Australian Open 2013 - Day Four - Highlights - 1/17/2013
55,671 people came and watched Day Four of the Australian Open 2013 Tennis Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Specifically in the Rod Laver and Hisense Arenas, to name a few. Not nearly as many people were in attendance on Day 4 (in comparison to Days 1-3), but that's to be expected. Attendance fluctuates here and there. Today, we learned that Serena Williams is quite the accident-prone gal, that Laura Robson is a determined underdog, that Victoria Azarenka has been training hard to defend her title, and that Roger Federer is looking to unseat Novak Djokovic from the champion's chair. This season has been fun so far, but I think it'll start heating up tomorrow when Venus Williams plays Maria Sharapova in a game of singles.
Victoria Azarenka vs. Eleni Daniilidou - Women's Singles:
Victoria beat Greek star Eleni in an easy game of singles that lasted 55 mins: 6-1 (Set 1), 6-0 (Set 2). Well, "easy" is totally an understatement. It was more like a thrashing. The 23-year-old is on track to meet Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals. I think it'll be tough for Victoria to win a back-to-back titles because she'll have to overcome a huge obstacle in Maria Sharapova (if Maria beats Venus tomorrow). Plus, the Grand Slam she won last year was her first ever.
Source: NDTV Serena Williams vs. Garbine Muguruza - Women's Singles:Serena beat Spanish star Garbine: 6-2 (Set 1), 6-0 (Set 2). I realized something about the 15-time grand slam champion today. She sure is accident-prone! In Round One, she rolled her ankle... and in Round Two, she hit herself in the face with her own racket. I definitely understand how much it hurts to get hit in the face with a racket. It's no fun. (When I used to play tennis in high school, one of my teammates swung her racket and it hit me (BAM!) square in the head. It hurt like a b*tch, but her swing was totally unintentional. I SWEAR, I don't have any beef with her). And, I've also learned something about myself whilst writing this paragraph: that I have indeed learned to make my internal monologue external. :P Serena will play Ayumi Morita in the third round.
Source: CNN
Roger Federer vs. Nikolay Davydenko - Men's Singles:
The fearless Roger Federer beat Russian star Nikolay in a relatively tight game: 6-3 (Set 1), 6-4 (Set 2), 6-4 (Set 3). Roger is looking to win his fifth Australian Open this season. Will he get it done? I think he CAN win it all, but he certainly has some tough competition to beat in Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. The 31-year-old remains one of the favorites to win it all in 2013. He's probably the least nervous of 'em all.
Andy Murray vs. Joao Sousa - Men's Singles:
Another favorite Andy beat Portuguese star Joao: 6-2 (Set 1), 6-2 (Set 2), 6-4 (Set 3). Andy is seeking his second overall Grand Slam title, but the thing is: Roger and Novak are standing in his way.
Kimiko Date-Krumm vs. Shahar Peer - Women's Singles:
Kimiko beat the Israeli athlete Shahar in two straight sets: 6-2 (Set 1). 7-5 (Set 2). The 42-year-old is still going strong, being that she is the second oldest woman in the competition. And she doesn't even look like someone in her 40's! She looks so youthful in this following video:
Laura Robson vs. Petra Kvitova - Women's Singles:
Laura--an 18-year-old from Great Britain--proved herself a worthy candidate to advance into the third round of the Australian Open. She beat Czech star Petra in a nail-biting game: 2-6 (Set 1), 6-3 (Set 2), 11-9 (Set 3). 20 games in the third set is not unheard of, but it's quite unusual for a set to last that long (in the professional leagues). Laura showed determination in a game that was dubbed "ugly."
Serena Williams & Venus Williams vs. Camila Giorgi & Stefanie Voegele - Women's Doubles:
The dynamic duo in Serena & Venus crushed their competition in Camila & Stefanie: 6-3 (Set 1), 6-1 (Set 2). One Williams sister is hard to surpass, yet putting two Williams sisters on the same court is even tougher. Serena is one tough athlete, though. (She played two games in one day despite having an injured ankle). I think Serena is the definition of someone who doesn't make excuses for herself.
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These following videos cover all games from Day Four (January 17, 2013):
Take a look at these videos to find out more about the athletes I didn't cover in this review.Day Session Highlights:
Night Session Highlights:
