Sport
Serena Williams, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advance to the 4th round at the Australian Open
Playing in his 16th straight Australian Open, Hewitt needed three match points in the final game to close out the win and become the first wild card entry to reach the fourth round in Melbourne since Mats Wilander in 1994.
“It’s just a game,” Hewitt said. “But it’s a bloody big game.”
No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer are back on court in a Sunday schedule that features a repeat of the 2011 women’s final between Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Federer is up against Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. Nadal faces fellow Spaniard Felicano Lopez.
No. 4-ranked Andy Murray, beaten in the last two Australian finals, brushed aside Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 Saturday to leave France with two players in the draw, having started the day with six.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates his Australian Open victory against Frederico Gull. PHOTO/Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the other Frenchman to advance, the 2008 finalist beating Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. He will play Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era.
Mikhail Kukushkin, who beat an ailing Gael Monfils in five sets, will be the first man from Kazakhstan to play a Round of 16 match at a Grand Slam when he faces Murray.
Williams is frequently the only American left in a tournament, and it doesn’t bother her.
“I really don’t think when I go out there that I’m the last American,” she said. “I just think I’m trying to come in here and win this match, play this girl. That’s all I really think about.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
