Ridotto ad una maschera di sofferenza, Rafael Nadal (ATP 3) è riuscito a superare un secondo turno agli Australian Open che doveva essere una pura formalità. Opposto al non certo irresistibile statunitense Tim Smyczek (numero 112 al mondo e una finale a Newport in doppio come apice in carriera), il maiorchino, confrontato con evidenti problemi fisici, ha chiuso la sfida solo dopo cinque set e oltre quattro ore di gioco con il punteggio di 6-2 3-6 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 7-5.
Tra le donne ha sofferto, e non poco, anche la numero due al mondo, la russa Maria Sharapova, la quale è dovuta restare in campo oltre due ore e mezza per avere la meglio della connazionale Alexandra Panova (150) battuta con il risultato di 6-1 4-6 7-5.
Giornata da ricordare per l'Australia che ha già portato due propri rappresentanti ai sedicesimi di finale. Sam Groth (82) si è imposto in cinque set nel derby con il giovanissimo Thanasi Kokkinakis (147), ma soprattutto il 19enne Nick Kyrgios (53) sta continuando a fare grandi cose negli Slam (nei quarti a Wimbledon e al terzo turno agli ultimi US Open) e ha battuto a sorpresa il gigante croato Ivo Karlovic (27) in un tiratissimo match finito con il punteggio di 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 5-7 6-4.
%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Layer_1'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20138.2%2048'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20138.2%2048;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23AF001E;}%20.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M0,48h138V0H0V48z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M9.3,31.7l-0.4,2.7C8.8,35,9,35.2,9.5,35.3c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3C11.8,12.4,9,14.9,9,19c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7%20l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.5c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C9.6,30.9,9.4,31,9.3,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M36.4,23.6l-0.3,1.5C36,25.4,36,25.6,36,25.9c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.4,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.6-2.6,3.6-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9h-7.8%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C37.1,22.7,36.8,22.3,36.4,23.6z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M66.1,34V22.7c0-0.7-0.2-1-0.9-1h-5.8c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v2.5c0,0.7,0.2,0.9,0.9,0.9h1.7v5%20c-0.6,0.1-1.1,0.1-1.7,0.1c-4.8,0-6-3.1-6-7.4c0-5.4,2-6.8,6.5-6.8c1.3,0,3.1,0.1,4.1,0.2c1,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.5%20c0.1-0.7,0-1-0.8-1.1c-1.8-0.2-3.6-0.3-5.4-0.2c-8.2,0-11.6,4.3-11.6,11.3s2.7,11.9,11.3,11.9c2,0.1,4,0,6-0.4%20C65.9,35.2,66.2,34.9,66.1,34'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M74.9,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3s-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3C75.3,30.8,75,30.9,74.9,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M93.1,31.7l-0.4,2.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.7,0.6,0.8c2,0.2,4,0.3,6.1,0.3c5.6,0,9.7-1.8,9.7-7.1c0-3.1-1.3-5.4-6-6.6%20l-2.6-0.7c-1.8-0.5-2.6-1-2.6-2.3c0-1.9,1.7-2.2,3.3-2.2c2.2,0,4.4,0.2,5.3,0.2c0.9,0.1,1.2,0,1.3-0.8l0.4-2.6c0-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3%20c0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.3c-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.2c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.1c-2-0.2-4.1-0.3-6.1-0.3c-5.8,0-8.6,2.6-8.6,6.6%20c0,3.6,2,5.8,5.4,6.7l2.6,0.7c2.1,0.6,3,1.2,3,2.6c0,2-1.3,2.3-4.6,2.3c-1.5,0-4-0.2-4.9-0.3S93.1,30.9,93.1,31.7'/%3e%3cpath%20class='st1'%20d='M120.2,23.6l-0.3,1.5c-0.1,0.3-0.1,0.5-0.1,0.8c0,0.4,0.1,0.8,0.3,1.1l4.2,7.6c0.1,0.3,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.7%20c0.3,0.2,0.6,0.2,0.9,0.2h3.8c0.5,0,1.1-0.3,0.5-1.2l-5.1-8.6c1.7-1.1,3.7-2.7,3.7-6.1c0-4.4-2.5-6.9-7.9-6.9H113%20c-0.7,0-0.9,0.2-0.9,1v20.8c0,0.7,0.2,1,0.9,1h3.2c0.7,0,0.9-0.2,0.9-1V16.8h3.3c2.1,0,3.1,0.8,3.1,2.8c0.1,0.6,0,1.2-0.3,1.6%20c-0.3,0.5-0.7,0.9-1.3,1.1C120.9,22.7,120.6,22.3,120.2,23.6'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)