Day 2 saw the completion of Round 1. Day 2 didn’t have as many thrillers as day 1 but some great tennis was played. Ash Barty was up against Russian, Zvonareva. Barty completely outplayed her opponent and dropped just 1 game in the first set. Zvonareva picked up her game but still it was Barty who broke first in the 2nd set. Zvonareva served at 3-5 to stay in the set and managed to take the game and force Barty to serve out the match. After a few uncharacteristic errors, Zvonareva found herself with 2 break back points. She managed to take the 2nd break point and we were level once again at 5-5. 2 holds of serve and we were heading to a tiebreak to decide the 2nd set. Zvonareva saved the 1st match point at 5-6 down in the tiebreak. Then it was Barty’s turn to save a set point at 6-7 which she did in emphatic style with a rocket of a forehand. She then brought up a second match point with a brilliant point. She managed to take this one and she is through to the 2nd round. Cirstea was up against the 29th seed, Kudermetova, in the first round. Cirstea took a tight first set in a tiebreak. Kudermetova hit back in the second and took the 2nd set 6-3. Surprisingly though, Cirstea was the better player at the start of the 3rd set and raced away. She eventually took the deciding set 6-0. Andreescu had a tough first round match against the in form, Golubic. A tight first set went the way of the former US Open champion 7-5. Golubic though was never going to go away and she managed to get the 2nd set 6-4. This one was going the distance. Golubic was the first of the 2 players to break and was serving at 4-2. Andreescu broke back and then levelled the scores once again at 4-4. The Canadian eventually taking a late night thriller 7-5 in the third. Sorribes Tormo knocked out the 22nd seed, Karolina Muchova, in straight sets. On the mens side, South African, Lloyd Harris managed to win a 5 set thriller against the 25th seed Karen Khachanov. Harris will play American, Escobedo in the 2nd round. McDonald knocked out 27th seed, Goffin, in straight sets. Another good win for the young American. Seppi and Fucsovics played a match to remember. They needed a 5th set tiebreak to split them and what a 5th set tiebreak it was. Seppi came back from 6-4 down in the tiebreak to level it up at 6-6. It was then 7-7, then 8-8, then 9-9, then 10-10 and it just kept going. Seppi eventually managed to take it 15-13 in the final set tiebreak. An amazing performance from both players. Otte came back from a set down to defeat 20th seed, Sonego, in 4 sets. American Cressy came back from 2 sets down against 9th seed, Carreno Busta, to book his spot in the 2nd round. Pospisil also came back from 2 sets down to defeat the 28th seed, Fognini, in 5 sets. In front of his home crowd, Fritz managed to defeat 14th seed, De Minaur in 4 sets and number 1 seed, Djokovic beat an inspired, Rune, in 4 sets.

Onto the fantasy league. Day 2 saw 6 male picks go out. They were Fucsovics, Struff, Carreno Busta, Korda, Fognini and Khachanov. Day 2 also saw 3 ladies go out, Muchova, Riske and Golubic.

Our leader after day 1, Hotshot 2, did not have a good day 2 sadly as they dropped 46 places. Our new is ‘Granny Smith’ who moved up 13 places and leads by 4 points over 2nd. ‘Or Smooth’ moved up 30 spots and is now in 2nd with 54 points. 3rd placed, ‘Volley Vibe’ moved up a whopping 57 places and is now just 6 points off the lead.

Here is the leaderboard after Day 2 and Round 1:

Some results on Day 2:

• Ramos-Vinolas beat Pouille – 6-1; 5-7; 5-7; 7-5; 6-4
• Harris beat Khachanov(25) – 6-4; 1-6; 4-6; 6-3; 6-2
• McDonald beat Goffin(27) – 6-2; 7-5; 6-3
• Seppi beat Fucsovics – 2-6; 7-5; 6-4; 2-6; 7-6(13)
• Cressy beat Carreno Busta(9) – 5-7; 4-6; 6-1; 6-4; 7-6(7)
• Thompson beat Mager – 4-6; 6-3; 7-5; 2-6; 7-6(3)
• Griekspoor beat Struff – 2-6; 7-6(3); 4-6; 6-4; 7-5
• Pospisil beat Fognini(28) – 2-6; 3-6; 6-1; 6-3; 7-6(4)
• Fritz beat De Minaur(14) – 7-6(4); 6-2; 1-6; 6-4
• Gracheva beat Parrizas-Diaz – 5-7; 6-0; 6-2
• Schmiedlova beat Krueger – 7-5; 6-7(3); 6-3
• Cirstea beat Kudermetova(29) – 7-6(5); 3-6; 6-0
• Sorribes Tormo beat Muchova(22) – 6-2; 7-6(3)
• Andreescu(6) beat Golubic – 7-5; 4-6; 7-5

Matches to watch on Day 3:

• Vondrousova vs Kasatkina(25) (18:15)
• Rybakina(19) vs Garcia (19:00)
• Zidansek vs Sabalenka(2) (19:00)
• Krejcikova(8) vs McHale (19:00)
• Stephens vs Gauff(21) (01:00)
• Garin(16) vs Laaksonen (17:00)
• Dimitrov(15) vs Popyrin (17:00)
• Tiafoe vs Pella (19:30)
• Anderson vs Schwartzman(11) (01:00)
• Mannarino vs Tsitsipas(3) (02:15)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a tennis fantasy league organiser.http://Eishonline.co.za/jftl