Australian Open 2016 Predictions

As we edge closer to the first slam of the year it's time to make my previous tournament predictions and this year on the women's side it's wide open with a string of players going through good runs of form including Aga Radwanska the WTA Season end Championship winner plus the Auckland title to follow up that success as well, however with Aga I don't see her as a player who can string a run of results against the top hard hitting players like Azarenka, Sharapova, Serena and that brings me onto the latter two.

Maria Sharapova when fit and in form has got to be a contender but she is neither of those two things at the start of this year and the lack of match practise could hinder her as she advances through the tournament and the same could be said for Serena Williams who has had little time on the court since her defeat to Roberta Vinci which ended her Season Slam hopes.

Simona Halep has had her injury worries as well but looked very good against  a tricky Pliskova earlier on today with a straight sets victory and Muguruza is also one to watch out, last year she had an incredible slam record and always steps up in the big events.

Kerber has started the year well reaching the Brisbane final, Genie Bouchard has captured some of her old form at the start of the year and could also go on a long run if she can get herself a kind draw.

However the one woman who has looked incredibly at ease on hard court this year is Victoria Azarenka who beat Kerber with ease to win the Brisbane title and she is now looking more hungry then ever to get the injuries behind her and claim the Australian Open title for the 3rd time, with Serena not playing much this year and the unpredictability how she'll play in the Aussie Open I'd put Vika Azarenka as the slight favourite to win it all.

Final Prediction - Azarenka v Muguruza
Last 4 - Azarenka, Muguruza, Serena, Halep
Early Shock Exits - Sharapova, Kvitova
Biggest Surprises - Timea Babos, Allison Riske, Monica Puig

Australian Open Day 5

Agnieszka Radwanska [4] (Pol) beat Heather Watson (GB) 6-3 6-1

Heather Watson was up against it from the start against Radwanska who has yet to drop a set in 2012, Heather had dropped more sets in the last game alone then Radwanska has all year round but her battling performances in Round 1 & 2 got her through to a well earned match with the 4th Seed, Watson started well  in the first game after being 0-30 down on serve, her serve game to the rescue and Radwanska made some rare errors before Watson sealed her hold with a backhand winner, the hold for Watson was followed with an even better hold by Radwanska as she held to love to level things up in the first set, Watson then followed Radwanska's love hold with a love hold of her own after sealing it with an Ace and was showing clear signs of improvement from when the pair met at Wimbledon last year, in Radwanska's next service game Watson had 2 break points but couldn't take them as Radwanska typically played her way out of  trouble forcing watson out wide with a great serve and then on the final break point Watson went wide and Aga won the next 2 points to hold and make it 2-2, Radwanska showed the quality of her forehand in the next game as he  earned herself 3 break points Watson saved the first 2 but Radwanska wouldn't let the third one go as a perfectly times forehand down the line gave her the first break of the game, Aga held serve and then broke again after earning 3 points after some great defensive play from Watson's angled shots, Watson gifted Radwanska another break after a double fault in the second straight awful service game in a row for her, Aga who was now serving for the set at 5-2 found herself broken for the first time by Watson after her backhand could only find the net on break point as Watson kept herself in the set at 5-3 however in the next game Watson couldn't do enough to see of Radwanska as an attempted smash finds the net to give Radwanska break point, Watson's second serve is met by a great Radwanska forehand winner as she takes the first set 6-3, Radwanska's composed and Accurate gameplan was proving to be to much for Watson who seemed to be more rushed on shots, Watson gave a good account of herself in the first set though as she stayed in rallies well with Radwanska but was lacking the variety to really trouble the pole.

A chance presented it's self for Watson straight away in the first game of the second set as she earned herself a break point in deuce but can only find the net with a forehand she earned herself another break point after a smash but again Radwanska shows her qualities under pressure as she attempts a perfect drop shot from the baseline which Watson reaches but can't do enough to get it off the floor, Radwanska closed out the first game after Watson went wide and then some great shot making undone the battling Watson, in the next game Radwanska made the best shot of the match and probably one of the best of the tournament so far as she somehow managed to get her racquet on a powerful driven forehand by Watson and directs it through the middle of the court and sees out the game after some great serves and poor footwork from Watson to break and lead 2-0, Radwanska races into a 5-0 lead as she continues to read Watson's shots like a book and her stylish play around the court is just to much for Watson to contend with as Watson is continued to be broke easily, Watson did win a game and deservedly so as she held to make it 5-1 before Radwanska served out the match in a convincing win but even though Watson was beat well today some would say the scoreline is a bit harsh as many points Aga won Watson stayed in them well and didn't take the important break points at the right times in the match as for Aga she continues her impressive run.

Ana Ivanovic [13] (Ser) beat Jelena Jankovic [22] (Ser) 7-5 6-3

It's no secret that these two players haven't always seen eye to eye, mostly due to the commitments Jankovic has to the Serbian team and how she thinks Ivanovic isn't committed enough, it's been a while since both of these players enjoyed grand slam success and both of them only have 1 grand slam to their name and were at one point #1 in the world, it was Ivanovic who showed much more of that old #1 form that Jankovic did early on in the match as she conquered Jankovic in almost every long shot rally that they had, some of the quality of the points were amazing and Ivanovic was showcasing just how good she can be when she was on form, she continued to push Jankovic across the baseline with cross court forehands and raced into a 5-2 lead but Jankovic came back to level things at 5-5 before Ivanovic held and broke again in a composed finish to the 1st set to take it 7-5, the quality was surprising to see from Ivanovic her movement looked the best it has been in a while despite the ankle injury she has, in the second set Ivanovic took control of the set with another break and outplayed Jankovic once again in the long rallies and pushed her back forcing her into difficult shots, Ivanovic overcame her serb teammate in the end in an impressive display as she continues her her good form in 2013

"It's competitiveness," said Ivanovic, who will next meet Radwanska. "You have that with everyone you play - and especially someone coming from your country. We were (once) both looking for the number one position and to win a Grand Slam.

"Of course there is going to be rivalry, but I think there is healthy rivalry too because you kind of push each other."

Maria Sharapova [2] (Rus) beat Venus Williams [25] (USA) 6-1 6-3

Sharapova who had cruised to back to back perfect score 6-0 6-0 matches in the first 2 rounds certainty knew that there was almost no chance of that happening against Venus but she still hammered her veteran opponent in straight sets to book her place into the 4th round, Sharapova broke Williams straight away in the very first game as Venus looked shakey on serve and not serving with any real conviction at all, Sharapova was returning well and pushing Venus wide and forcing her to find the net on many occasions, her forehand looked perfect all match and her serve was keeping good as it had been in the first 2 rounds, It was only when Sharapova was 4-0 that Venus finally took a game but it was to little to late as Sharapova won the next 2 to take the set in style 6-1, Sharapova's returning was again on point in the second set and Venus couldn't find any real flow to her service game, an early break for Sharapova with great backhand play gave her the break early on in the second set and she never looked back from there, Sharapova did however get broken by Williams when serving for the match but the damage was already done long before then as she finally held and won with an Ace.

