Australian Open 2011, Day 3: Roger Federer Taken To Five Sets; Venus Williams Injured

Scores and highlights from Day 3 of the Aussie Open 2011. Here’s what went down Down Under in the women’s draw:

• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki def. Vania King, 6-1 6-0.

Down goes another American with the poor luck to draw Wozniacki. Next up for No. 1: No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova.

• No. 4 Venus Williams def. Sandra Zahlavova, 6-7 (8-6) 6-0 6-4.

It took a third-set rally, but Williams The Elder overcame both a mid-match injury and her own clothing to advance to the third round, where she’s paired with No. 30 Andrea Petkovic.

• No. 6 Francesca Schiavone def. Rebecca Marino, 6-3 5-7 9-7.

Schiavone needed one of yesterday’s longest three-set matches to dispatch the 104th-ranked Canadian. Her third-round opponent will be Romania’s Monica Niculescu.

• No. 8 Victoria Azarenka def. Andrea Hlavackova, 6-4 6-4.

Some close calls but no real danger for Azarenka. She’ll face the excellently-named Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa next.

• No. 9 Li Na def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-3 6-2.

Li’s on quite the roll since upsetting Kim Klijsters in Sydney last week. She should make short work of the Czech Republic’s Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in Round 3.

• No. 11 Justine Henin def. Elena Baltacha, 6-1 6-3.

No surprises here, but a good clean match, with few unforced errors by either player. Henin’s degree of difficulty is about to tick up, however, with No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova waiting in Round 3.

• No. 14 Maria Sharapova def. Virginie Razzano, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

If there were stalkers in the audience with increasingly uncomfortable signage, they weren’t shown on television, and they didn’t affect Sharapova’s play. She’s got another unseeded opponent next in Germany’s Julia Goerges.

• Vesna Manasieva def. No. 15 Marion Bartoli, 3-6 6-3 6-0.

We have our first major Day-3 upset on the women’s side, as Bartoli handled the first set well but failed to capitalize on her lead. Manasieva moves on to Latvia’s equally syllabic Anastasija Sevastova.

• Jula Goerges def. No. 20 Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 6

The second upset of Day 3 saw promising sleeper pick Kanepi end her bid to reach the quarters in three straight Grand Slam tournaments. Next up for Goerges in the third round is a bit of a tougher nut to crack: Maria Sharapova.

Andy Roddick cruised into the third round of Australian Open 2011 on Wednesday, dropping Igor Kunitsyn in straight-sets, 7-6, 6-2, 6-3. After a shaky start, Roddick won the first set tiebreaker, 9-7. Roddick’s serve was never broken as he hammered home 17 aces in the win, including the match point.

The first set was the only sign of trouble for Roddick, though he battled back from two set-points to put away his own set point in the tiebreaker. He was never in danger over the final two sets, breaking Kunitsyn’s serve in three of seven chances while avoiding all three of Kunitsyn’s break points.

Fourth-seeded Venus Williams was already in trouble, in the middle of a second round battle with Sandra Zahlavova at Australian Open 2011. Williams fought back in the first set, breaking Zahlavova’s serve to force a tiebreaker. The two traded points back-and-forth, but with Zahlavova up 7-6, a wild 17 shot rally ended with Williams screaming in pain and Zahlavova winning the set 7-6 (8-6).

On a hard backhand, Williams came up hobbled, holding her side and groin after Zahlavova won the set. Replays appeared to show Williams torquing her body hard in an attempt to get around on a backhand during the rally, letting out a blood-curdling scream as her body twisted.

The score is too dry to tell the story here, as 34th-ranked Frenchman Gilles Simon took No. 2 seed Roger Federer to the wire in a five-set match on Day 3 of the Australian Open 2011. Federer def. Simon, 6-2 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 doesn’t really cover the drama that just unfolded in Rod Laver Arena.

Simon was down two sets to none to begin the match, and at one point late in the fifth set battled back from triple match point. Federer made 53 unforced errors, which will surely be attributed by sage television commentators to his hot wife and young twin daughters. He found his afterburners in the end, however, winning the match with an ace in classic Federer fashion.

These two have played close matches before, but a relieved Federer quipped in his interview afterwards, “Hopefully, we won’t play each other any more.”

“Today I got lucky.”

Next up for Federer: Belgium’s Xavier Malisse awaits in the third round.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more updates on Day 3 of the Australian Open 2011.

Scores and highlights from Day 3 of the Aussie Open 2011. Right this minute, Gilles Simon (who? Gilles Simon!) is fighting tooth and nail with Roger Federer in the fifth set. Here’ s how the rest of the men’s draw fared:

• No. 3 Novak Djokovic def. Ivan Dodig, 7-5 6-7 (10-8) 6-0 6-2.

A valiant fight early on from Croatia’s Dodig, but he was simply outlasted by the glib Djokovic. Next up for our favorite post-match interview subject: Countryman Viktor Troicki, the 29th seed, in Round 3.

• No. 6 Tomas Berdych def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.

He needed four sets to do it, but after some early stumbles, Berdych sailed by. He’ll meet No. 28 Richard Gasquet of France in the third round.

• No. 8 Andy Roddick def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-3.

That first set was a nailbiter in Rod Laver Arena, but Roddick hasn’t gone out in the second round of this tournament since 2002, and he wasn’t about to start now. America’s sweetheart draws Robin Haase of the Netherlands in Round 3.

• No. 9 Fernando Verdasco def. Janko Tipsarevic, 2-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-0) 6-0.

Down two sets to none, Verdasco rallied valiantly as the Serbian gentleman just seemed to run out of luck with startling abruptness. Verdasco will meet Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the third round.

• No. 12 Gael Monfils def. Frederico Gil, 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-2.

Not sure just what happened there in that third set, but done is done and so is Gil. Next up for the most energetic hair in the tournament: A tough third-round opponent in No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

• Tommy Robredo def. No. 16 Mardy Fish, 1-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

The last American standing in the U.S. Open goes down early in neat fashion to the 52nd-ranked Robredo, who’ll face Sergiy Stakhovsky in Round 3.

• No. 29 Viktor Troicki def. Nicolas Mahut, 6-4 6-2 1-6 6-3.

Well, who’s going to be our fashion icon in the men’s draw now? And two days before his birthday, too! Next hurdle for Troicki is a formidable one: Countryman Novak Djokovic, whom you may have heard of.

• And in doubles news, the Brothers Bryan def. Scott Lipsky & Rajeev Ram, 6-3 3-6 6-4.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for results of the women’s draw, plus highlights from Andy Roddick and Venus Williams’ matches.

Though American Mardy Fish surprised everyone by making a strong showing in the U.S. Open, he will not be sneaking up on anybody this time around. Fish was upset by Spaniard Tommy Robredo 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the 2011 Australian Open on Show Court 3. Robredo now has a 5-3 all-time record against Fish and has won the last three matches between the two.

Fish has been under the weather for much of the week, which clearly showed during this match. The Floridian won his last Aussie Open match by rallying from two sets down. One of his best career performances was at the 2007 Australian Open, where he reached the quarter final round.

Day 3 of the 2011 Aussie Open gets underway in just a few short hours. If you’re planning on staying up all night with us to get your Down Under tennis fix, here’s a handy Australian Open TV schedule, adjusted to EST. Where to watch what tonight:

3:00 - 7:00 p.m.: ESPN2 will be running recap coverage of matches viewers may have missed in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.: Live coverage of second-round play on the Tennis Channel

9:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.: Live coverage of second-round play on ESPN2

You can find the full Australian Open draw sheet and schedule on the tournament’s official website. Remember when checking the schedule that it if it’s Tuesday evening on the East Coast, it’s already Wednesday in Australia.

Appearing “today” in Rod Laver Arena, in chronological order:

• No. 11 Justine Henin vs. Elena Baltacha

• No. 8 Andy Roddick vs. Igor Kunitsyn

• No. 4 Venus Williams vs. Sandra Zahlavova

• Jelena Dokic vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova

• No. 2 Roger Federer vs. Gilles Simon

In Hisense Arena:

• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki vs. Vania King

• No. 9 Fernando Verdasco vs. Janko Tipsarevic

• No. 14 Maria Sharapova vs. Virginia Razzano

• No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Ivan Dodig

In Margaret Court Arena:

• No. 6 Tomas Berdych vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber

• No. 6 Francesca Schiavone vs. Rebecca Marino

• No. 9 Li Na vs. Evgeniya Rodina

• No. 12 Gael Monfils vs. Frederico Gil

And elsewhere:

• No. 16 Mardy Fish vs. Tommy Robredo, on Show Court 3

• The Brothers Bryan’s first-round doubles match against the also-American Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram, on Court 6

Stay tuned to this StoryStream as Day 3 Australian Open results come rolling in; for more tennis coverage, visit SB Nation’s The Daily Forehand.