'It's my lucky place': Kvitova back in Roland Garros semi-finals after 8 years

Petra Kvitova returned to the French Open semi-finals for the first time in eight years on Wednesday after defeating Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-3, describing Roland Garros as her "lucky place".

Czech seventh seed Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, will face either Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin or Danielle Collins for a place in Saturday's final.

"It means a lot to be back in the semi-finals," said 30-year-old Kvitova who was beaten by eventual champion Maria Sharapova when she made the same stage in 2012.

"After my last match, I was very emotional to be in the quarter-finals. Now I am in the semis. I never imagined this would happen after everything that has happened.

"This is my lucky place."

It was Paris where Kvitova made her comeback in 2017 after spending six months recovering from a terrifying knife attack at her home in December 2016.

The frenzied assault required a four-hour operation and left her with damaged ligaments in her playing hand. Doctors warned her that her career may be finished.

On Wednesday, Kvitova fired 22 winners and six aces past 32-year-old Siegemund, the world number 66 who was playing in the quarter-finals of a Slam for the first time.

One break of serve in the opener was enough for Kvitova while five more breaks followed in the second set.

Kvitova, who has yet to drop a set at the tournament, claimed victory when Siegemund served up a third double fault of the tie.

"I am happy to be here and to be able to compete with the best especially in these conditions -- roof open, roof closed, sunshine, windy."

- Battle of Americans -

Fourth seed Kenin, 21, has developed a knack of working her way out of trouble in Paris, twice recovering from a set down en route to the last eight.

In her last 16 win over Fiona Ferro she overcame a first-set blip and partisan crowd, displaying a steely resilience while raising her game to another level.

The 21-year-old says she needs "step up" again having reached the quarter-finals of a major for just the second time, but she has a fondness for Paris having knocked out Serena Williams on her way to the last 16 in 2019.

Collins, 26, is a late bloomer after taking the college route in the US, twice capturing the national singles title while at Virgina.

"I know what it's like having $50 in my bank account and being worried if I'm going to be able to get to the next place that I need to go. I know what it's like being on a Greyhound bus," said Collins.

"I think those are the experiences that give us the strength to go out on court and play so intensely in high-pressured moments."

She is another battle-hardened player, notably rallying from a double break down in the final set to knock out 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza in the third round.

The 57th-ranked Collins, who has fired an impressive 140 winners in four rounds, beat Kenin in straight sets in Adelaine earlier this year and is aiming to match her run to the 2019 Australian Open semi-finals.

Thursday's other semi-final will see Polish 19-year-old Iga Swiatek tackle Argentina's Nadia Podoroska, the world number 131 who is bidding to become the first qualifier to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament.

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Barty through to Beijing semis, Osaka ends Andreescu's win streak

World number one Ash Barty battled back from a set down to beat Czech Republic's seventh seed Petra Kvitova 4-6 6-4 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing on Friday.

French Open champion Barty, who had been beaten twice by Kvitova in Australia earlier this year, fired nine aces and converted three of six break points to win the encounter.

"That was one of the highest quality matches I played all year," Barty told reporters. "Petra always has a way of bringing out the best in me, she really does.

"From both of us, I think the level was incredible. Regardless of winning or losing, I think I'd be sitting here with the exact same perspective, kind of the same feeling of the match afterwards."

Although Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, fired 36 winners to Barty's 31, her unforced error count of 28 proved to be her downfall.

The Czech saved three match points when Barty served for the match at 5-3 in the decider but the Australian fought back to deuce and then fired a crosscourt forehand winner to move into the tournament's semis for the first time in her career.

Barty will face eighth seed Kiki Bertens, who upset third seed Elina Svitolina 7-6(6) 6-2.

In another battle of Grand Slam champions, Japan's Naomi Osaka beat U.S. Open holder Bianca Andreescu 5-7 6-3 6-4 in a thrilling encounter, ending the Canadian's 17-match winning streak to book her place in the semi-finals.