Novak Djokovic (Ser) beats Radek Stepanek (Cze) 6-4 6-3 7-5

Novak Djokovic again won in straight sets to continue his bid to win the Australian Open for the third time in a row, his 34 year old opponent was up for the fight and also up for a few jokes as he turned his back for the bum shot as Djokovic went for a smash, Stepanek made it hard work for Djokovic at times as he played some excellent forehand shots and used his creativity well to work all match, it was good watching him forward instead of playing on the baseline to much charging near the net at every chance he got, Djokovic saw out the game in just over 2 hours but Stepanek went down fighting in the third set and narrowly lost 7-5

David Ferrer [4] (Spa) beat Marcos Baghdatis [28] (Cyp) 6-4 6-2 6-3

David Ferrer easily overcame Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets despite making hard work for himself in the first set as he got himself into a 4-1 lead and looking a certainty to win the first set, Baghdatis came back to level things at 4-4 before Ferrer composed himself and held and broke Baghdatis in probably the most important 2 games in the whole match, Ferrer couldn't do much wrong from there as he only dropped 5 games in the final 2 sets

Men's Third Round Scores: Day 5

Novak Djokovic (1) defeated Radek Stepanek (31); 6-4, 6-3, 7-5

David Ferrer (4) defeated Marcos Baghdatis (28); 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Tomas Berdych (5) defeated Jurgen Melzer (26); 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Janko Tipsarevic (8) defeated Julien Benneteau (32); 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

Nicolas Almagro (10) defeated Jerzy Janowicz (24); 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka (15) defeated Sam Querrey (20); 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-4

Kei Nishikori (16) defeated Evgeny Donskoy; 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-3

Kevin Anderson defeated Fernando Verdasco (22); 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

Women's Third Round Scores: Day 5

Maria Sharapova (2) defeated Venus Williams (25); 6-1, 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska (4) defeated Heather Watson; 6-3, 6-1

Angelique Kerber (5) defeated Madison Keys; 6-2, 7-5

Li Na (6) defeated Sorana Cirstea (27); 6-4, 6-1

Ekaterina Makarova (19) defeated Marion Bartoli (11); 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4

Ana Ivanovic (13) defeated Jelena Jankovic (22); 7-5, 6-3

Julia Goerges (18) defeated Zheng Jie; 6-3, 1-6, 7-5

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Valeria Savinykh; 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

Australian Open Day 4

Victoria Azarenka (Blr) [1] beat Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) 6-1 6-0

The Reigning Champion Victoria Azarenka produced an impressive display against former world #14 Eleni Daniilidou to reach the 3rd round, Azarenka started well with a love service game before breaking her opponent, Daniilidou was opting for the backhand slice at every chance she got but Vika was returning them with conviction and making Daniilidou work hard around the court for every ball, Vika looked in focus as she powered through every shot finding the line perfectly on many occasions in the first set, Daniilidou who previously had a win at Wimbledon over Justine Henin to her name almost a decade ago looks a totally different player these days and Vika exposed her Greek opponents flaws well, setting up match points at 5-1 and taking them to win a easy first set, Daniilidou in the second set just like in the first was having terrible service games hitting double faults and nailing weak 2nd serves to let Vika in and attack them, Vika soon raced through the second set following the same pattern as the first with massive forehands across court that Daniilidou had no answer to, the only time Vika looked unfocused in the whole match was when Daniilidou was getting her ball toss all wrong and taking an age on her service game a couple of times, but Vika made her pay for that in the second set with a bagel to easily seal the match.

 

Serena Williams (US) [3] beat Garbine Muguruza (Spa) 6-2 6-0

The Tournament favorite Serena Williams who took a nasty fall on her ankle in the first round looked like she has fully recovered as her movement looked normal and she sealed a routine victory against the Unseeded Spaniard Muguruza, it took a while for Williams to settle into the match after a few shakey games she was soon into her stride and raced away but it wasn't all plain sailing for her in some regards as she stretched for a Muguruza forehand she caught herself in the mouth with her own racket and looked clearly in pain, holding her mouth and checking for blood but she carried on and didn't make a huge fuss out of it to her credit and took the first set 6-2,Muguruza at times looked good on the forehand she powered a few close to the line to win points and her serve at times in the match looked impressive but there was not enough consistently from her to give Serena any troubles and Serena got herself a Bagel in the second to book herself a place in the 3rd round

Bernard Tomic (Aus) beat Daniel Brands (Ger) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8)

One of the most entertaining games of the tournament so far, Tomic who has been given high hopes by the Media of being a possible winner of the tournament after a good start to the near was against another man who was going through a good run of form from his run back in Doha a couple of weeks ago, Brands took the first set in a tie break after an impressive serving performance but Tomic who looked up for the fight leveled things up in the second at the most important time, in the third set it was Tomic's time to win the tie break to take the lead in sets for the first time in the match, the final set both players continued to serve and hold well but it was Tomic who seemed to be coming out on top in most of the rallies they were having with a better variety of shot making then his opponent, Tomic couldn't take 2 match points before the tie break and in the tie break he had 3 at 6-3 that he didn't take as Brands battled back but Tomic just about did enough in the end as he won another match point as 9-8 and took it well to give the Australian crowd something to cheer about after Stosur's disappointing exit the day before 

Laura Robson (GB) beat Petra Kvitova (Cze) [8] 2-6 6-3 11-9

It wasn't the best match to watch and it wasn't pretty at all but it was the most nervous and enthralling match of the tournament so far, Robson couldn't have asked for a worst start as she double faulted twice a trait in her game that she had been trying to get rid of in recent months but it seemed to be haunting her again and Kvitova broke straight away and the second set sun ran away from Robson as Kvitova was hitting more winners and Robson didn't look settled at all, the second set Kvitova starting making much more errors on serve and gifting points to Robson, a break came and Robson took it and closed out the set to level things at 1-1, in the third set, the match was lacking any good rallies and both players were looking to hit hard all the time and making errors and the double fault count began to rise, Laura's shot making seemed to improve a little in the deciding set as Kvitova's body language was looking bleaker and bleaker by the minute with every error she hit, it was only when the match was leveled up at 6-6 that both players went up a gear on serve but still couldn't stop the endless supply of Double faults and Errors that stopped the game having any real flow about it, Robson who had to serve to stay in the match a few times looked composed and didn't crumble under the pressure, Robson broke to make it 10-9 after a great return on a weak kvitova serve and she sealed arguably the biggest win in her career when she served, it started well with an Ace and then Kvitova found the net and went long to give Robson 3 match points but she only needed the 1 as Kvitova went long again to give Robson the match after 3 hours, It was unbelievable just how many errors were made in the game and it was down to who could keep their nerve more and try and limit the errors in the end  , Kvitova couldn't really find any sort of consistently on serve but Laura improved and stepped it up well in the 3rd set against a visibly upset Petra Kvitova, Robson now joins fellow Brits Andy Murray and Heather Watson in the third round and the first time since the 1980's that Great Britain has had 3 players in the 3rd round of a Grand Slam. 

