* Illness no problem for Djokovic; beats Bedene in straight sets
* Wawrinka cruises in return to Melbourne, but Top Ten spot still under threat
* Nishikori moves closer to #4 ranking with easy win over Almagro
* Raonic also through in straight sets; Ferrer needs four sets to top Bellucci
* Injured Dolgopolov plays but loses in straight sets to Lorenzi
* Slumping Fognini loses again, to Alejandro Gonzalez; will fall out of Top Twenty
* Benneteau also upset, by Becker; Bachinger shocks Cuevas
* Benneteau to lose newly-earned Top 25 spot; Cuevas likely out of Top Thirty
* All other seeds in action win
* Hewitt, playing eighteen years after his first Open, starts with a victory
* Pospisil tops Querrey, who will fall to not much above #40
* Stephane Robert, who made fourth round last year, falls to Granollers, loses almost half of points, falls below #200
* Thiem out of Top Forty after loss to Bautista Agut
* Andujar loses Top Forty shot after shock loss to Copil
Australian Open
Top seed Novak Djokovic showed no sign of the stomach virus which laid him low last week as he joined holder Stan Wawrinka with an overwhelming win into the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Djokovic put aside his early loss in Doha which got his 2015 preparation off to a poor start, with the world number one bossing Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
“(The symptoms) are fading away,” said Djokovic, winner of four Melbourne titles. “It hasn’t been an ideal couple of weeks in terms of health and preparation.
“But I fought through, now it’s behind me. I’m only looking forward. I did well in terms of responding to the slow start today, feeling a little bit rusty on the court. So hopefully the next match will be even better.”
Wawrinka also got off to a flying start with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 thrashing of Turk Marsel Ilhan. The Swiss fourth seed won with eight aces, five breaks of serve and 34 winners in a match lasting just 91 minutes.
“It felt great to come in the court. I played some good tennis and I have confidence with my game in general. That’s what I did today.
“It was not so hot. A little bit humid, a little bit windy. But, it was a good match.
“In a grand slam it can be a long two weeks if you want to go far in the tournament. You need to be focused on every match, every point. Today I think was great. Good start for me winning in three sets and playing some good tennis.”
Fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. Canadian Milos Raonic, seeded eighth, fired 28 aces as he hammered Illya Marchenko 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Spanish ninth seed David Ferrer recovered for a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Spain”s 12th seed Feliciano Lopez advanced over Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8. Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez knocked out patchy Italian 16th seed Fabio Fognini, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Estimated ATP World Tour Rankings
As of January 20, 1015
Rank &
Prior…Player………..Points
1..(1) Djokovic……….11090
2..(2) Federer…………9200
3..(3) Nadal…………..5430
4..(5) Nishikori……….4890
5..(8) Raonic………….4530
6..(6) Murray………….4360
7..(9) Cilic…………..4105
8..(7) Berdych…………3985
9.(10) Ferrer………….3830
10..(4) Wawrinka………..3415
11.(11) Dimitrov………..3330
12.(12) Tsonga………….2560
13.(13) Gulbis………….2420
14.(14) Lopez…………..2085
15.(15) Anderson………..1990
16.(16) Bautista Agut……1975
17.(17) Robredo…………1845
18.(19) Monfils…………1725
19.(21) Isner…………..1720
20.(20) Simon…………..1685
21.(22) Goffin………….1664
22.(18) Fognini…………1620
23.(24) Kohlschreiber……1460
24.(23) Dolgopolov………1420
25.(27) Karlovic………..1400
26.(26) MayerL………….1389
27.(25) Benneteau……….1355
28.(28) Gasquet…………1305
29.(30) Rosol…………..1245
30.(29) Cuevas………….1217
Australian Open — Week of January 19
1 Djokovic
31 Verdasco
19 Isner
13 Bautista Agut
12 Lopez
17 Monfils
25 Benneteau
8 Raonic
4 Wawrinka
27 Cuevas
21 Dolgopolov
16 Fognini
9 Ferrer
18 Simon
30 Giraldo
5 Nishikori
7 Berdych
26 L Mayer
22 Kohlschreiber
11 Gulbis
14 Anderson
24 Gasquet
28 Rosol
3 Nadal
6 Murray
32 Klizan
20 Goffin
10 Dimitrov
15 Robredo
23 Karlovic
29 Chardy
2 Federer
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 Djokovic
2 Federer
3 Nadal
4 Wawrinka
5 Nishikori
6 Murray
7 Berdych
8 Raonic
9 Ferrer
10 Dimitrov
11 Gulbis………..lost 1R (Kokkinakis)
12 Lopez
13 Bautista Agut
14 Anderson
15 Robredo……….lost 1R (Roger-Vasselin)
16 Fognini……….lost 1R (A. Gonzalez)
17 Monfils
18 Simon
19 Isner
20 Goffin
21 Dolgopolov…….lost 1R (Lorenzi)
22 Kohlschreiber
23 Karlovic
24 Gasquet
25 Benneteau……..lost 1R (Becker)
26 L Mayer
27 Cuevas………..lost 1R (Bachinger)
28 Rosol
29 Chardy
30 Giraldo
31 Verdasco
32 Klizan
TUESDAY
Australian Open
Singles – First Round
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 63 62 64
[4] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) d. Marsel Ilhan (TUR) 61 64 62
[5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) d. Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 64 76(1) 62
[8] Milos Raonic (CAN) d. Illya Marchenko (UKR) 76(3) 76(3) 63
[9] David Ferrer (ESP) d. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 67(2) 62 60 63
[12] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) d Denis Kudla (USA) 36 62 46 62 10-8 – Saved 3 MP
[13] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) d. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 46 62 63 76(5)
Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) d. [16] Fabio Fognini (ITA) 46 62 63 64
[17] Gael Monfils (FRA) d. Lucas Pouille (FRA) 67(3) 36 64 61 64
[18] Gilles Simon (FRA) d. Robin Haase (NED) 61 63 64
[19] John Isner (USA) d. Jimmy Wang (TPE) 76(5) 64 64
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) d. [21] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 64 63 62
Benjamin Becker (GER) d. [25] Julien Benneteau (FRA) 75 57 62 64
Matthias Bachinger (GER) d. [27] Pablo Cuevas (URU) 76(1) 63 61
[30] Santiago Giraldo (COL) d Jan Hernych (CZE) 63 62 62
[31] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. James Ward (GBR) 26 60 76(6) 63
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) d. Ze Zhang (CHN) 63 16 60 64
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) d. Hiroki Moriya (JPN) 76(5) 26 63 75
Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) d. Laurent Lokoli (FRA) 64 57 64 63
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 61 62 76(6)
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) d. Sam Querrey (USA) 63 67(5) 26 64 64
Elias Ymer (SWE) d. Go Soeda (JPN) 16 64 46 63 63
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) d Blaz Rola (SLO) 76(7) 63 62
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 63 46 64 67(3) 64
Donald Young (USA) d Tim Puetz (GER) 64 46 63 62
Marcel Granollers (ESP) d. Stephane Robert (FRA) 63 64 64
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) d. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 61 36 63 76(3)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) d. Joao Souza (BRA) 64 75 64
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 67(1) 75 64 10 ret.
Marius Copil (ROU) d. Pablo Andujar (ESP) 62 62 75
Steve Johnson (USA) d Kyle Edmund (GBR) 64 64 63
Gilles Muller (LUX) d. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 64 76(5) 76(3)
***
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