Top-ten seed Juan Martin Del Potro fell to an unranked player and Gilles Simon won a thriller in the third round of the men’s bracket of the Australian Open between Friday night and Saturday morning.
2013 Australian Open bracket update: Gilles Simon survives epic, Del Potro falls
Juan Martin Del Potro’s time in the Australian Open is over after losing to Jeremy Chardy, while Gilles Simon won in one of the better matches of the tournament thus far.
Robert Prezioso
Del Potro, the No. 8 seed, fell early against Jeremy Chardy, losing the first two sets and needing a tiebreaker in the third to extend the match. He won that tiebreaker and the fourth set as well, but eventually fell 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3. The 6’6 Del Potro has never made it past the quarters of the Australian Open, while Chardy - ranked No. 36 in the world - has never been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.
Simon, the No. 14 seed, led fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils two sets to none, but Monfils stormed back, only allowing Simon to win five games combined between the third and fourth sets. He even pushed the fifth set to extra games, but Simon broke serve at 7-6 in the final set to earn the 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 8-6 win.
Roger Federer won in straight sets, beating Australia’s best chance at a winner, Bernard Tomic. Third-seeded Andy Murray and No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also moved on in straight sets, beating Ricardis Bernankis and Blaz Klavcic, respectively.
Elsewhere, No. 13 Milos Raonic beat No. 17 Philip Kohlschreiber and No. 21 Andres Seppi beat No. 12 Marin Cilic in a mild upset. No. 9 Richard Gasquet beat Ivan Dodeg in four sets.
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