Andy Murray (GB) [3] beat Joao Sousa (Por) 6-2 6-2 6-4

Andy Murray gave another good account of himself with a straight set win over Portuguese Joao Sousa, Murray used his cross court play well and sealed out every set with no problems from his unseeded opponent, Murray played with confidence and looked like he was in a rush to get the match over with as the 3rd seed wrapped up the first set in no time at all, Murray looked great on serve and didn't give opponent many chances to break at all as he powered himself over the finishing line in just 1 hour and 41 minutes to set up a clash with his good friend Ricardas Berankis in the 3rd Round 

Roger Federer (Swi) [2] beat Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 6-3 6-4 6-4

Federer who was showing off some of his new Pink footwear started well against the tricky Davydenko winning the long rallies and coming out on top in the important points and sliding across the court to reach balls a lot more then usual in a Djokovic type of style, Federer was his usual focused self all through the match and in the end his court position and his quality shot making was to much for Davydenko to get to grips with as Federer came through in straight sets and will now face Australia's very own Bernard Tomic in the next round 

Men's Second Round Scores: Day 4

Roger Federer (2) defeated Nikolay Davydenko; 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Andy Murray (3) defeated Joao Sousa; 6-2, 6-2, 6-4

Juan Martin Del Potro (6) defeated Benjamin Becker; 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7) defeated Go Soeda; 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3

Richard Gasquet (9) defeated Alejandro Falla; 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Marin Cilic (12) defeated Rajeev Ram; 7-5, 6-2, 6-4

Milos Raonic (13) defeated Lukas Rosol; 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-3

Gilles Simon (14) defeated Jesse Levine; 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber (17) defeated Amir Weintraub; 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4

Andreas Seppi (21) defeated Denis Istomin; 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2

Ricardas Berankis defeated Florian Mayer (25); 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Jeremy Chardy defeated Marcel Granollers (30); 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

Gael Monfils defeated Yen-Hsun Lu; 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 0-6, 6-1, 8-6

Blaz Kavcic defeated James Duckworth; 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 10-8

Ivan Dodig defeated Jarkko Nieminen; 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1

Bernard Tomic defeated Daniel Brands; 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-8)

Women's Second Round Scores: Day 4

Victoria Azarenka (1) defeated Eleni Daniilidou; 6-1, 6-0

Serena Williams (3) defeated Garbine Muguruza; 6-2, 6-0

Laura Robson defeated Petra Kvitova (8); 2-6, 6-3, 11-9

Caroline Wozniacki (10) defeated Donna Vekic; 6-1, 6-4

Maria Kirilenko (14) defeated Shuai Peng; 7-5, 6-2

Roberta Vinci (16) defeated Akgul Amanmuradova; 6-3, 6-2

Bojana Jovanovski defeated Lucie Safarova (17); 7-5, 7-5

Yanina Wickmayer (20) defeated Jana Cepelova; 7-6 (10-8), 7-5

Elena Vesnina defeated Varvara Lepchenko (21); 6-4, 6-2

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Su-Wei Hsieh (26); 6-2, 6-1

Sloane Stephens (29) defeated Kristina Mladenovic; 6-4, 6-3

Jamie Hampton defeated Luksika Kumkhum; 6-1, 6-2

Lesia Tsurenko defeated Daria Gavrilova; 7-5, 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Yulia Putintseva; 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

Ayumi Morita defeated Annika Beck; 6-2, 6-0

Kimiko Date-Krumm defeated Shahar Peer; 6-2, 7-5

Australian Open Day 3

Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) [4] bt Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) 6-3 6-3

Aga continued her perfect record in Round 2 with a straight forward 6-3 6-3 victory over Begu, the only time Begu really had a chance to put any pressure on Aga was when she broke early on in the first set to make it 2-0 but Aga composed herself and broke back and then took the first set with little trouble, the second set was again routine for Aga as she defended well and broke Begu easily to take the second set, she did more then enough to win today and apart from the slow start it was a usual day at the office and now Aga now goes to 11-0 for the season and is still yet to drop a set.

Radwanska - "I'm definitely happy I can play my best tennis at the beginning of the year, which is always tough after a few weeks just practising," she said.

"I didn't really expect that I could win this many matches in a year. Hopefully I can keep it going."

Zheng Jie (Chn) beat Sam Stosur (Aus) [9] 6-4 1-6 7-5

Not even Sam Stosur could have imagined her Australian Open Campaign end the way it did this year, the first set went with Serve until the 7th game when Zheng got the break and the first time the Alarm bells started to ring for Stosur, Stosur did well to break back straight away but couldn't hold as Zheng broke for the second time in the set, with Zheng serving to take the first set it was Stosur who was battling hard to stay in it with her home fans behind her she saved 7 set points but after just under an hour she succumbed after hitting a straight forward overhead volley long to gift Zheng the first set, In the set second Stosur made headway early on as she broke to make it 3-1 and then won the next 3 games to take the second set 6-1 and looking like she had a new sense of confidence to go on and take the match, in the third set got an early break again and it was looking like Zheng was about to exit the Competition when Stosur raced into a 5-2 lead and serving for the match she couldn't hold and Zheng came back at her with a good service game and then a hold and another break to level things up at 5-5, Zheng held her nerve well to go 6-5 up and make Stosur serve to stay alive in the match but she withered quickly and ended a terrible campaign with a nightmare double fault on match point to send Zheng through, after being 5-2 up in the third and looking in a certain position to make the next round it makes you wonder where did it all go wrong? Zheng fought hard though and in the end deserved her victory, she didn't let the Stosur shots take full effect and went forward into them at every chance she got and returned well all game, for Stosur it was just another sorry exit to add to her list. 

"Whatever word you want to put on it," the 28-year-old Queenslander said when asked straight up if she choked.

"At 5-2 up in the third, double break probably is a bit of a choke."

"You make an error and you tighten up a little bit, but you try and reset and refocus before that next point," Stosur said. "Unfortunately it just kept happening point after point after point. You know, then crazy things start popping into your head, and before you know it, you're back on even terms, and then your lead is gone."

Maria Sharapova (Rus) [2] beat Misaki Doi (Jap) 6-0 6-0

Just like in Round 1 Maria once again double bageled her opponent and is yet to drop a game in 2 matches in a very impressive performance, Doi has a break point in the first game but that's about as good as it got for her as Sharapova broke easily on every service game and destroyed her opponent all around the court with her power, she couldn't have ever imagined starting her Australian Open Campaign this well but maybe the lack of a challenge in the 2 matches she has played won't set her up well for the tough and physical matches later on in the Competition however this achievement was the first time in 28 years since Wendy Turnball that a player won 2 perfect score back to back matches.

“It's not really the statistic I want to be known for,” she said. “I want to be known for winning Grand Slam titles, not that I won two matches 6-0, 6-0.”

