Australian window: Lehečka advanced to the 3rd round! Vondrousova advances after great turnaround, Kvitova and Muchova sad

The third day of play at the Australian Open was filled with first round matches that could not be played on time due to heavy rain. Tomas Machac finished his match yesterday afternoon, bravely battling with world number three Casper Ruud. Jiri Lehecka managed to advance to the third round of the tournament. Today, the Czech pair of Markéta Vondroušová and Barbora Krejčíková also managed to advance. The runner-up is Petra Kvitova.

Lehecka is already in the 3rd round!

Jiri Lehecka (71st), the great Czech tennis hope, is having a great time at this year’s Australian Open, first beating Borna Coric (23rd) in the first round and now beating the unpleasant Christopher Eubanks (116th) in the second round.

The native of Mladá Boleslav had a breakthrough season last year and continues his good performances in Australia.

In the first set, Lehecka quickly took the lead thanks to his opponent’s errors and a pressing game that bore fruit. The Czech talent bounced back to 1-5. Then, although he did not avoid losing his serve, it was only a slight correction of the score – 4-6.

In the second set, it was the American who took Lehecek’s serve first. But he immediately responded with a break in the third game and broke Eubanks in the fifth game on his second attempt.

He then expertly finished the second game 4-6. In the third act, Lehecka’s only mistake on his own serve in the sixth game decided the match, when the American jumped to 4-2 and thanks to his good serve he completed the set – 6-3.

But Lehecka did not make any mistake in the fourth set. He served very well and did not give his opponent a chance to break. And as soon as his chance came in the second game, he made the most of it at the first attempt. Then he managed to finish the match – 3-6.

Jiri Lehecka celebrates his historic advance to the 3rd round of the tournament, where he will face another very tough opponent in the form of British Cameron Norrie (12th), whom Lehecka met in the first round of the ATP tournament in Auckland and lost 1-2 in sets.

Christopher Eubanks (116th, USA) – Jiri Lehecka (71st) – 1-3 (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6)

Machac fought bravely against Ruud

To complete the first round, we add to the report the match of Tomas Machac (110th) with the world number three, Norwegian Casper Ruud. The match was scheduled yesterday afternoon due to the postponement of the matches because of the heavy rains that are currently in Australia.

The Beroun native was the paper underdog, but he didn’t let Nora’s match go for free. He tried to change the pace of the game with quick transitions to the net and Ruud had a hard time getting used to Machac’s concept of the game.

The first set was decided in the sixth game, in which the Czech player lost his serve. In the eighth game, Machac defended three more set points, but in the following ninth game Ruud completed the first set – 3-6.

In the second game, both players held their serve well until the eleventh game when Machac lost his serve, but then regained it and the tiebreak decided the fate of the set. In that match, the two fought for a narrow lead and in the end the Norwegian talent came out victorious again – 6-7(6).

In the third set, however, the 110th player in the world Machac played very patiently and held his serve. Again the match went into a shortened game and this time the scales tipped in favour of the Czech player – 7-6(5).

We could have witnessed the fifth set as well, but at 3-2 Machac did not convert a break point and lost his serve, which decided the fate of this match – 3-6.

With his head held high, Tomas Machac could congratulate his opponent, but unfortunately it was not enough to advance to the next round. But look what the Czech youngster allowed himself in the match.

Tomáš Macháč (110th) – Casper Ruud (3rd, Norway) – 1-3 (3-6, 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 3-6)

Vondroušová moves on after a great turnaround

There was one more match of the Czech representative in the first round. Markéta Vondroušová (86th) faced the American Alise Riske (49th). And in the end, the native of Sokolov was able to rejoice over the progress.

But it was not easy for her. Vondrousova went into the match as a favourite, her opponent is not in very good form on hard surfaces and so she was not expected to dominate significantly.

But Riske started the match well yesterday, leading 4-1. But the match was suspended and the Czech player could concentrate on the continuation of the match.

In the ninth game of the first set she got her first break point, which she converted with ease. In the end, however, it was the American who rejoiced in winning the first set, taking advantage of Vondroušová’s hesitation at 6-5 and converting a set point for the third time – 7-5.

But the second set was already in the hands of the 23-year-old Czech. She took Riske’s serve four times and deservedly tied the match at 1-1 – 1-6.

The third set, however, offered great drama. Vondroušová lost her serve right at the start and then had to tighten up as she was already down 4-2. But the Czech took the next four games very well, winning all of them, and in the tenth game she was able to celebrate the overall victory – 4-6.

