Australian Open 2016 Schedule: Replay TV Coverage, Live Stream for Saturday Draw
A scary scene at Rod Laver Arena suspended play and put tennis on the back-burner Saturday at the 2016 Australian Open, as No. 20 Ana Ivanovic's coach, Nigel Sears, collapsed during the second set of her third-round match against No. 15 Madison Keys, per Larissa Nicholson of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sears, who is also Andy Murray's father-in-law, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, per Nicholson. Jamie Murray, Andy's brother, passed along an update on Sears' condition, per BBC Sport:
Play resumed after the delay, and Keys went on to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Keys showed incredible resolve in the third set, as she rallied back from an 0-3 hole to win five straight games and eventually the match on serve.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Replay Info for Saturday's Draw (Day 6, 3rd round)
Watch: ESPN (U.S. only)
Friday Replay Coverage: The Tennis Channel from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET; ESPN2 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
Full Schedule: AusOpen.com
Murray was in action in Saturday's evening slate, though he was away from Sears playing on Margaret Court Arena. The men's No. 2 seed took down No. 32 Joao Sousa in four sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. True to form, the expressive Murray couldn't help but hide his discontent early on, per BBC 5 Live's David Law:
The Scottish star wasn't quite at his best against Sousa, racking up 32 unforced errors and six double faults. His talent in the end got him through, but he will have to tidy up his play just a bit if he is to make a deep run in this tournament.
The women's draw again saw another pair of major upsets on Saturday. Unseeded Barbora Strycova handily defeated No. 3 Garbine Muguruza in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, while No. 21 Ekaterina Makarova bested No. 9 Karolina Pliskova by the same score.
Muguruza's exit was the more shocking of the two, as she's been tipped for stardom after a breakout year in 2015. WTA Insider did note that she hasn't been without obstacles in Melbourne:
The 21-year-old Spaniard hit 32 unforced errors to Strycova's 16 and converted just one of five break-point opportunities. "Today is a very bad day at the office," said Muguruza, per the Australian Open's Twitter account.
No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 5 Maria Sharapova, No. 7 Angelique Kerber and No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro are the only top-10 seeds remaining in the women's singles draw. Kerber, who beat Madison Brengle on Saturday to advance to the round of 16, is the only one of those five in the bottom half of the draw.
No. 14 Victoria Azarenka continued her strong play in the third round, walking over unseeded Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-1 in just 56 minutes of play. Azarenka noted after the match she's received something of a ringing endorsement from NFL quarterback Cam Newton for her "dab" celebration, per ESPN's Howard Bryant:
The eccentric Azarenka draws the unseeded Strycova in the round of 16. Azarenka hasn't dropped a set in three rounds, and has only lost five games in total. Considering she's in peak form and the women's draw is depleted after so many upsets, a run to the final is hardly out of the question.
One of the more impressive performances on the day came courtesy of No. 12 Milos Raonic, who knocked out No. 21 Viktor Troicki in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Time and time again, Raonic forced Troicki to play quickly and come to the net, where the broad-shouldered Canadian alternated between hard passing shots and pulling the string with heavy backspin. The stats bear this out, as Raonic won 25 of 32 net points and hit 20 more winners than Troicki.
Raonic will need to be on top of his game in the round of 16. He'll be taking on No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, who beat Lukas Rosol in straight sets on Saturday to earn his 400th career Tour-level win, per ESPN Tennis.
No. 23 Gael Monfils has yet to drop a set at the Australian Open, defeating fellow Frenchman Stephane Robert 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 at Hisense Arena on Saturday.
Ever the stylish showman, Monfils was briefly upstaged by Robert on this fantastic point, per ESPN Tennis:
"That Monfils-Robert point was #AusOpen https://t.co/T2Zi2EIL43
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 23, 2016"
Monfils' athleticism and brilliant shot-making ability make him a dangerous opponent, even for the game's elites. He's not always able to harness his talents, but if he can keep up the focus and intensity he's shown thus far in Melbourne, upsets are in order.
Monfils has unranked Andrey Kuznetsov in the round of 16 and from there would take on the winner of Raonic-Wawrinka. A pairing with Raonic could produce some especially funky, brilliant tennis, but Wawrinka should be the favorite to go deep in this tournament after winning it in 2014 and reaching the semifinals last year.
All stats courtesy of AusOpen.com unless otherwise noted.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