Heather Watson (GB) beat Ksenia Pervak (Kaz) 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2

In the last round Watson battled back from a set down against Alexandra Cadantu and she was at it again at a much larger scale in the 3rd round against Pervak, Pervak started brightly in the first set and Watson couldn't settle into her game at all and was indecisive with her shot making for the large majority of the first set, from the start Watson looked shakey on her service game as Pervak broke to love and was coming out on top in most of the rallies throughout the set and really making Watson work around the court to return anything, Watson couldn't find her baseline range at all and to many errors and bad stroke play saw Pervak take the first set, Pervak moved 2-0 clear in the second set and looked confident where as Watson looked like she had ran out of ideas already but the noisy British crowd who had been backing her from the start still believed they could get her back into the game and it seemed to work as Watson began to hit more Winners and she soon leveled things up to take the second set to a tie break, Watson started the tie break well going into a 2-1 lead before the Errors starting coming into her game again and before you know it Pervak was 6-3 up with 3 match points, but her usual battling fight came on show in the tie break and she closed out long nervous  defensive rallies with Pervak to save 3 match points and then soon after she got a set point of her and Pervak went wide to complete a miraculous come back for Watson and level things up at 1-1, Watson had a new sense of believe in the third set and came out like a different player with Pervak still probably thinking about her missed chances in the tie break it was Watson who raced into a 4-0 lead and then 4-0 became 5-2 and she finished of the match with a love service game to end a nervous but enjoyable battling performance from the Brit, after the match she raced over to her loyal British support to hug them and sign Autographs  

Heather Watson - "It was a very tough one today. I wasn't sure whether I was going to get through it but I did, I kept fighting, the crowd was amazing and kept pushing me on from start to finish, and I've put myself in a position to play another match here.

"You've just got to keep fighting and fighting, because it's never over until that last point's done.

"She's a tough opponent, she makes every single ball. I didn't win a point until the eight or ninth point of the match. She wasn't going to give me anything, but you've just got to fight through and find a way."

Ana Ivanovic (Ser) [13] beat Yung-Jan Chan (Tai) 7-5 1-6 6-4

Ana found it hard going against Chan in a nervous 2nd round match for her, she won the first set 7-5 even when her serve was giving her some trouble, in the second set Chan took advantage of Ivanovic's serve problems as she continuously broke her and took the 2nd set 6-1 in the 3rd set Ana dug in well despite the many errors she made and fist pumping at every chance she got as prove that she was really in the middle of a fight against Chan, Chan was matching Ivanovic on the court making her work hard and pulling her around, Chan mounted a bit of a come back when Ivanovic was 4-1 up but Ivanovic managed to see out the set and win a nervous match

Venus Williams (USA) [25] beat Alize Cornet (Fra) 6-3 6-3

Venus didn't make the best of starts in the first set and she found herself getting broken by the former World #11, but Venus though back well to break back straight away, Williams did just about enough in the match to close it out.. although Venus isn't the same player she use to be she still has the weapons to give many top players problems on their day and i'm sure Sharapova will be aware of this when they meet in Round 3 

I'm playing against Maria and I better bring my best game against her," she said.

"I'm fighting the wrinkles and the battle of the bulge and everything but I'm still thin and trim."

Novak Djokovic (Ser) [1] beat Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-1 6-2 6-3

Ryan Harrison who doesn't have the best record against Seeded players at Grand Slam matches was once again on the receiving end of a convincing victory for the seeded player as Djokovic took little time in beating the American, Djokovic went into a 3-0 lead in the first set before Harrison found his range to get himself a game but that was the first and last game he would win in the first set as Djokovic eased past his opponent to take the first set 6-1 after just 20 minutes on court, The second set followed a familiar pattern as the 1st set with Djokovic simply outplaying his opponent and creating perfect angled shots and using his forehand so well to give Harrison little chance of returning a good enough ball, the third and final set was wrapped up with a forehand down the line to send the World #1 through to the 3rd Round 

"I tried to focus from the start," said Djokovic. "But he had nothing to lose and came out and hit some big serves. I managed to get some important breaks at the start of the match and then I was a set up after 20 minutes and had the mental advantage."

Men's Second Round Scores: Day 3

Novak Djokovic (1) defeated Ryan Harrison; 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

David Ferrer (4) defeated Tim Smyczek; 6-0, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

Tomas Berdych (5) defeated Guillaume Rufin; 6-2, 6-2, 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic (8) defeated Lukas Lacko; 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5

Nicolas Almagro (10) defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver; 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka (15) defeated Tobias Kamke; 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), retired

Kei Nishikori (16) defeated Carlos Berlocq; 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1

Sam Querrey (20) defeated Brian Baker; 6-7 (2-7), 1-1, retired

Fernando Verdasco (22) defeated Xavier Malisse; 6-1, 6-3, 6-2

Evgeny Donskoy defeated Mikhail Youzhny (23); 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Jerzy Janowicz (24) defeated Somdev Devvarman; 6-7 (10-12), 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5

Jurgen Melzer (26) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut; 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis (28) defeated Tatsuma Ito; 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Radek Stepanek (31) defeated Feliciano Lopez; 6-2, 6-2, 6-4

Julien Benneteau (32) defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin; 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)

Kevin Anderson defeated Andrey Kuznetsov; 6-1, 7-5, 6-4

Women's Second Round Scores: Day 3

Maria Sharapova (2) defeated Misaki Doi; 6-0, 6-0

Agnieszka Radwanska (4) defeated Irina-Camelia Begu; 6-3, 6-3

Angelique Kerber (5) defeated Lucie Hradecka; 6-3, 6-1

Li Na (6) defeated Olga Govortsova; 6-2, 7-5

Jie Zheng defeated Samantha Stosur (9); 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

Marion Bartoli (11) defeated Vesna Dolonc; 7-5, 6-0

Ana Ivanovic (13) defeated Yung-Jan Chan; 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

Valeria Savinykh defeated Dominika Cilbulkova (15); 7-6 (8-6), 6-4

Julia Goerges (18) defeated Romina Oprandi; 6-3, 6-2

Ekaterina Makarova (19) defeated Stephanie Foretz Gacon; 6-3, 6-3

Jelena Jankovic (22) defeated Maria Joao Koehler; 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Klara Zakopalova (23); 6-1, 6-0

Venus Williams (25) defeated Alize Cornet; 6-3, 6-3

Sorana Cirstea (27) defeated Kristyna Pliskova; 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

Madison Keys defeated Tamira Paszek (30); 6-2, 6-1

Heather Watson defeated Ksenia Pervak; 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2

Australian Open Day 2

Andy Murray (GB) [3] beat Robin Haase (Ned) 6-3 6-1 6-3

Murray never looked like he was in any kind of trouble throughout his straight set victory over Robin Haase, Haase who's best run in the Australian Open came back in 2011 when he reached the third round couldn't settle into the match at all, Murray showed the difference in class from the start breaking twice to go 5-1 up, Haase did break back and Hold to mount a small comeback but Murray broke at 5-3 to take the first set 6-3, Haase only managed to win one game in the second set and it was early on to level things up at 1 game all in the 2nd set but Murray won the next 5 games in a row to take the set and make it 2-0 as he looked in a hurry to get the job done, Murray saw out the third set when he was gifted 3 break points at 5-3, Haase hit a forehand beyond the baseline and Murray easily goes through to Round 2 after a convincing performance. 

