Nadal Edges American Smyczek in Five-Set Aussie Open Thriller

Rafael Nadal won the final two sets to narrowly escape a second-round contest with Tim Smyczek, beating the American qualifier 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-5 to advance into the third round of the Australian Open.

Nadal got off to a quick start as he broke Smyczek in the fourth and eighth games to win the opening set 6-2. He looked as if he would roll until some unforced errors in the next set opened the door for Smyczek.

A double-fault at 0/40 handed Smyczek a break point and a 4-3 lead in the second set. From there, the American rattled off four more games in a row and found himself tied at a set a piece and with a 2-0 advantage in the third. 

After Nadal evened things up, Smyczek pulled out the third set in a tiebreak and was one frame away from becoming the first American to beat a top 3 player in a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick beat Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2009.

In the fourth, Nadal regained his form. The Spaniard’s serve was dominant and he was able to pick up a break point on his lone opportunity and force the match into a deciding fifth set.

The fifth set was incredibly evenly played with both players holding throughout the first 10 games.  At 5-5, though, Nadal’s championship experience pulled through as he was able to pick up the lone break point of the set, and followed it with a hold to wrap up the win in four hours and 12 minutes.

At 6-5 in the final set, a fan shouted as Nadal was about to hit the ball and the serve sailed long. Nadal looked into the stands and Smyczek, recognizing this, said that Nadal should be allowed to do it over.

Nadal would go on to win the point and the match, but Smyczek won over Nadal’s respect.

“What he did at the end of the fifth I just amazing,” said Nadal. “Very few players can do that after four hours something of a match at 6-5, love-30. So I just will say thanks to him because he’s a great example what he did today.”

Despite the loss, Smyczek was pleased with how he performed.

“I’m very happy with the way I played,” said the 121st-ranked Smyczek. “I had a good game plan going in. The most important thing I thought was for me to try and stay within myself. I thought I did a pretty good job of that. I didn’t really struggle with nerves too much just because I had nothing to lose. I’m very happy with the way I served. I was happy that I was able to go for four hours and still feel okay.”

Nadal will meet Israel’s Dudi Sela in the third-round. Sela knocked off 28th seeded Czeck Lukas Rosol 7-6(2), 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to push through.

World number two Roger Federer looked like he might be in a bit of trouble early in his second-round bout with Simone Bolelli. The Italian took the opening set from Federer 6-3 and looked to be the sharper player.

The four-time champion in Melbourne quickly responded by taking the final three sets and disposing of Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and nine minutes. Up next for Fed is Italian Andreas Seppi who upended 29th seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych continued their impressive starts in Melbourne, both cruising in straight sets. The seventh-seeded Berdych routed veteran Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-2 while sixth-seeded Murray ousted Australia’s Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

Unseeded Australians Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios took down seeded players on their home court Wednesday.

Tomic edged 22nd seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-6(5). Tomic hit 67 winners to just 40 unforced errors to move into a third-round matchup with fellow Australian Sam Groth.

Kyrgios ousted big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6(4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to move on. Kyrgios shook off 40 aces from the 23rd seeded Karlovic and committed just 13 unforced errors in the match to advance. He takes on Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri in the third-round.

10th seeded Grigor Dimitrov and 14th seeded Kevin Anderson were also winners on Wednesday. Dimitrov edged Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-3, 6-3 while Anderson rolled past Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3).

Click here for all the results from Day Three at the Australian Open.