Australian Open 2012: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer Advance; John Isner Falls

Day 5 of the 2012 Austalian Open is in the books, with most of the third-round notables advancing. Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal picked up wins in the first round, while John Isner was defeated by Feliciano Lopez, removing the last American player from the men’s tournament.

In other Day 5 action in the men’s tournament, No. 11-ranked Martin Del Potro of Argentina advanced by defeating Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-0. Australian Bernard Tomic bested No. 13 Alexandr Dolgopolov in a hotly-contested five sets, 4-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3. No. 7-ranked Czech player Tomas Berdych defeated No. 30 Kevin Anderson of Russia in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-1. No. 10 Nicolas Almaro of Spain defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in sets of 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-4.

And with that, the American hopes at the 2012 Australian Open are dashed. John Isner, the last remaining American in play, fell to Feliciano Lopez in the third round in five sets.

Lopez opened the match with a 6-3 win in the first set, handling Isner early with relative ease. In the second, though, Isner bounced right back, coming away with a tiebreaker win, 7-6 (7-3). Lopez came right back to take the third set to inch ahead to a two sets to one advantage, 6-4.

Roger Federer was pushed early and often in his third round match at the 2012 Australian Open, yet still came away with a straight-sets win over Ivo Karlovic. The first two sets of the match were back-and-forth battles, with Federer taking the early tiebreaker to win the first set, 7-6 (8-6). In the second, he was again pushed to the brink before coming away with a 7-5 set to take a two sets to none advantage.

Finally, Federer put together a relatively easy, by comparison, set in the third, breezing to a 6-3 win in 38 minutes. Despite the rough start, Federer went the minimum to advance to the third round with a 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-3 win over Karlovic.

Monica Niculescu broke Caroline Wozniacki’s serve when the No. 1 seed was serving for the match at 5-1, but Wozniacki had already put too many games between them.

Wozniacki had 23 winners and three aces in her third round victory.

Rafael Nadal made quick work of his third-round matchup with Lukas Lacko, needing just under two hours to secure a straight sets victory in early 2012 Australian Open action. Playing in one of the first matches of the day, Nadal was hardly tested in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win to advance to the fourth round.

Nadal finished the match with 27 winners to just 19 unforced errors. He finished with a first-serve percentage of 81, and no double faults, while also winning 85 percent of his first serves. Lacko, on the other hand, struggled, finishing with 17 winners to 30 double faults.

We enter the Round of 32 at the 2012 Australian Open on Thursday with, predictably, a minimal American footprint. Andy Roddick “retired” (because tennis has its own word for “quit a match with injury,” just like they have their own lingo for “three points to zero”) against Lleyton Hewitt, leaving John Isner as the only American male remaining in the field. On the women’s side, there are three: Serena Williams, Christina McHale, and Vania King, who upset Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Day 4 just like I said she couldn’t. McHale and Isner lace them up on Day 5, and the novelty of Americans in the field puts them both on the “must watch” list.

Rod Laver Arena, Match No. 2