Victoria Azarenka (Blr) [1] beat Monica Niculescu (Rom) 6-1 6-4

This was always going to be a tricky first match for the defending Champion, Vika was against one of the most unpredictable players on the tour Monica Niculescu, the first set went well for Vika and was filled with great enjoyable rallies, Niculescu's backhand slice wasn't giving Vika many problems at all in the first set and it looked like Vika had everything under control, Niculescu's unique game means she can attack and defend and play all different variety of shots and she was showcasing them all against Vika but she steamrolled her Romanian Opponent in the first set as Niculescu just couldn't contend with the power of Vika's forehand and her slice backhand found the net more then she would have liked, after taking the first set 6-1, the second set looked to be a different story as Niculescu went 3-0 up as Vika looked to the Sky as a sign that the heat was once again effecting her like so many times before but after regaining focus Vika found her form from the first set and out powered Niculescu in the long rallies once again and started hitting more Winners to give herself a 5-4 lead and just kept her Cool on serve to close out a pretty hard fought Second set at times where frustration was creeping in but she showed signs of a true Champion but getting herself back in the set.

Caroline Wozniacki (Den) [10] beat Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 2-6 6-3 6-3

Arguably the most anticipated match of the 1st round in the Women's draw saw Sabine Lisicki face an out of sorts and out of form Caroline Wozniacki and it looked like the 10th seed was on her way out in the 1st round for the 3rd grand slam in a row as Lisicki Aces her way through games to hold easily and gave Wozniacki huge problems with her massive returns, Wozniacki was playing far to defensive against Lisicki in the first set and inviting pressure on herself, Lisicki's powerful forehand and even backhand at times were to much for Wozniacki to handle throughout the first set and it was a set Lisicki made very few errors in as well, Lisicki raced through the first set to take it 6-2 but the second set was a totally different scenario all together, Lisicki's service game crumbled and she looked like a totally different player then in the first set with the Errors starting to creep into her game, hitting easy forehands out wide and finding the net far to often, Wozniacki seemed a lot more composed and grew into the second set to take it 6-3, in the 3rd set everybody would have put their house on Lisicki taking it when she was 3-0 up there was no way she should have lost the match from that position but she lost focus and allowed Wozniacki to break and didn't put any pressure on her at all when Wozniacki was serving, Wozniacki won the next 6 games in the match without and reply from Lisicki to take the set and win the match 2-1 in what was a game Lisicki really should have won and could effect her confidence in a huge way knowing she was so close and you've got to say it was Lisicki's countless Unforced Errors that won this game for Wozniacki 

Serena Williams (USA) [3] beat Edina Gallovits-Hall (Rom) 6-0 6-0

What makes this scoreline even more impressive is the fact Serena took a heavy fall and landed on her right Ankle pretty hard after leading 4-0 in the first Set, after a medical timeout in which her Ankle was strapped up heavily she returned to the court and saw out the first set 6-0 after her opponent did little to test out the movement of Serena after the fall, Serena couldn't have asked for a better opponent to play after her injury because Gallovits-Hall did nothing at all even in the second set to push Serena around the court, maybe a good cross court hitter and someone who would made Serena work then this match might have been a different story and a sad outcome for Serena but even with restricted movement she Bageled her unwilling opponent to easily take the match 6-0 6-0 

Serena - "Oh, I'll be out there," she said when asked if she would be playing her next match on Thursday. "Unless something fatal happens to me, there's no way I'm not going to be competing. I'm alive. My heart's beating. I'll be fine."

Roger Federer (Swi) [2] beat Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-4 6-2 6-1

Just like Andy Murray before it was now Roger Federer's turn to straight set his opponent and he did it in style only dropping 7 games against Benoit Paire, Federer always looked in control of the match and didn't need to step up a gear to beat his unseeded opponent, his usual trusty Forehand saw him through easily to the next Round. 

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) [7] beat Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-4 7-5 6-2

in the battle of France v France and two very good friends it was the #7 seed Tsonga who came out on top, Tsonga looked focused from the start as he wrapped up the first set and then after a good set from Llodra in the 2nd it was Tsonga who was simply to good and also took the 3rd 6-2 to take him through over his fellow countryman, will we see Tsonga finally make inroads this year and mount a challenge for a grand slam? i don't think so but it's always a pleasure to see one of the People's favorites play at Grand Slams 

Laura Robson (GB) beat Melanie Oudin (USA) 6-2 6-3

Laura Robson looked in great form in her first match against her American Opponent and there was little errors in her service game which is an area of her game that has been causing her the most problems in recent years in fact she hit 11 Aces in the whole match and really used her service games effectively in the match, if she kept this kind of consistently up then she'd give most top players a tough game. 

Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) beat Sara Errani (Ita) [7] 6-4 6-4

One of the biggest wins in Suarez's Navarro's career for sure, 7th Seed Sara Errani is the lowest seed to go out of the tournament so far, Suarez Navarro used her creativeness and Angles well to create Winners against Errani all through the match, The Italian couldn't find anything in her locker to trouble the tricky Spaniard as she was broken in both sets and sent on her way out in a disappointing early exit 

Petra Kvitova (Cze) [8] beat Francesca Schiavone (Ita) 6-4 2-6 6-2

This was always going to be a tough match for both players, The Single Grand Slam Winners gave there all to the match and it was Kvitova who took the first set but Schiavone got herself back in it, Kvitova who suffers from Asthma was clearly effected by the heat in the second as she was having slight breathing problems and had to use her inhaler at one point in the match, Schiavone went up a gear in the 2nd powering her way past Kvitova in her usual style to take break points and win 6-2 to set up a decider in which Kvitova gained her composure well and broke Schiavone when she had the chances to take the 3rd and the match and send the former french Open Champion out early, Kvitova's forehand looked good but she would have liked to have made less unforced errors 

Fact of the day 

Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm , aged 42, became the oldest woman to win a main draw match at the Australian Open when she beat 12th seed Nadia Petrova.

She surpassed Britain's Virginia Wade, who won a match in 1985 at the age of 40 years 138 days, as the oldest winner.

Date-Krumm, who made her first appearance in Melbourne in 1990, still has some way to go to become the oldest winner at a Grand Slam. The record is held by Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she won a match at Wimbledon in 2004.

