The good news continues at the Australian open as three of Croatia's tennis talents advance to the third round of the tournament.
Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić, Ivo Karlović and Petra Martić, secured a place in the third round of the Australian Open's Grand Slam tournament on Wednesday. Croatian female tennis star Jana Fett was eliminated in the second round of her first appearance at a grand slam tournament, reports Gol.hr on January 17, 2018.
With a score of 6-1, 7-5, 6-2, Marin Čilić defeated Portuguese player Joao Sousa, the 70th best tennis player in the world, after an hour and 47 minutes of play. The Croatian tennis player served 20 aces and was better at his first and second serve - serving 93 percent on his first serve and 90 percent on his second. Čilić’s rival managed to win 69 and 34 percent of his points on his first and second serve. Čilić took the serve five times did not lose it once.
In the third round, Čilić will face American Ryan Harrison who defeated Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in the second round. Harrison is 45th in the ATP ranking. Čilić and Harrison have played each other six times so far, and Čilić has celebrated a victory five times.
In an incredible match that lasted four and a half hours, Ivo Karlović defeated Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-5, 4-6, 12-10. Sugita is ranked 41st in the world. Karlović served 53 aces, while Sugita only served 14. Both players made quite a few mistakes - and while Karlović had ten errors, Sugita made 14.
Karlović achieved more points on both the first and second serve, while his rival took the serve only twice. The last, fifth set, lasted for an hour and 16 minutes.
This was the first match between Karlović, who is 89th in the ATP rankings, and Sugita. For the passage into the round of 16, Karlović will fight Italian Andreas Seppi, the 76th best tennis player in the world. Karlović and Seppi have met three times where Karlović has celebrated twice. Karlović has also become the oldest tennis player to advance to the third round of the Australian Open with almost 39 years of age, after Ken Rosewall in 1978 who was 44 years old.
Petra Martić also advanced to the third round of the Australian Open, which is her best result in a grand slam tournament, after securing a win over Romanian tennis player Irina Begu (40th in the world) with a score of 6-4, 7-6 (3). In the match, which lasted over two hours, both tennis players served two aces, and although Martić made five mistakes, she was better at the first and second serve than her rival. Martić won 93 out of a total of 178 points while Begu won 85. This was their first match against one another, and for placement into the round of 16, Martić will play against Thailand’s Luksika "Luk" Kumkhum who is 126th in the WTA ranking. In the second round, Kumkhum defeated Switzerland's Belinda Benčić.
Jana Fett was the only one to not place in the third round, as she lost in the second round 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to the second-best tennis player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki. Jana Fett, who is 119th in the WTA rankings, played against Wozniacki for two and a half hours and lost the serve seven times, making nine double errors and serving only once. This was the first match between Fett and Wozniacki.
Translated from Gol.hr