"I forgot how it felt and honestly it sucks, I didn't miss it," Andreescu said after her first loss since the Miami Open in March and her first loss against a top 10 opponent. "Hopefully that was fun.

"I think we're going to have many matches like this. Our game styles are pretty different, but they level up pretty equally."

Osaka fired 10 aces, 31 winners and won 78 percent of her first service points in a see-saw encounter that had a total of 11 breaks of serve. She will play defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Russia's Daria Kasatkina 6-3 7-6(5).

Osaka became the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen after Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep and Andreescu.

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Tennis: Azarenka ousts Zvonareva, Kvitova through to quarters

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka made a winning return to Stuttgart with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Russia's Vera Zvonareva in what was an engrossing battle in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Wednesday.

Azarenka, a former world number one, was pushed in the opening set, especially by Zvonareva's first serve, but fought back to break her four times in the match. The last time the pair met was in 2011 when they were both ranked in the top 10.

"We're both in completely different stages of our careers, we're both moms," Azarenka said.

"I think I'm playing better than I used to before, I believe I'm much more of a complete player than I used to be. I'm in the process of building my game up again."

The 29-year-old, a two-times Australian Open champion, also had to overcome jet lag after competing in the Fed Cup semi-final in Australia at the weekend.

"I have no idea right now of the time or what's happening," she told reporters. "The flight from Australia was so long I felt like it was never going to end! It was a huge challenge for me today and I'm very happy with the way I handled it."

Azarenka will take on fourth seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova next for a spot in the quarter-finals.

World number three Petra Kvitova, who received a bye to the second round, cruised through to the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-4 win over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in a game where she covered the court well and anticipated shots to take a quick lead.

Minnen was no match for Kvitova in the first set but found her groove in the second to test the Australian Open runner-up. However, it was too little too late for the 21-year-old as Kvitova wrapped up the match in 73 minutes.

Earlier, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic started the tournament strongly with a 6-2 6-4 victory over qualifier Mandy Minella.

Bencic, who ended a four-year title drought in February when she beat Kvitova in Dubai, struck 24 winners with her aggressive returns dominating the Luxembourger. The result pits Bencic against sixth seed Kiki Bertens.

Last year's semi-finalist Anett Kontaveit of Estonia breezed past France's Caroline Garcia with a 6-4 6-3 win while Donna Vekic beat Giulia Gatto-Monticone 6-1 7-5 to advance.

2011 champion Julia Goerges' first match was cut short by injury with the German forced to retire when she was trailing 4-0 in the final set to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Goerges had taken the first set 6-4 before the Russian took the second 6-2. 

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Pritha Sarkar)

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Tennis: Proud Kvitova rues missed chances in thrilling final

MELBOURNE - Petra Kvitova was proud of her second-set fightback against Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open final on Saturday but was left ruing her inability to convert her chances in her loss to the Japanese.

The 28-year-old Czech was down a set and a break and was facing three match points when she produced three big serves to hold then level the set and take the final to a decider much to the liking of a packed Rod Laver Arena.

She saved another match point before Osaka served out for a 7-6(2) 5-7 6-4 victory in two hours and 27 minutes, securing a second straight Grand Slam title after winning her maiden major at the U.S. Open in September.

Kvitova had five break-point opportunities in the opening set but could not convert any of them and then went on to lose the tiebreaker in her first meeting against the Japanese.

That was also the first set she had lost at Melbourne Park in the last two weeks.

"It's painful, for sure," she told reporters. "I don't know how long it will take me to get over it.

"When I look back, I did have my chances in the first set when I had 40-love on her serve. Did have a few breakpoints.

"I don't think I played something really badly, but I just think I should maybe have gone a little bit more aggressive on one or two rallies."

Coming into Saturday's clash, Kvitova had lost just seven out of 33 career finals and was unbeaten in her last eight.

"I really fought back in the second set. I'm proud of myself in that case," she said.

"And, yeah, the third set was just one break. That's how tennis is. It's the final. I think you will just get few chances. When you don't make it you lose. And I think that was also the case today."

Kvitova's victory would have capped one of the most inspiring comebacks in the history of the sport.

The double Wimbledon champion had to undergo nearly four hours of surgery on her playing hand in 2016 after being attacked by a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the Czech Republic.

"It's hurting a lot today. I wanted to win and have the trophy. But I think I already won two years ago," she said.

"So for me, it's amazing. I think I still don't really realise that I played the final.

"I've been through many, many things, not really great ones. Still few things which I can improve, and we'll do it. So it's not the end. Yeah, I will be back for sure."

While Osaka will become the new women's number one, replacing Romanian Simona Halep, when the world rankings are released on Monday, Kvitova will be a spot behind.

"I wanted to be back to my greatest level probably as I played before," said Kvitova. "I knew it will be very, very difficult because my hand, it's not 100 percent, and never will be. It's just how it is.

"I'm just trying to make maximum from the minimum. I feel great. I'm playing great tennis."

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Toby Davis)

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Red-hot Kvitova blazes past Collins into Australian Open final

MELBOURNE -- Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova reached her first Australian Open final Thursday as unheralded American debutant Danielle Collins wilted in intense heat at Melbourne Park. 

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova stormed home, 7-6 (7/2), 6-0, to set up a meeting with either fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova, seeded seventh, or Japanese fourth seed Naomi Osaka in the decider.

Collins was matching Kvitova until play was interrupted late in the first set while the roof on Rod Laver Arena was closed as the temperature soared past 36 degrees Celsius.

Kvitova said until then she was struggling to find her best form.

"I'm really glad that it (form) came in the tie-break and in the second set," she said. "I think I was happier than the fans when the roof closed, I like to play indoors and I think that helped me a little bit."

Collins, who had a dream run to make the final four on her Australian debut, became flustered after Kvitova won a first-set tie-breaker and her game fell apart in the second set.

Reaching the final is the highlight of what Kvitova calls her "second career," after she returned following a terrifying attack in her home in the Czech Republic in late 2016. 

A burglar slashed her racket hand, sidelining her for almost six months and causing permanent nerve damage.

"It means everything, finally I can make it deep in this major and whatever happens I'm very happy," the big-serving left-hander said.

Kvitova, who is on an 11-match win streak after winning the Sydney International warm-up tournament, will claim the number one ranking if she wins the final, deposing Romania's Simona Halep.

World number 35 Collins, who a year ago was ranked 167, will rise to 23 as a result of her run to the final four. 

The combative American, who took Kvitova to three sets in their only previous meeting, initially performed strongly to force a first-set tie-break. 

She was matching Kvitova's power hitting when the roof was closed mid-way through the set at 4-4 to shut out the afternoon sun. 

But Collins lost her cool when Kvitova ran away with it 7-2 and argued with the umpire at the beginning of the second set.

"Every time I hit a good serve or win the point there's something," she told umpire Carlos Ramos, the same official who was the subject of Serena Williams' infamous rant in last year's US Open final.

Kvitova, vastly more experienced than her opponent, kept her composure and won the second set at a canter.

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Former champs Sharapova, Kvitova crash out of Wimbledon

LONDON -- Maria Sharapova suffered her first opening round Wimbledon defeat and earliest Grand Slam exit in eight years on Tuesday when she was shocked by fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, the world number 132.

Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was joined at the exit by 2011 and 2014 winner Petra Kvitova who was stunned by Belarusian world number 50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

However, two-time men's champion Rafael Nadal and three-time winner Novak Djokovic eased into the second round.

Sharapova was cruising to victory at one stage on Court Two with a set and 5-2 lead before qualifier Diatchenko shrugged off a back injury to win 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 after more than three hours of tense action.

Sharapova, playing Wimbledon for the first time in three years after missing 2016 through a drugs ban and 2017 due to injury, gave up the match on her 11th double fault.

It was her earliest exit at a Slam since a first round defeat at the 2010 Australian Open.

