The second round of the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne Park was scene to a series of upsets. 27 of 32 seeds may have made it through to the second round, but only 16 made it to the third.
Rafael Nadal nearly made it seventeen. Nadal had the biggest scare of the top seeds when American qualifier Tim Smyczek took him to 7-5 in the fifth. The Spaniard, who had been so impressive in the first round, suffered a mysterious illness in the match. But despite his illness he still managed to win, and received not just help from the tournament trainer but also from his opponent who, returning at 5-6 0-30 down in the fifth, insisted Nadal get another chance at a first serve after he was disturbed by a shout from the crowd.
Nadal struggling early in a slam to an unknown is not unheard of, though. And if anything it might be a positive for him. Short of match practice, and unchallenged in the first round, this might be the match that he can draw upon when things get tough again later on.
More surprising was that tournament favorites Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori dropped a set each to Simon Bolleli and Ivan Dodig respectively. Worryingly, Federer reported a pain in his finger. The Swiss said he did not know if it was a blister or not, but it certainly affected his performance, and fans will hope it heals before he faces experienced Andreas Seppi in the next round. The Italian is in good form after knocking out 26th seed Jeremy Chardy.
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka had a tough time, too, as he was taken to two tiebreakers by Marius Copil before taking control of the match in the third.
Tough though their road was, all top ten seeds made it through to the third round.
The highest seed to be upset was unlucky No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut by Gilles Muller in four sets. Other noteworthy losses were those of Gael Monfils and David Goffin. Monfils, seeded 19, was beaten in five sets by Jerzy Janowicz, and No 20 seed David Goffin went down to 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis in four.
Sydney Champion Viktor Troicki continues his good form as he beat Leonardo Mayer (26) in four sets.
Home fans helped along a couple of big upsets. Bernard Tomic beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (22) in four sets. Another Aussie giant killer was Nick Kyrgios who upset 23rd seeded Ivo Karlovic, also in four sets.
But they could not help 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewiit. The most notable loss of the day, or the night in fact, was Hewitt’s five set loss to Benjamin Becker. Hewitt dominated the first two sets only to be beaten in five by an opponent who was 0-5 in best of five set matches. At 34, the question is- how many more times will tennis fans see Hewitt on a Rod Laver under the stars?
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