.
It was another excellent performance from the Japanese who hit 34 winners and 22 unforced errors and lost serve only once from two chances offered to his rival. Sousa had to overcome a stern second round encounter versus Philipp Kohlschreiber and he stayed on the right course in the opening set today before fading from the court, unable to match Keis performance after five breaks he suffered.
Nishikori broke in the very first game of the match before bringing Joao back in the set following a huge forehand error in game four. They stayed neck and neck by the end of the set and Kei grabbed the tie break 8-6 after almost an hour to gain a massive boost before the rest of the match.
Nishikori lost just six points on serve in set number two, breaking in game four when Sousa netted an easy forehand. A drop shot winner sent Kei 5-1 up and he was two sets to love up when his backhand down the line found a free space in the following game.
Sousa lost the ground completely, netting a smash at the start of the third set to give his serve away, getting broken again in game three to drift further and further away from the win. Kei was marching towards the finish line, losing four points on serve in the entire set and cementing the victory with a forehand winner in game eight to stay on the title course.
.
The Canadian was on fire for the third straight match, blasting 51 winners and just 12 unforced errors, dropping 17 points on serve and facing only one break point! Pierre-Hugues managed to convert it although that wasnt enough to keep him in the match for longer, landing 78% of the first serve in but conceding three breaks to end his run in the third round.
As was expected between two great servers, the result stayed with the serve in the opening eight games before Herbert played some loose shots at 4-4, hitting a double fault to send Milos ahead. The Canadian landed an ace in the next game to grab the opener, losing just four points on serve in set number two to mount the pressure on the other side of the net.
He found the way to break Herbert in game five with a forehand winner and the set was safely on his tally thanks to an ace in game 10, doing everything right so far and moving closer to the finish line. They traded breaks in games three and four in the third set and the Frenchman saved a break point at 4-4 to prolong the set, setting up a tie break that Raonic claimed 8-6 with a service winner to confirm the win and set the blockbuster fourth-round clash with Alexander Zverev.
.
The Russian did a lot of damage with his booming first serve, struggling on the second to give serve away three times but overcoming that deficit with an impressive display on the return to secure the win in straight sets.
Goffin dropped almost half of the points in his games, having to play against 11 break points and saving just five of those to push Daniil into the next round. Medvedev had 31 winners and only 18 unforced errors while the Belgian counted to 40 mistakes, never finding the rhythm from the baseline.
The Russian was the only player on the court, kicking off the match with a break at love and securing another one in game seven for a 6-2. Goffin came back from a break down twice in the second set and he stayed competitive until the tie break that Daniil won 7-3 after three mini-breaks on his tally.
Trailing 4-1 in the third set, Goffin reduced the deficit to 4-3 but Daniil was not to be denied, scoring another break in game eight before holding at 15 to cross the finish line and set Djokovic clash on Sunday. <table
0 thoughts on “Australian Open: Milos Raonic, Daniil Medveded and Kei Nishikori march on”