"It's always tough to assess your motivation levels after a first round loss but I won't shy away from learning from my errors," said 31-year-old Sharapova.

Eighth seed Kvitova was the bookmakers' favourite for a third Wimbledon crown after winning five titles in 2018, including the grass-court tournament at Birmingham last weekend, while amassing an WTA Tour-leading 38 match victories.

But she slumped to a disappointing 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 loss to Sasnovich.

"When I was younger, I played better on the Grand Slams than the other tournaments. Now is the time when I'm playing better on the other tournaments than the Grand Slams," said the 28-year-old Czech.

Kvitova is the fourth top 10 women's seed to lose in the first round.

Number four Sloane Stephens and fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina were eliminated on Monday.

France's Caroline Garcia, seeded six, was also beaten Tuesday, going down 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 to Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.

World number one Nadal breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over Israel's Dudi Sela as the Spaniard returned to action for the first time since claiming his 11th French Open title.

Nadal, the Wimbledon champion in 2008 and 2010, also managed to avoid falling victim to a player ranked outside the world top 100 for what would have been the fifth time in his last six visits to the All England Club.

"I'm just happy to be through of course and yes, this match gives me positive feelings," said Nadal after seeing off world number 127 Sela.

Nadal, the 17-time major winner, has not got past the fourth round since finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2011.

Djokovic reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren of the United States.

Djokovic, seeded 12, was back at the tournament where last year he was forced to retire from his quarter-final against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury.

"I thought it was overall quite a solid match. I think he made a lot of errors," said Djokovic.

After sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov was sent packing on Monday, it was the turn of French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem and Belgium's David Goffin to pack their bags.

Austrian seventh seed Thiem retired with a back injury against Cypriot veteran Marcos Baghdatis, trailing 6-4, 7-5, 2-0.

Goffin, the 10th seed, slumped to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Australia's Matthew Ebden.

Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro made it nine first round wins in nine appearances at the tournament, easing past Germany's Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Del Potro, who made the semi-finals in 2013, next faces Feliciano Lopez of Spain who on Tuesday set a record of playing 66 consecutive Grand Slams when he eased past Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

The 36-year-old broke the record for straight Slams which was previously held by Roger Federer.

"When I was about to break the record, I thought, wow, I'm going to beat Federer at something!" joked the 70th-ranked Lopez who has lost all 13 matches he has played against Federer in his career.

German fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat world number 748 James Duckworth of Australia 7-5, 6-2, 6-0.

World number one Simona Halep started her challenge for a first Wimbledon title with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Japan's Kurumi Nara.

Halep has arrived at the All England Club on a high after finally winning her maiden Grand Slam crown at the French Open last month.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza opened her title defence with a 6-2, 7-5 win over British wild card Naomi Broady.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who famously stunned Nadal at the tournament in 2014, marked his 50th match at the majors with a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Kyrgios, seeded 15, hammered down 42 aces and unleashed 78 winners.

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Kvitova prevails to claim record third Madrid title

MADRID - Petra Kvitova outlasted the unseeded Kiki Bertens to win a thrilling Madrid Open final on Saturday 7-6(8-6) 4-6 6-3 and become the first player to lift the trophy for a third time.

Czech Kvitova, ranked 10th in the world, struck the first blow in a tense match which lasted two hours 52 minutes by edging the tie-break at the end of a gruelling 75-minute first set, taking advantage of a third set point when Bertens found the net.

The Dutchwoman had beaten Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova in a sparkling week in the Spanish capital to reach her first premier mandatory final and recovered well from surrendering the first set to take the second.

She led by a break in the third but let her advantage slip and Kvitova broke twice in a row to take a 4-2 lead in the decider.

Bertens broke back to make it 4-3 but lost her next service game and Kvitova served out the final game to love, sealing victory when Bertens hit the tramlines with a backhand.

In doing so, she took her landmark third title, surpassing the two each won by Serena Williams and Simona Halep in Madrid, which established a women's section in 2009.

