quote of all?