We all know what happens when ice and heat meet! This may however be hotly disputed by the “Ice Queen” of tennis, Maria Sharapova who despite blistering conditions combined with a gusty performance by Karin Knapp managed to advance to the third round with a 63 46 10 8 win over the Italian on the Rod Laver Arena.
Sharapova who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury for the past few months took some extra time out to prepare for the Australian Open and her patience and rehab certainly paid off today. It wasn’t plain sailing for the 26 year old Russian and 2008 Australian Open Champion though. Knapp, who has had her fair share of medical problems including heart surgery and two knee operations, put up a brave fight, but at the end of the day experience counted and in 3 hours and 28 minutes, Sharapova walked off the court victorious.
Sharapova will now face Alize Cornet from France who also needed three sets to defeat Italian, Camila Giorgi.
The “extreme heat policy” resulted in all matches (excluding those being played on the Rod Laver and Hisense Arenas) being suspended. There was some relief when the rain came down, but that was only temporary.
Despite being tested by the weather, the following seeds also advanced today – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Gael Monfils, Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray, Agnieszka Radwanska, Sloane Stephens, Jelena Jankovic, Carla Suarez Navarro, Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka.
A stroke of luck
Could Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki be each other’s lucky charms? The Dane, who spent 67 weeks at No. 1 without winning a Grand Slam tournament, advanced to the third round today after defeating American Christina McHale 60 16 62. Wozniacki’s ranking has slipped to No. 10 over the past three years. McIlroy and Wozniacki got engaged on 31 December 2013 in Sydney. Both their performances over the past year have been below par and we hope this gives them the edge they need.
Tomorrow is set to be another action packed day in Melbourne and hopefully the heat won’t have the upper hand again.
Image courtesy of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament.