Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Thursday 18 January 2018
On a day of close calls, Dimitrov fends off McDonald in 5th

By JOHN PYE Shapovalov, highlighted by
AP Sports Writer a between-the-legs shot on
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) an important point, Tsonga
— It was quite a predica- will meet 17th-seeded Nick
ment for Grigor Dimitrov, Kyrgios in what shapes up
still basking in his triumph at to be an entertaining third-
the ATP Finals as he entered round encounter.
his second-round match Kyrgios had a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6
at the Australian Open (2) win over Viktor Troicki,
against a young American overcoming audio prob-
who had never won a tour- lems at Hisense Arena and
level match before qualify- complaining to chair um-
ing for the first major of the pire James Keothavong,
season. who ended up turning off
Mackenzie McDonald is his microphone and later
ranked 186th and played being hit in the head by a
college tennis at UCLA. wayward tennis ball.
He had never played any- Dimitrov’s reward for beat-
one ranked better than ing McDonald is a match
No. 69 before facing the against No. 30 Andrey
third-seeded Dimitrov on Rublev, who beat him at
Wednesday. the U.S. Open last year and
McDonald broke Dimi- who accounted for 2006
trov’s serve three times in Australian Open finalist
the fourth set and pushed Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov makes a forehand return to United States’ Mackenzie McDonald during Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-7
the fifth beyond 12 games their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, (5), 6-4, 6-2.
— there’s no tiebreakers in Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. At the other end of the
fifth sets at the Australian Associated Press experience spectrum,
Open — before his first dou- That seemed to be a theme made only 10 unforced er- like she was “one foot out 15-year-old qualifier Marta
ble-fault of the set sudden- of Day 3. rors and had just one hic- the tournament” before Kostyuk followed up her
ly gave Dimitrov a match Second-seeded Caroline cup — dropping a service winning six straight games first-round win with a 6-3,
point. Wozniacki had to save two game while serving for the to advance. 7-5 victory over wild-card
Dimitrov finished it off 4-6, match points and come match — in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 “That was crazy,” Wozni- entry Olivia Rogowska.
6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6 as midnight back from 5-1 down in the (4) win over Leonardo May- acki said. “I don’t know The Australian Open junior
approached. third set to beat 119th- er. how I got back into the champion, who entered
“Really the game wasn’t ranked Jana Fett 3-6, 6-2, “It’s an important victory match. I was like, ‘This is my the season-opening major
there today. I wasn’t feel- 7-5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the for me,” said Nadal, who last chance.’ ranked No. 521, became
ing well on the court — 2008 Australian Open final- won the French Open and “At 5-1, 40-15 ... she served the youngest player since
fourth set was a disgrace,” ist, rallied from 5-2 down in U.S. Open last year but had a great serve down the T Martina Hingis in 1996 to
said Dimitrov, who took Ra- the fifth to overcome Denis his preparation for Australia (and) it was just slightly out. win main draw matches in
fael Nadal to five sets in a Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, interrupted by an injured I was kind of lucky.” Melbourne.
marathon semifinal in Mel- 7-6 (4), 7-5. right knee. “After a while Wozniacki won the next Things will get harder for her
bourne last year. “But I won And 38-year-old Ivo Karlo- without being on the com- nine points, and 24 of the now. She next faces fourth-
with what I had. That was vic overcame Yuichi Sugita petition ... second victory 31 points played from the seeded Elina Svitolina, who
my fighting spirit. 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-5, 4-6, 12- in a row, that’s very impor- first match point. had a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over
“He played an unbeliev- 10. tant.” She’ll next play No. 30 Kiki Katerina Siniakova.
able game (but) experi- Nadal, the 2017 runner-up, In the match preceding Bertens. Another Ukrainian, Katery-
ence in the end really didn’t risk any close calls. Nadal and Mayer on Rod After his enthralling na Bondarenko, beat 15th-
helped me.” The top-ranked Spaniard Laver Arena, Wozniacki felt comeback victory over seeded Anastasia Pavly-

Johnson back in UAE for Abu

Dhabi HSBC Championship

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Johnson put himself in contention despite
Dustin Johnson’s recent victory in Hawaii only making one eagle and no birdies on
doesn’t mean much when it comes to the four par-5s over the first three rounds.
this week’s tournament. “It’s really cool to be back. What do
The top-ranked American will play at the they say, absence makes the heart grow
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship for the fonder? Quite cheesy, but no, really, re-
second straight year. But this time he is ally cool,” said the 40-year-old English-
coming off a victory at the Sentry Tour- man, who is now ranked 14th in the world.
nament of Champions, which he won by “When I was back at the Open Cham-
eight shots. “That was two weeks ago. So pionship at Birkdale, just the reception
it really doesn’t matter what I did there,” there, playing in front of a home crowd, I
Dustin Johnson tosses his ball to his caddy on the 18th green said Johnson, who finished runner-up to knew this is something I just miss.”
during the final round of the Tournament of Champions golf Tommy Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi last year. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship starts
event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, at Kapalua Plantation Course in “This is a completely new week and every- Thursday and also features former No. 1
Kapalua, Hawaii. body starts at even par and so I’ve got to Rory McIlroy, who is making a comeback
Associated Press start over again.” In 2017, the long-hitting after a 3½-month layoff.q