Australian Open day three wrap: Rafael Nadal out, Coco Gauff sees off resilient Emma Raducanu

Tennis News
Rafael Nadal in action

Rafael Nadal suffered the biggest shock of the Australian Open so far as his title defence ended with a straight-sets second round defeat to MacKenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal was the top seed in the men’s singles, but third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas had a much better day, beating Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.

In the eagerly anticipated women’s singles clash between Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu, the American triumphed over the Brit in straight sets, though she had to labour at the end to get over the line 6-3, 7-6.

Iga Swiatek, the women’s top seed, made light work of her clash with Camila Osorio, winning 6-2, 6-3.

Picture of the day

 

Rafael Nadal unhappy

 

Quote of the day

“GOAT wins don’t come easy.” American tennis star Frances Tiafoe summed up the scale of compatriot McDonald’s win over Nadal.

Clocking out early

In one of the more amusing moments of the day, Danielle Collins thought that she had secured a win over Karolina Muchova when she went 7-3 up in the third set tiebreak, laying down her racket and throwing up her hands in jubilation only to realise that the game was not yet over.

Thankfully for the American 13th-seed, she was able to see out the game eventually, clinching the tiebreak 10-6 to win the match 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 over her Czech opponent.

“I was a little embarrassed,” she afterwards with a smile in her on-court post-match interview at the Margaret Court Arena.

“I never had to play a tie-break in the third set at a Grand Slam so I thought the match was over. I just told myself at least you didn’t face plant on the floor, I was trying to keep things in perspective.

“I am not good with the score, sometimes I forget. I need to work on that a bit!”

Eurosport commentator Chris Bradnam was left perplexed by Collins’ gaffe.

“It’s first to 10, that’s extraordinary!” he said while watching the 29-year-old celebrate.

“How did she not remember that? How do you recover from that?! It’s the same in all the majors this year Danielle!”

Playing the long game

Crowds bore witness to some scintillating tennis on Wednesday, as there was a 70-shot rally between Jason Kubler and Karen Khachanov in the men’s singles and a 27-shot exchange between Bianca Andreescu and Marie Bouzková.

By Leonard Solms

Coco Gauff Emma Raducanu Iga Swiatek Mackenzie McDonald Rafael Nadal

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