High-5s for Federer, Hewitt, Blake at Aussie Open
Day 6 at the Australian Open was a long, long journey. About one-third of the 15,000 people with tickets for Saturday’s night session didn’t leave until Hewitt smacked a forehand past Marcos Baghdatis at 4:33 a.m. Sunday.
Federer needed 4 hours, 27-minutes to beat No. 49-ranked Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in an extended afternoon match that pushed back the night session at least two hours.
Federer had won 30 straight sets at Melbourne Park since dropping the first in the 2006 final against Baghdatis. He had lost only six games in his first two matches this year.
‘It’s not such a relief ‘ it’s more happiness,’ Federer told the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena, where he has won three Australian titles including the last two. ‘I’m happy I could deliver a five-set thriller. It was good to be part of something like this.’
Wedged between epic five-setters, Venus Williams finished off Sania Mirza in straight sets after declining an invitation to either postpone that match or move to Vodafone Arena, the other stadium with a roof at Melbourne Park.
So when Hewitt tossed the ball up for his first serve it was 11:47 p.m. ‘ the latest start for a singles match at the Australian Open. He broke Baghdatis on his fifth match point 4:45 later to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
‘Obviously, an incredible day of tennis,’ Hewitt said, sounding hoarse and tired. ‘I mean, for Roger Federer to go five sets ‘ how often does that happen’?
Hewitt jokes that his 2-year-old daughter, Mia, would be awake and ready to play when he got back to his apartment.
Hewitt next plays No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who ousted Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 to leave James Blake as the best U.S. hope at the Open.
Blake rallied from two sets down and then a double-break in the fourth to beat veteran Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
‘That’s got to be my biggest comeback,’ Blake said, referring to his second victory after nine straight losses in five-set matches. ‘Just seemed like every time there was a mountain to climb … couldn’t have been a better feeling than to accomplish what I did.’
Next up is 6-foot-5 Marin Cilic, a 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 winner over last year’s losing finalist, Fernando Gonzalez.
Rain caused matches on outside courts to be postponed Saturday, and third-round matches will start first on the show courts Sunday.
No. 10 David Nalbandian plays former No. 1-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero and No. 5 David Ferrer is against American Vincent Spadea.
In fourth-round matches, No. 2 Nadal faces Paul-Henri Mathieu, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga go head-to-head, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, who upset Andy Roddick in the third round, plays Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny meet in a match between Russians.
Two of the Russia’s top women lost Saturday. No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova fell 6-3, 6-4 to 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze was beaten 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 by No. 27 Maria Kirilenko.
No. 4 Ana Ivanovic advanced 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 28 Katarina Srebotnik and No. 8 Venus Williams recovered an early break to beat Mirza of India 7-6 (0), 6-4.
Her sister, defending Australian Open champion Serena Williams, takes on Nicole Vaidisova on Sunday in a rematch of last year’s semifinals.
No. 1 Justin Henin meets Hsieh Su-wei ‘ the first Taiwanese to make the fourth round of a major ‘ and 2007 runner-up Maria Sharapova plays No. 11 Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian match.
Federer said his five-setter would give him a good idea of where he stands as he bids to make an 11th consecutive Grand Slam final. A title would move him within one of Pete Sampras’ record 14 majors.
‘I don’t have them often, except at Wimbledon against Nadal,’ said Federer, who needed every one of his personal best 39 aces to fend off the 2001 Australian Open junior champion. ‘So it’s good.’
In 35 majors, Federer is 9-4 in matches that have gone five sets. He’s 2-3 at Melbourne Park three rounds into his ninth Australian Open.