Men's First-Round Scores: Day 2

Roger Federer (2) defeated Benoit Paire; 6-2, 6-4, 6-1

Andy Murray (3) defeated Robin Haase; 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro (6) defeated Adrian Mannarino; 6-1, 6-2, 6-2

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7) defeated Michael Llodra; 6-4, 7-5, 6-2

Richard Gasquet (9) defeated Albert Montanes; 7-5, 6-2, 6-1

Marin Cilic (12) defeated Marinko Matosevic; 6-4, 7-5, 6-2

Milos Raonic (13) defeated Jan Hajek; 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)

Gilles Simon (14) defeated Filippo Volandri; 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Philipp Kohlschreiber (17) defeated Steve Darcis; 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Gael Monfils defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov (18); 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-3

Jarkko Nieminen defeated Tommy Haas (19); 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6

Andreas Seppi (21) defeated Horacio Zeballos; 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Florian Mayer (25) defeated Rhyne Williams; 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (14-12), 6-1

Daniel Brands defeated Martin Klizan (27); 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Blaz Kavcic defeated Thomaz Bellucci (29); 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Marcel Granollers (30) defeated Grega Zemlja; 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (retired)

Bernard Tomic defeated Leonardo Mayer; 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Jeremy Chardy defeated Adrian Menendez-Maceiras; 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-1

Nikolay Davydenko defeated Dudi Sela; 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-3

James Duckworth defeated Benjamin Mitchell; 6-4, 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 5-7, 8-6

Go Soeda defeated Luke Saville; 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Joao Sousa defeated John-Patrick Smith; 6-4, 6-1, 6-4

Benjamin Becker defeated Aljaz Bedene; 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)

Ricardas Berankis defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky; 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5

Jesse Levine defeated Tommy Robredo; 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4

Ivan Dodig defeated Di Wu; 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Amir Weintraub defeated Guido Pella; 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 6-2

Yen-Hsun Lu defeated Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo; 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1

Lukas Rosol defeated Jamie Baker; 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 6-2

Alejandro Falla defeated Josselin Ouanna; 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Rajeev Ram defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez; 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

Denis Istomin defeated Igor Sijsling; 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

  

Women's First-Round Scores: Day 2

Victoria Azarenka (1) defeated Monica Niculescu; 6-1, 6-4

Serena Williams (3) defeated Edina Gallovits-Hall; 6-0, 6-0

Carla Suarez Navarro defeated Sara Errani (7); 6-4, 6-4

Petra Kvitova (8) defeated Francesca Schiavone; 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki (10) defeated Sabine Lisicki; 2-6, 6-3, 6-3

Kimiko Date-Krumm defeated Nadia Petrova (12); 6-2, 6-0

Maria Kirilenko (14) defeated Vania King; 6-4, 6-2

Roberta Vinci (16) defeated Silvia Soler-Espinosa; 6-3, 7-5

Lucie Safarova (17) defeated Mirjana Lucic-Baroni; 7-6 (7-4), 6-4

Yanina Wickmayer (20) defeated Jarmila Gajdosova; 6-1, 7-5

Varvara Lepchenko (21) defeated Polona Hercog; 6-4, 6-1

Lesia Tsurenko defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (24); 7-5, 3-6, 7-5

Su-Wei Hsieh (26) defeated Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino; 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

Annika Beck defeated Yaroslava Shvedova (28); 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3

Sloane Stephens (29) defeated Simona Halep; 6-1, 6-1

Jamie Hampton defeated Urszula Radwanska (31); 6-2, 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino; 6-2, 6-1

Laura Robson defeated Melanie Oudin; 6-2, 6-3

Jana Cepelova defeated Greta Arn; 6-2, 6-2

Ayumi Morita defeated Anna Tatishvili: 6-3, 6-3

Yulia Putintseva defeated Christina McHale; 6-1, 6-7 (0-7), 6-2

Shuai Peng defeated Rebecca Marino: 6-3, 6-0

Elena Vesnina defeated Caroline Garcia; 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Bojana Jovanovski defeated Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor; 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

Daria Gavrilova defeated Lauren Davis; 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4

Shahar Peer defeated Alexandra Panova; 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

Garbine Muguruza defeated Magdelena Rybarikova; 4-6, 6-1, 14-12

Akgul Amanmuradova defeated Mathilde Johansson; 6-4, 6-2

Eleni Daniilidou defeated Karolina Pliskova; 7-5, 5-7, 6-4

Donna Vekic defeated Andrea Hlavackova; 6-1, 6-2

Kristina Mladenovic defeated Timea Babos; 6-3, 4-6, 11-9

Australian Open Day 1

Maria Sharapova (Rus) [2] beat Olga Puchkova (Rus) 6-0 6-0

The first match i watched of the tournament and i was expecting a nervous Sharapova at some stages of the match since this was her first tournament match of the season but she didn't show any signs of rustyness or nerves as she easily came through her fellow Russian opponent with 2 bagels but even though the scoreline looked as dominant as you can possibly get there was times in the match puchkova played some good tennis and kept in rallies well with Sharapova but didn't have enough in her locker to see out the all important points that she needed to win games, Sharapova double faulted a couple of times in the match but she also made up for it with 6 Aces, there were times when Puchkova had good chances to gain Momentum including right at the start of the match in the first game when she has chances to break Sharapova but didn't take them, with a bit more fight and believe Olga could have made Sharapova work harder and might have taken a few games but there didn't seem to be any kind of fight or believe on show in the opening round, Sharapova grow in confidence throughout the match after the first couple of tight games and her movement and serve seemed to spot on and deservedly won her place in Round 2 with a ruthless performance.

Samantha Stosur (Aus) [9] beat Kai-Chen Chang (Tpe) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

This was always going to be a tough match for Stosur in her home Country where it's no secret she hasn't got a very good record but she was looking to change that this year, she had played Chang last year in the Japan open where she lost 2-1, the first set was full of breaks mainly due to Errors from both players, neither player could gain any big lead in the set as they broke each other a total of 8 times to take the first set into a tie break, Stosur took control of the tie break racing to a 4-0 lead and then fought of a Chang comeback in the tiebreak to take the set with neither playing looking or playing any kind of convincing tennis, Stosur was a  bit better in the second set but her opponent must have been pretty dejected after the way the first set turned out, on the form Stosur is on i can't see her troubling the likes of Vika, Serena or Sharapova if she does go far into the tournament, but it's a winning start and she'll be pleased to have got through Chang

Venus Williams (US) [25] beat Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) 6-1 6-0

Venus hasn't really been in the best form recently and she doesn't seem to have the weapons to cause problems anymore to any of the top players but when she's on form she can do some damage like Voskoboeva witnessed, I watched Voskoboeva when she faced Kerber at Sydney and even though she was having some problems with an Injury or Illness there was times she gave Kerber problems and hit some amazing winners past her top 10 opponent so before this match started i thought Voskoboeva might give Venus a good game and really push her but i was surprised to see Venus play so well and really take the game to her opponent with some great returning and a lot of variety in her game and looked like she was showing small signs of her old form several years ago, this was probably her best match since coming back in March and it will be interesting to see her play as well as this if she meets Sharapova in Round 3

Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) [4] beat Bojana Bobusic (Aus) 7-5 6-0

This match really was the tale of two sets, in the first set Bobusic was matching Aga with some great quality forehand winners she really made Aga dig deep to stay in the rallies, Aga looked uninterested for the most part of the first set and maybe a bit tired from her two tournament wins so far this, Bobusic was hitting hard and troubling Aga on occasions and cheered on my home support she got herself into a position at 5-4 to serve out the first set but in typical Radwanska fashion she battled back to break and then win the next two games to take the first set 7-5, the next set Aga went up a few gears and started playing like her usual self and not giving Bobusic any chances at all like she was in the first set, it was all over quickly with a Bagel to give Aga her 10th win of the year and keep her record of not losing a set this year in tact. 