"Everything what I had in my body, I just tried to put it out, even if it was very, very tough today," Kvitova said.

"She played great tennis. It was a big fight. We both should be very proud of this beautiful final we played today."

Bertens paid tribute to her opponent and agreed with Kvitova that the final had been a thrilling spectacle.

"It was a great final. I had some chances in the beginning of the third, but didn't take it. Petra was playing some unbelievable shots there. So, yeah, credit to her today," she said.

Twice-Wimbledon winner Kvitova was forced out of action for more than five months last year after her racket hand was stabbed by a burglar who broke into her apartment in December 2016.

But she has returned with a vengeance, winning the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, the Qatar Total Open and the Prague Open this year before making history in Madrid.

"It feels sweet and weird as well," added Kvitova.

"I didn't really expect that, even the same time last year. Even coming from Prague last week, I didn't think I could be in the final, winning another trophy. My body is exhausted, so I'm pretty surprised.

"Every title feels great. Winning three times here in Madrid, it means something." 

(Reporting by Richard Martin, Editing by Neville Dalton/Gene Cherry)

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Kvitova out indefinitely after burglar attack

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will need at least three months of rest after surgery to her left hand cut by a knife-wielding burglar on Tuesday, her spokesman said.

Kvitova suffered an injury on all five fingers and two nerves in her left hand, her racket hand, after fighting with the burglar at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov.

Doctors "stitched the injured finger tendons" during the surgery that took three hours and 45 minutes, Kvitova's spokesman Karel Tejkal told AFP.


"The hand will now be bandaged for two days, then put in a splint for 6-8 weeks.

"She can't burden the tendons for at least three months.

"The injury is serious, but the surgeon says Petra is young and healthy and there is no reason why she can't resume tennis."

Earlier on Tuesday, Tejkal said the burglary was a random crime as "nobody was going to attack or rob her as Petra Kvitova".

The 26-year-old world number 11 said on Facebook she was shaken but "fortunate" to be alive.

"I was attacked in my apartment by an individual with a knife," said Kvitova, adding she tried to defend herself.

"I trust the doctors and I believe it will all end well. Don't worry about me."

Local police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attack had occurred before 0730 GMT on Tuesday near the Prostejov town centre and that the burglar was still at large.

- Lacklustre year -

Meanwhile, support poured in from fellow tennis stars.

"So upset hearing the news about @Petra_Kvitova. Hands down one of the nicest people I've ever met. All my thoughts with her," tweeted world number eight Madison Keys.

"Just finding out about @Petra_Kvitova and the awful stabbing and injury to her hand - pulling for you Petra," added Czech-born former great Martina Navratilova.

And Oracene Price, the mother of Serena and Venus Williams, tweeted: "@Petra_Kvitova I'm very sorry to hear what happen to you. I'm praying for your speedy recovery. Blessing to you and your family."

The burglary adds a sombre ending to a rather lacklustre year for Kvitova, who slid from sixth in the world in January to 16th in August.

She sacked two coaches before winning the Wuhan Open in China in October after a 13-month title drought.

She added a victory at Zhuhai, China in November and was on the Czech Republic team that won the Fed Cup later that month, beating France for their fifth title in six years.

On December 1, Kvitova hired a new coach, Czech Jiri Vanek, who had led her Fed Cup teammate Karolina Pliskova to this year's US Open final.

Bronze medallist from the Rio Olympics and Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, Kvitova is also recovering from a stress fracture to her foot.

Just hours before the attack, she said the injury had forced her out of the mixed doubles Hopman Cup starting on January 1, where she was due to play alongside her former boyfriend Adam Pavlasek.

She said she hoped to start next year at Sydney on January 8 to warm up for the Australian Open -- a plan that she will have to drop following doctors' orders.

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Radwanska crushes Kvitova to ease into Connecticut final

Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska put on a dominant performance against double defending champion Petra Kvitova to ease into the final of the Connecticut Open with a 6-1 6-1 triumph on Friday.

