Quick Served: Australian Open Day 5
A record for Wawrinka, an Aussie Cinderella and Djokovic's new strategy.
Like the top seeds, Andy and Producer Mike are ruthlessly efficient in breaking down the action from Melbourne last night, another day without a big upset. The upside is that we’re set up for juicy seed-versus-seed showdowns starting tonight in the third round.
Stan Wawrinka continues to electrify the crowds. The 40-year-old went five last night for a record 50 times at a Slam, polishing off the thriller with a signature one-hander. He also became the oldest man to reach the third round of a Slam since Ken Rosewall 48 years ago.
As always, Served correspondent Liza West was there. Follow us on Instagram for all the excitement as it happens.
Bracket Busters
Belinda Bencic [10] became the first Top 10 women’s seed to exit the tournament, losing to qualifier Nikola Bartunkova, a 19-year-old from the Czech Republic.
Just like in her first-round match against Daria Kasatkina, Bartunkova overcame a second-set bagel to win in three. The teenager takes her five-match winning streak into the third round against Elise Mertens [21].
Marin Cilic, the 2018 finalist, beat Denis Shapovalov [21] in straight sets. It was his 599th career win, tying Goran Ivanisevic for the most ever by a Croatian player.
Stefanos Tsitsipas [31] was another seed to exit, losing to Tomas Machac 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Who Cruised
The top seeds didn’t drop a set—Iga Swiatek [2], Jannik Sinner [2], Novak Djokovic [4], Elena Rybakina [5], Jessica Pegula [6], Ben Shelton [8], Taylor Fritz [9] and Madison Keys [9] eased through to the third round.
The most surprising straight-set win came from 21-year-old Ethan Quinn, who took out Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 7-6, 6-1.
Djokovic eased through over Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 with the help of his lucky fig tree at the Royal Botanic Garden—he visits the massive banyan every year before the tournament. After the win, Djokovic was asked about tinkering with his serve at this stage of his career.
“I always try to work with purpose and try to look at my game and different elements that I can really improve. Otherwise, what’s the point? What’s the point of competing and coming out and not really trying to be better than you were the season before? That’s the kind of mentality I try to nurture.” —Novak Djokovic in his post-match press conference
Andy unpacked the quote in relation to the champ’s approach at age 38.
More notable results
Lorenzo Musetti [5] def. Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Casper Ruud [12] def. Jaume Munar 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
Linda Noskova [13] def. Taylah Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Karen Khachanov [15] def. Nishesh Basavareddy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
Naomi Osaka [16] def. Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Jakub Mensik [16] def. Rafael Jodar 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Eliot Spizzirri def. Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3
Karolina Pliskova def. Janice Tjen 6-4, 6-4
Speaking Inglis
The day session belonged to Maddison Inglis, an Aussie qualifier who outlasted the nettlesome veteran Laura Siegemund in three close sets.
Inglis served for the match in the second set before Siegemund, one of the craftiest players on tour, took it in a tiebreak and then went up a break in the third. The 168-ranked Inglis stayed poised to stage a comeback and take her chances through the 10-point match tiebreak.
Inglis had a bittersweet win in Round 1 when she had to play one of her best friends, Aussie Kimberly Birrell. The two battled it out for three hours before Inglis won 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, which left the 27-year-old in happy/sad/exhausted tears afterward.
Cheers and Jeers
“Osaka aggro” is a new look. The two-time champ was too vocal for her second-round opponent’s liking and even more vocal after sealing the three-set win.
Sorana Cirstea didn’t appreciate Osaka saying “come on” to hype herself up between her (Cirstea’s) first and second serves, which, to be fair, is iffy form. Cirstea complained to the umpire, and Osaka responded by yelling “come on!” loudly after winning the next point.
The handshake was frosty, and Osaka didn’t mince words in her on-court interview.
Osaka walked it back in her press conference.
“I also want to apologize. I think the first couple things I said on the court were disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do. If she wants to talk about it, then yeah. When I’m pumping myself up, in my head, I’m not like ‘Okay, now I’m gonna distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me.” —Naomi Osaka after her second-round match
Perfect Delivery
It’s a combo platter—juxtaposing Ethan Quinn’s inexperience in best-of-five tennis with Stan Wawrinka’s eff-it approach at 40.
Quinn: “My first five-set match, I remember being like, should I set an alarm every half-hour in the middle of the night to hydrate?”
Stan: “I’m going to have a beer.”
Safe to say Andy never woke up to hydrate. Listen to his thoughts on preparing for five sets, pacing yourself and Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s inability to cramp.
50
Five-set matches Stan Wawrinka has played at Slams
Wawrinka has had a Hall of Fame career, but it’s low on records because the Big 3 gobbled them up. But he nabbed one last night, setting the Open Era high point for the number of five-set matches played at the majors.
The Battles
Wawrinka ekes out a winning record across those 50 matches, 26–24. Raise your hand if you remember these epic victories:
2014 Australian Open quarterfinal versus three-time defending champ Novak Djokovic, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7
2017 French Open semifinal versus Andy Murray, 6-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1
2019 French Open fourth round versus Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6
Tournament Record
Wawrinka’s win last night was the longest match of the tournament so far at 4 hours, 33 minutes.
Will 50 Stand?
Novak Djokovic might steal this one from the Stanimal. He has played 47 five-setters and appears to have the energy and appetite to win a few more marathons.
Wawrinka can pad his record against Taylor Fritz in the third round Friday.
🍿 Day 6 Matches
Carlos Alcaraz [1] vs. Corentin Moutet [32]
Coco Gauff [3] vs. Hayley Baptiste
Alex de Minaur [6] vs. Frances Tiafoe [29]
Jasmine Paolini [7] vs. Iva Jovic [29]
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [14] vs. Tommy Paul [19]
Clara Tauson [14] vs. Victoria Mboko [17]
Learner Tien [32] vs. Nuno Borges
Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend [1] vs. Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan
Desirae Krawczyk/Neal Skupski vs. Leylah Fernandez/Nick Kyrgios
🗨️ Join us in the Substack chat at the start of the day session!
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This coverage of Stan hitting 50 five-setters is absolutley wild to me. At 40, most pros are coaching from the sidelines, but hes out there grinding 4.5 hour matches like its nothing. I remember watching his 2014 AO quarterfinal against Djokovic and thinking that was peak tennis grit. The fact he can still summon that same energy a decade later says someting about the evolution of sports longevity.