Alison Riske-Amritrajová (49th, USA) – Markéta Vondroušová (86th) – 1-2 (7-5, 1-6, 4-6)

Kvitova did not confirm her form from Adelaide

Petra Kvitova (15th) had a sad face after the match. She came to the first Grand Slam of the season in good form, she reached the quarterfinals in Adelaide and wanted to continue this performance in Melbourne.

Unfortunately, she failed to do so and after a two-hour battle she lost to Ukraine’s Anhilina Kalinin (39th).

The 2019 finalist did not start the match badly and took the first serve from her opponent. But then the Ukrainian got more into the game, levelled at 3-3 and served for the first set thanks to a break in the ninth game.

But she failed to do so and Kvitova took the game back. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian immediately responded and broke for 6-5. She didn’t throw away her second chance to complete the first set – 7-5.

Unforced errors were fatal for Kvitova, who has already lost many matches in her career. In total, the Czech made 41 errors compared to Kalinina’s 12.

In the second set, the Ukrainian made no errors on her serve at all. Kvitova had a problem with slower balls and was unable to win return points. Moreover, she lost her serve at 4-4 and that also meant losing the whole match – 6-4.

“Of course I’m not happy about the match, but at the same time I know that I left everything out there and tried to manage somehow,” Kvitova commented sadly on her performance.

Anhelina Kalinina (39th, Ukraine) – Petra Kvitova (15th) – 2-0 (7::5, 6::4)

Krejcikova has not lost a set so far

Barbora Krejcikova (23rd) has come into great form and has gone through the Australian Open without losing a set so far. She also won her second round match against Clara Burel (130th) of France.

In that match, she hesitated only in the first game of the match, which she lost unexpectedly. But after that she won five games in a row and was already leading 5-3. The Frenchwoman made the first set a bit more dramatic, but Krejcikova immediately responded and deservedly won the first set – 6-4.

In the second set it was, in football terminology, a one-goal game. Krejcikova had to fight off four break points but otherwise she clearly outplayed her opponent and won six games in a row – 6-1.

Barbora Krejcikova thus advances to the third round and in it she can avenge Petra Kvitova, because she will face Ukrainian Kalinin.

Barbora Krejcikova (23rd) – Clara Burel (130th, France) – 2-0 (6-4, 6-1)

Svrcina couldn’t keep up with Nishioka

Dalibor Svrcina (216th) made his debut in the main draw of the Grand Slam by advancing to the second round, but in the second round, Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (33rd) was too strong for him.

The Czech tennis player pulled the short end of the stick from the beginning of the match, he was not supported by his serve, which is one of his weaknesses.

In the first set, Nishioka only needed one break in the second game to finish the set 3-6. The second set started just as badly, with the Japanese quickly getting a break point, which he converted. Svrcina fought back and turned it around to 4-3, but then a few errors came and the experienced Nishioka was already leading 2-0 at 4-6.

In the third set, Svrcina failed to turn the match around, his opponent took a quick 3-0 lead and despite a great effort from the Czech talent, he managed to successfully end the match in the eighth game – 2-6.

“He didn’t make many mistakes and played unpleasantly. I made some easy mistakes in some games. I think that’s what made the difference today,” Svrcina said disappointedly after the match.

He had four wins in the tournament. Three in qualifying and one in the first round, where he defeated top 100 player Jaume Munar (64th).

Dalibor Svrcina (216th) – Yoshihito Nishioka (33rd, Japan) – 0-3 (3-6, 4-6, 2-6)

Muchova upset world No. 11

Karolína Muchová (133rd) cannot be happy about advancing to the next round. In the almost three-hour match with American Danielle Collins (11th), the little things made the difference and unfortunately the Czech player could not manage them at the important moments.

Muchová played the first set perfectly. She was already leading 5-2, then after a service error 5-4 and had a set point on her racket. But she was able to take advantage of it and lost the game in the end.

In the tiebreak, which decided the first set, she dominated and forced her opponent to make mistakes. That’s why she took the first set 7-6 (1).

However, she immediately started the second set with a lost serve and Collins took advantage of this hesitation and won the second game with ease – 2-6.

The deciding set started worse for Muchova, who had to make up for a one-game deficit. The 26-year-old Czech was not very good on serve at the start of the third set, but then she improved and the match went to a 10-point tiebreak.

What the American Collins didn’t know was that she was clearly better in the exchanges in the tiebreak and Muchova made unnecessary errors. When the American scored the seventh point, she began to rejoice.

She probably thought it was a standard seven-point tiebreak. But after a while she could start to rejoice rightly, because Muchová could not do anything with the result and lost in the supertiebreak of the third set – 6-7(6).

Karolína Muchová (133rd) – Danielle Collins (11th, USA) – 1-2 (7-6(1), 2-6, 6-7(6))

Sources: Australian Open, Livesport, tenisovysvet.cz