Kvitova, who also won the event in 2012, was looking to join Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki as four-time winners of the tournament but the sixth-seeded Czech was completely overwhelmed by the Polish world number four.

The two-time Wimbledon champion committed 17 unforced errors in the first set and never got into the match, which was completed in 77 minutes.

The fast-starting Radwanska won the first five games of the match and then reeled off the opening four of the second set to stay in control throughout.

The Pole advances to face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who overcame Johanna Larsson 6-4 6-2 to reach the final.

Larsson enjoyed an improbable run in the tournament after reaching the main draw when other players withdrew, the Swede upsetting Italy's Roberta Vinci in the quarter-finals before coming up short against the 21-year-old Svitolina.

The 10th-seeded Svitolina shocked Serena Williams on her way to a quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics and a victory in this warm-up event for next week's U.S. Open would be her second of the year after she triumphed in Malaysia in May. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)

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TENNIS: Djokovic denies match-fixing report, Hewitt faces Ferrer

Djokovic denies report that 2007 loss to Santoro was fixed

Reuters
Novak Djokovic has denied an Italian media report he deliberately lost a match in 2007 that has been linked to a wider scandal involving alleged corruption in tennis.

The 28-year-old world number one, who easily beat French teenager Quentin Halys on Wednesday to advance to the Australian Open third round, was asked about a report in Italian newspaper Tuttosport that he had deliberately lost to now-retired French player Fabrice Santoro at the Paris Masters.

"It's not true," the Serb said with a shrug and shake of his head. "What it is to say? I've lost that match.

"Anybody can create a story about that match or for that matter any of the matches of the top players losing in the early rounds, I think it's just absurd."

Djokovic was asked about the media reports on Monday, saying that he had indirectly been offered $200,000 to throw a match while still a teenager.

The offer was immediately rejected by the person it had been made to, he said.

Hewitt facing final farewell against brick wall Ferrer

Reuters

Spain's David Ferrer could be the man to bring the curtain down on Lleyton Hewitt's illustrious career in what could be an emotional Rod Laver Arena night session on day four of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Home favourite and former world number one Hewitt will retire after his 20th and final home grand slam and while he will fight the way only he knows how, he could meet his match in tenacious eighth seed Ferrer.

Wild card Hewitt remains the only player Australian to beat Ferrer at a grand slam tournament though and will relish a toe-to-toe scrap with the former French Open runner-up.

"He's like a brick wall out there," twice grand slam champion Hewitt said of Ferrer. "He's a tough customer for nearly anyone. But, yeah, I give myself a fighting chance."

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Sixth seed Kvitova ousted by Australia's Gavrilova in Melbourne

Reuters

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

The 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.

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Kyrgios overcomes shorts mix-up to set up Berdych clash

Agence France-Presse
Rising star Nick Kyrgios overcame a mix-up with his shorts to beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets and set up an Australian Open showdown with Tomas Berdych on Wednesday.

Despite needing to change his shorts midway, the exciting 20-year-old Australian beat the 41st-ranked Cuevas 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) in almost two hours before a partisan home crowd on Hisense Arena.

Krygios, whose first pair of shorts apparently didn't have pockets deep enough to hold balls while he was serving, smashed 50 winners as he broke the Uruguayan's serve four times.

"Just a bit of a mix-up before the game. I guess it will be fixed by the next round," shrugged the 29th seed, whose next opponent, Berdych, has reached the last two semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
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Uncle Toni open to Nadal coaching change

Agence France-Presse

Rafael Nadal's coach and uncle Toni Nadal hasn't ruled out the possibility that the 14-time Grand Slam champion may seek a new or expanded coaching team in a bid to arrest his slide in form.

Nadal lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

"I understand that in sport results come first and if you have to make a change, you have to do it," Toni Nadal told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope on Wednesday.

"To lose so early in Australia is one of the biggest disappointments we have had because in the last four months we had been playing well.

"I hope it is only a blip and we move forward."

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