Federer outlasts bee sting, Kyrgios upsets Karlovic; more Day 3 results

Author:
Courtney Nguyen
Publish date:
Jan 21, 2015

MELBOURNE --Catch up on all of the action from the Australian Open on Wednesday that you may have missed while you were sleeping:

Rafael Nadal overcomes illness in five-set win over Tim Smyczek

It was hard to tell which was the bigger obstacle: stomach cramps or No. 112 Smyczek. Nadal was far from his best but Smyczek, the 27-year-old Milwaukee native, played the match of his life take Nadal to five sets only to lose 6-2, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. Over the course of four hours and 12 minutes, Smyczek threw everything he had at Nadal, firing 15 aces, 64 winners, to just 50 unforced errors. Nadal struggled throughout the evening, calling the doctor in the second set complaining of stomach pain, before rallying in the final two games to play some of his best tennis of the night to get the win. He plays Dudi Sela in the next round.

Maria Sharapova survives a scare

Sharapova came back from 1-4 in the final set and saved two match points to beat No. 150 Alexandra Panova 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. It was another classic Sharapova comeback.

Roger Federer survives a phantom bee sting

Mailbag: Sharapova survives, nearly edges Russian qualifier to advance

Federer overcame a first set blip to beat Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Federer called the trainer after the first set to look at the pinky finger on his right hand and described the pain afterwards as something akin to a bee sting. "I don't know what that thing is," Federer said. "It's the weirdest thing. I don't know. I feel it on the tip of my finger. Just felt really odd starting after the break, and for three, four games, it was the funniest feeling I have. I feel like it's numb and swollen."

Andy Murray and Eugenie Bouchard cruise

Murray had no problems with Marinko Matosevic, rolling to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win. Bouchard beat Kiki Bertens 6-0, 6-3.

Nick Kyrgios beats Ivo Karlovic, Thanasi Kokkinakis loses

Wozniacki and Azarenka face off, more Day 4 matches to watch

Kyrgios bounced back from his five-set opening win to knock out No. 23 seed Karlovic 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. No luck for the other half of the "Special Ks", as Kokkinakis went down in five to fellow Aussie Sam Groth.

Marcos Baghdatis upsets No. 22 David Goffin

Baghdatis and Melbourne. It's a special combination. The Cypriots were out in force to cheer on their man to an big upset over No. 20 Goffin, 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Venus and Serena Williams withdraw from doubles

No official reason was given for the withdrawal but it's probably the best call given their singles prospects.

Class move of the day

In the final game of the match, Smyczek voluntarily gave Nadal his first serve back after a fan called out during his motion. After battling for over four hours and coming within four points of victory, how many people would do that? Said Nadal: "I want to thank Tim because he is a gentleman for what he did in that last game. Not many people would do this at 6-5 in the fifth."