Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Djokovic given third set fright by French wildcard

Serbia's Novak Djokovic stretches to hit a shot during his second round match against France's Quentin Halys at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia on Wednesday.

World number one Novak Djokovic gave French teenager Quentin Halys a free tennis lesson for about an hour before the wildcard showed how much he had learnt in the Serb's 6-1 6-2 7-6(3) Australian Open second round win on Wednesday.

Djokovic was at his clinically efficient best in the first two sets as he looked to be tactically three shots ahead of Halys and he opened up space on court at will while he romped to a 2-0 lead inside an hour.

The 19-year-old wildcard, ranked 167th in the world, then fought back in the third set, breaking the Serb for the first time and putting him under pressure before Djokovic ran away with the tie-break.

Djokovic, who is aiming for a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title, will next face either Italy's Andreas Seppi or American Denis Kudla in the third round.

Kvitova ousted

Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was sent tumbling out of the Australian Open in the second round by Daria Gavrilova, stunned 6-4 6-4 by the 21-year-old local.

The Czech sixth seed, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park four years ago, made 35 unforced errors and was broken five times in the 89-minute contest, to the delight of the partisan crowd on Margaret Court Arena.

Kvitova rallied to save a match point and break back for 5-4 in the final set but Gavrilova claimed the victory when the world number seven went long with a forehand in the next game.

Moscow-born Gavrilova, who paired up with Nick Kyrgios to win the Hopman Cup for Australia at the start of the year, will play France's Kristina Mladenovic in her first trip to the third round at a grand slam.

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