Ana Ivanovic (Ser) [13] beat Melinda Czink (Hun) 6-2 6-1

Ivanovic started her Australian Open campaign with a pretty routine victory over Melina Czink, the serve toss still seems to be a bit of an issue for her but apart from that she looked in good shape in a match her opponent rarely troubled her, her ground game looked consistent as she closed out the match in exactly one hour, there is no way of knowing how far she'll go in the tournament based on this performance but she is showing promising signs of at least going on a good run this year

Heather Watson (GB) beat Alexandra Cadantu (Rom) 2-6 6-3 6-2

A Spirited comeback after a 15 minute medical timeout saw Heather Watson reach the 2nd round, everything was going wrong for Watson in the first set with her opponent moving well and outplaying Watson and then breaking Watson at 3-2 in the second set before both players called for medical assistance, Cadantu was having issues with her shoulder and Watson because of fatigue, after the Break Watson came out hitting hard and going for every shot like there was nothing to lose, she fought back and took the first set and then took the third set with little problems as it looked like she completely changed her tactics after the timeout and decided to take more risks which worked well for her in the end. 

Novak Djokovic (Ser) [1] beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) 6-2 6-4 7-5

Defending Champion Novak Djokovic who is looking to win the Australian Open for the third time in a row this year gave expectantly beat Mathieu, Mathieu played as well as he could against the World #1 and did well to win 11 games against Djokovic, he moved well around the court but he never gave Novak any reason to be alarmed in the match.

Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) [8] beat Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-7 5-7 3-6

Without a doubt the most talked about match of Round 1, Unseeded Lleyton Hewitt who was making his record 17th appearance was on a really impressive run of form with wins over Raonic, Berdych and Del Potro in the last week, Tipsarevic had reason to to be at his best against Hewitt in his home country, the first set was a close affair with some really good tennis as you'd expect from both of these players, Tipsarevic looked good all the way through the match and was raising to the occasion as much as Hewitt was, the took the first set in a tie break and the second set was just as close as the first until Tipsarevic broke and gained full momentum going into the third set where he sealed the win in straight sets, maybe the straight set scoreline was a little harsh on Lleyton but no one can deny that Tipsarevic was just simply the better player on the day, Hewitt can have no shame in losing the match though he played his part in 2 very tight enjoyable sets 

Almagro (Spa ) [10] beat Johnson (US) 7-5 6-7(4) 6-2 6-7(6) 6-2

This was a really unexpected enjoyable match between the 10th seed and the American Qualifier, Almagro himself probably wouldn't have expected the fight Johnson put up against him, even when he won the first set after breaking Johnson it was the American who fought back to take the second in a tie break, Almagro went 2-1 up but the American fought back again winning the second tie breaker of the match in the 4th set to make sure there would be a deciding set, in the deciding set Johnson looked like he had ran out of steam and Almagro closed out the match 6-2, Johnson can be pleased with his performance and take positives that he managed to take a top 10 player all the way to 5 sets 

Fernando Verdasco (Spa) [22] beat David Goffin (Bel) 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4

Just like his fellow Spaniard Almagro, it was Verdasco's turn to make hard work of winning his 1st round match against the talented Goffin, Goffin came back from a set down against his seeded opponent and went 2-0 up but it looked like he was getting bothered by the heat and pace of the match as she let the lead slip and let Verdasco back into it and from there Verdasco took control of the 4th set with another break, in the deciding set Goffin was broken again early and Verdasco closed out the match and he will be thankful after being a break down in the fourth

Men's First-Round Scores: Day 1

Novak Djokovic (1) defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu; 6-2, 6-4, 7-5

David Ferrer (4) defeated Olivier Rochus; 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Tomas Berdych (5) defeated Michael Russell; 6-3, 7-5, 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic (8) defeated Lleyton Hewitt; 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-3

Nicolas Almagro (10) defeated Steve Johnson; 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2

Andrey Kuznetsov defeated Juan Monaco (11); 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka (15) defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe; 6-2, 6-4, 6-3

Kei Nishikori (16) defeated Victor Hanescu; 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Sam Querrey (20) defeated Daniel Munoz-De La Nava; 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

Fernando Verdasco (22) defeated David Goffin; 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny (23) defeated Matthew Ebden; 4-6, 6-7 (0-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3

Jerzy Janowicz (24) defeated Simone Bolelli; 7-5, 6-4, 6-3

Jurgen Melzer (26) defeated Mikhail Kukushkin; 6-1, 6-1, 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis (28) defeated Albert Ramos; 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Radek Stepanek (31) defeated Viktor Troicki; 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5

Julien Benneteau (32) defeated Grigor Dimitrov; 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

Ryan Harrison defeated Santiago Giraldo; 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Kevin Anderson defeated Paolo Lorenzi; 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4

Tatsuma Ito defeated John Millman; 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 0-6, 7-5

Feliciano Lopez defeated Arnau Brugues-Davi; 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Roberto Bautista Agut defeated Fabio Fognini; 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 

Brian Baker defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr; 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-7 (0-7), 3-6, 6-2

Daniel Gimeno-Traver defeated Lukasz Kubot; 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4

Tobias Kamke defeated Flavio Cipolla; 6-1, 6-4, 6-1

Tim Smyczek defeated Ivo Karlovic; 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5

Xavier Malisse defeated Pablo Andujar; 6-3, 6-1, 6-2

Guillaume Rufin defeated Julian Reister; 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-2

Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Ruben Bemelmans; 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 7-5, 11-9

Lukas Lacko defeated Gilles Muller; 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)

Somdev Devvarman defeated Bjorn Phau; 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Evgeny Donskoy defeated Adrian Ungur; 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Carlos Berlocq defeated Maxime Authom; 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

Women's First-Round Scores: Day 1

Maria Sharapova (2) defeated Olga Puchkova; 6-0, 6-0

Agnieszka Radwanska (4) defeated Bojana Bobusic; 7-5, 6-0

Angelique Kerber (5) defeated Elina Svitolina; 6-2, 6-4

Li Na (6) defeated Sesil Karatantcheva; 6-1, 6-3

Samantha Stosur (9) defeated Kai-Chen Chang; 7-6 (7-3), 6-3

Marion Bartoli (11) defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues; 6-2, 6-4

Ana Ivanovic (13) defeated Melinda Czink; 6-2, 6-1

Dominika Cibulkova (15) defeated Ashleigh Barty; 3-6, 6-0, 6-1

Julia Goerges (18) defeated Vera Dushevina; 7-5, 2-6, 6-4

Ekaterina Makarova (19) defeated Michelle Larcher De Brito; 6-2, 7-5

Jelena Jankovic (22) defeated Johanna Larsson; 6-2, 6-2

Venus Williams (25) defeated Galina Voskoboeva; 6-1, 6-0

Sorana Cirstea (27) defeated Coco Vandeweghe; 6-4, 6-2

Ksenia Pervak defeated Mona Barthel (32); 7-5, 2-6, 6-4

Madison Keys defeated Casey Dellacqua; 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)

Lucie Hradecka defeated Kiki Bertens; 6-2, 7-6 (10-8)

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Nina Bratchikova; 6-4, 6-3

Romina Oprandi defeated Tsvetana Pironkova; 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

