Australian Open 2019: Federer's and Nadal's Win, Anderson's Loss and Scores

Defending Australian Open men's champion Roger Federer was pushed hard in his Round 2 showdown with Dan Evans on Wednesday.

The Swiss, who is chasing an incredible 21st Grand Slam title, needed two tiebreaks to get the opening sets on the board before eventually moving through the gears in the third, winning 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the end. Rafael Nadal also progressed after a three-set win over Matthew Ebden.

The biggest upset of the day came in the men's draw, as 2018 Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson was on the receiving end of a brilliant performance from United States youngster Frances Tiafoe.

The big names made it through in the women's bracket, including defending champion Caroline Wozniacki. Angelique Kerber, looking to build on her Wimbledon title from 2018, is also into Round 3 after a comfortable win.

Here are the selected results from Wednesday's play and a recap of the standout moments from down under.

Men's Singles

(2) Rafael Nadal bt. Matthew Ebden, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

(3) Roger Federer bt. Dan Evans, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3

Frances Tiafoe bt. (5) Kevin Anderson, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

(6) Marin Cilic bt. Mackenzie McDonald, 7-5, 6-7 (11), 6-4, 6-4

(10) Karen Khachanov bt. Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

(14) Stefanos Tsitsipas bt. Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

(18) Diego Schwartzman bt. Denis Kudla, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6), 6-4 

(19) Nikoloz Basilashvili bt. Stefano Travaglia, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

(20) Grigor Dimitrov bt. Pablo Cuevas, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5

Women's Singles 

(2) Angelique Kerber bt. Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-2, 6-3

(3) Caroline Wozniacki bt. Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-3

(5) Sloane Stephens bt. Timea Babos, 6-3, 6-1

(8) Petra Kvitova bt. Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-1, 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt. (9) Kiki Bertens, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6

(11) Aryna Sabalenka bt. Katie Boulter, 6-3, 6-4

(15) Ashleigh Barty bt. Yafan Wang, 6-2, 6-3

(19) Caroline Garcia bt. Zoe Hives, 6-3, 6-3

Aliaksandra Sasnovich bt. (20) Anett Kontaveit, 6-3, 6-3

Visit the Australian Open website to view the scores in full.

Federer Battles into Round 3

We've become used to seeing Federer make it through the early rounds of Grand Slam events with little fuss.

At the Australian Open, he's never slipped up at this early stage:

It was a measure of the challenge facing Evans on Wednesday, although the Briton would have been pleased by the way in which he was able to push the Swiss in the opening two sets.

Federer needed tiebreaks in the first two stanzas, having been unable to shake off Evans earlier in each set. After edging two in front, the 37-year-old was able to step things up in the third and eventually clinch the match in straight sets.

There was a relaxed aura about Federer throughout this encounter, with he and Evans seemingly enjoying themselves on the court:

Nadal was up against a crowd favourite in Ebden, and the Spaniard did well to see off an initial flurry from his opponent and move into Round 3.

Here's the moment he wrapped up the win:

For others, matters were much more serious, including Anderson. The South African appeared on course for a straightforward win over Tiafoe having won the first set, but the American dug deep to fight back.

In the end, the 20-year-old completed a brilliant comeback and secured the biggest win of his career in the process.

Afterwards, he commented on how hard he had to work for this victory:

In the women's draw, Wozniacki looked every inch the defending champion in her showdown with Johanna Larsson, while Kerber was in wonderful form to overcome Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Fifth seed Sloane Stephens was also impressive in getting past Timea Babos, with the American enjoying an excellent performance in terms of her return of serve:

There was a top-10 upset in the women's bracket, as Kiki Bertens was sent packing by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The former French Open semi-finalist had been expected to fare well in Melbourne having reached the last four at the Sydney International recently. However, she produced a sloppy performance on Wednesday and her opponent capitalised.