Djokovic eases past Halys in Australian Open

Novak Djokovic eased into round three of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over French teenager Quentin Halys. The world No. 1 admitted his camp was offered $200,000 to lose a first round match in 2007 during a tournament in Russian Federation.

“My response is that there’s always going to be, especially these days when there is a lot of speculation – this is now the main story in tennis, in sports world – there’s going to be a lot of allegations”, Djokovic said. “For me, that’s an act of unsportsmanship, a crime in sport honestly”. The Serb recouped quickly, but his younger opponent maintained his level and sent the set into a tiebreaker.

There are no betting odds being offered on Djokovic for this second round match against Halys and it is not hard to see why.

If the women’s side at the Australian Open has been a bubbling cauldron of uncertainty, injuries and upsets, the men’s side has been a peaceful stroll through the Aussie bush collecting flowers and occasionally stopping to solo on the didgeridoo.

“It is really hard to anticipate when you don’t know the player in front of you”, Tsonga reveals his 7-5 6-1 6-4 victory over 18-year-old Omar Jasika was anything but easy.

World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska held off Canadian Eugenie Bouchard to enter the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 win.

For the second time in three days, Novak Djokovic won a match at the Australian Open and was confronted by questions about match-fixing in the sport.

“He’s new on the tour but today he definitely didn’t play like it”, Djokovic told the crowd after the win. Bosnian qualifier Mirza Basic was swept aside by Berdych, who will now play Nick Kyrgios next, whilst Nishikori overcame America’s Austin Krajieck to set up a third round encounter with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

“He won against (Roger) Federer previous year in third round”.

In all-unseeded highlights, France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert bageled American wildcard and Benoit-killer Noah Rubin 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to advance into the third round. “This is where I played my first Grand Slam right on this court and I’m still going, it’s such an honor”, said Williams, a six-time champion who has a 70-9 record at Melbourne Park.

The night match at Rod Laver Arena lasted One hour 40 minutes, before the 10-time Grand Slam Champion wrapped-up the victory.