Yung-Jan Chan defeated Daniela Hantuchova; 6-1, 1-6, 6-1

Tamira Paszek defeated Stefanie Voegele; 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Klara Zakopalova defeated Chanelle Scheepers; 6-1, 6-2

Heather Watson defeated Alexandra Cadantu; 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Alize Cornet defeated Marina Erakovic; 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 10-8

Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Arantxa Rus; 6-4, 6-2

Olga Govortsova defeated Pauline Parmentier; 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Jie Zheng defeated Yuxuan Zhang; 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

Valeria Savinykh defeated Mandy Minella; 7-6 (7-4), 6-1

Kristyna Pliskova defeated Sacha Jones; 6-3, 6-2

Vesna Dolonc defeated Olivia Rogowska; 5-7, 7-5, 8-6

Misaki Doi defeated Petra Martic; 6-3, 6-4

Stephanie Foretz Gacon defeated Camila Giorgi; 6-2, 6-3

Maria Joao Koehler defeated Karin Knapp; 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

The Season so far - Aga's Dominance, Vika's Bad Pedicure, Vesnina's first WTA title and more

Just noticed i haven't really updated anything since the Brisbane International Quarter finals and a LOT has happened since then and it's also the Australian Open tomorrow so i thought the time to give an update on what's been happening these past few weeks is now since i will addicted to the Aussie Open for the next fortnight 

Firstly Serena Williams got a bye into the final after Vika pulled out because of a bad pedicure 

"It just got infected from a bad pedicure experience. I had somebody who gave me infection," said Azarenka, 23.

"The doctor said it happens a lot. [It's] never happened to me [before].

She added: "It's something that I am definitely going to prevent for the next time."

Vika was looking pretty good in the tournament as well, coming through all her matches without any real trouble, although in a way i am happy that we didn't see Serena v Vika this early on in the season, a meeting in the Australian Open would be a much more fitting and challenging for the pair of them, Serena got a walkthrough to the final where she faced the on form Pavlyuchenkova who shown clear signs of improvement from last year throughout the whole tournament she bossed players around the court and her power hitting was on the mark nearly all the time as she showed against Kerber and Kvitova who could simply not contend with her shots, In the Semi's Pavlyuchenkova had an uphill battle as she dropped the first set to Ukrainian Tsurenko before getting into he stride and easily winning the next 2 sets and the match 4-6 6-1 6-2 to make an interesting final against Serena however in the final Serena proved to much for Pav and overcame her in straight sets 6-2 6-1 to win her first WTA title of the year, Serena looked strong in the final and over powered Pav in just about every department.

"That was really good - I think I just kind of zoned and I felt like I really wanted to do well," Williams said.

"I really felt like I was playing a top player because she'd taken two top 10 players out, so I knew that I couldn't give her a chance.

In the Men's singles at Brisbane Andy Murray struggled through Round 1 against Australian Millman and looked a bit shakey in Round 2 against Istomin but did enough to beat the both of them before overcoming  Nishikori in the Semis due to him having to retire in the second set, Murrat set up a final meeting with Bulgarian Dimitrov and was forced to a tie break in the first set which he won easily 7-0 to take the first set and then he took the second much more comfortably then first to win the match 7-6 6-4 and win his first ATP title of the year 

Someone who arguably has even made a better start to the season then Serena Williams is Agnieszka Radwanska, her season so far could not have gone any better 9-0 in 2013 already and she hasn't even dropped a set yet, she looks her usual composed self with the ability to stay in long points and hardly make any errors she hasn't been cracked my any other player yet on tour, It all started in Auckland with comfortable wins in rounds 1, 2 & 3 against Arn, Halep and Vesnina only losing 14 games in the 3 matches and not losing anymore then 3 games in a single set, her serve looks a little bit more powerful this season as well and she seems to be moving a lot faster around the court i've also noticed she has been having more success coming to the net which she probably has been working on over the past month or so, In the Semi Final she faced Jamie Hampton who gave her some problems last year at Indian Wells taking a set to level things at 1-1 before she had to retire and she pushed Aga at Auckland as well, taking both sets to tie breaks which Aga managed to see out to make the final after a hard victory and to many errors from Jamie Hampton to help along the way, In the final Aga faced Yanina Wickmayer and won in a typical composed 6-4 6-4 victory to take her first title of the year 

But that wasn't all for Aga yet, she entered the Sydney International coming from the back of her Auckland win and started like she finished in Auckland with an expected 6-4 6-3 victory over veteran Date-Krumm, Aga then played Vinci and despite struggling a bit early on she continued her impressive form to overcome her opponent 6-4 7-5, Li Na was next in the Semis possibly Aga's biggest taste of the season yet but she didn't show any signs of tiredness from the matches she has played so far and took control of the match to win 6-3 6-4 and make her second final of the year, in the final she played  Dominika Cibulková, Another player who had been on a great run of form but Aga looked in a completely different class for the whole match, Cibulkova had early chances to break her opponent but Aga played her way out of trouble easily and  forced Cibulkova into Errors everywhere with her slow shots and really dictated the match to win 6-0 6-0, i felt a bit sorry for Dominika at the end of the match but also felt really happy for Aga and the amazing start she has made to her season so far, the only problem i see for Aga is finding away to beat players that she'll need to beat in order to win Grand Slams, her record against Serena and Vika last year was 0-8 which doesn't look good when you almost certainty need to beat at least 1 if not both to win a Grand Slam these days.. the power and cross court play from Serena and Vika might just be to much for Aga to contend with this year but all the same this is a encouraging start to the season for her 

In the Men's Singles at Sydney Tomic won his first WTA title after a 6-3 6-7 6-3 win against South Africa's Ken Anderson, Tomic who had already been World #1 Novak Djokovic in the hopman cup, this great run of form for Tomic is signs he might once again break into the top 30 in the rankings soon, just like Aga his start to the season shows he means business and could really do some damage to some top players in the Slams if they meet him, i think it's to early to be talking about him winning a slam or coming anywhere close to having the potential to win a slam

I don’t know where to start its such an amazing feeling. It’s a great honour to win my first title here so thank you Sydney,’’ he said, admitting he was choking back tears.

“ finally got one of these trophies – it took a while but thanks to my team for being by my side.

“Thank you Mr Rosewall for letting me play in front of you. It was an honour for me to do that.

If the question was asked " Who is the current best player on the tour that has never won a WTA Title? " then a think a lot of people would nominated Elina Vesnina for that before she won her first title at Hobart against 2012 Champion Mona Barthel as she beat her 6-3 6-4, it looked like it was never going to happen as she has already been beaten in 6 previous finals before finally winning at Hobart, the Unseeded 26 year old has now probably achieved her Season goal already and now some of the pressure for the rest of the season will be lifted knowing that now she finally has a title to her name 

"I feel such a relief and I just want to cry honestly," Vesnina said. "I'm so happy that I won the final and I think in general I was pretty good "

Other ATP Tournament Winners of the season 

Doha - Richard Gasquet beat Nikolay Davydenko 3-6 7-6 6-3

Chennai - Janko Tipsarevic beat Roberto Bautista 3-6 6-1 6-3

Auckland - David Ferrer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 6-1