Australian Open racks up upsets

Sofia Kenin

American Sofia Kenin wept in the second set. She was nervous, she was shaking, and she could not come down. Last year at the Australian Open, she won the tournament. But this week, she could not concentrate.

She lost in the second round, against the older player, Kaia Kanepi, 6-3, 6-2. When the No. 4 plays again, she has to suck it up. She just has to forget it about it.

“I obviously felt like I’m not there 100% — physically, mentally, my game. Everything just feels real off, obviously. It’s not good,” Kenin said.  “I know I couldn’t really handle the pressure.”

Over the past couple days, not only did she lose, but two other top-10 players went down: Bianca Andreescu and Petra Kvitova. The teenager Andreescu just came back from more than a year off. So, she will shake it off.

However, the two-time Grand Slam champ Petra Kvitova is mentally gone at times, thinking of something else when she is playing. She might be thinking, “Why I am playing so badly, and should I actually be here. I just can’t stand it.”

It is still early, and we all know that Karolina Pliskova can be super powerful and take down anyone. In the first week of a Slam, she can just get away, with mediocre play. But, in the second week, it is hard to figure out if she is will be patient or nutty when she hits the ball. She has yet to win a Grand Slam, but once again, she still has a shot to win it all. On Thursday, she beat Danielle Collins.

The other American, Shelby Rogers, beat Olga Danilovic…

Canadian Denis Shapovalov won easily over Bernard Tomic. Shapovalov will face Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday, another rising and very good player. This will be a test.
Spaniard Feliciano Lopez is 39 years old and he is still playing singles, doubles and mixed. He just keeps churning. On Thursday he won another long fifth-setter, dispatching Italian Lorenzo Sonego, which is so impressive.