10 Things You Might Have Missed in Melbourne

The first week of the Australian Open was hardly boring. We had unexpected drama in Rafael Nadal’s second-round match, other exciting five-setters, a bunch of lower seeds stuttering in the women’s draw, and the ever outspoken Andy Murray rounding on his critics.

The biggest news, of course, was Roger Federer’s surprising exit.

But with all the stuff going on, you may not have caught everything. With that in mind, here are 10 things you might have missed.

So, it was Roger’s earliest departure in Melbourne since 2001. But when it comes to first rounds at majors, he’s still virtually untouchable.

Since he became a Grand Slam champ at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer has conceded a set or sets in the first round of majors in merely three matches. It happened against Jose Acasuso at the 2003 U.S. Open, Igor Andreev at the 2010 Australian Open, and Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon a few months later.

We should have known he’d dispatch the flashy, dangerous Yen Hsun-Lu—the author of wins over the likes of Murray, David Nalbandian, and Andy Roddick—in straight sets.

How does that compare to Rafa and Novak Djokovic? Since Nadal became a Grand Slam winner in Paris in 2005, he dumped at least a set in five first-round matches at majors, with the corresponding number for Djokovic since he opened his Slam account in Melbourne in 2008 being six.

Djokovic, however, hasn’t lost a set in the first round of a Slam since the 2010 U.S. Open.

Press conferences are ripe for daft questions. Yet this one was especially, shall we say, entertaining.

A male inquisitor threw this to Agnieszka Radwanska after her second-round win: “Have you seen much of her play?” He was referring to potential third-round opponent Ajla Tomljanovic.

Tomljanovic handed Aga one of her worst losses in 2014 at the French Open.

Radwanska’s reply? “Uh, you don’t know what happened at Roland Garros. Are you serious?”

No, just kidding. She didn’t say that, I made it up.

What the pleasant Radwanska actually said was: “I think we played once. I think she's one of the young upcoming players playing really good, strong, solid tennis…”

The Australian Open isn’t going in the direction Caroline Wozniacki, Radwanska’s pal (or, everyone’s pal, really) wants it to.

In her last five visits Down Under, the Dane has lost in the semifinals, quarterfinals, fourth round, third round, and second round—in that exact order.

Should we just bank on her losing in the first round next year, then?

“I think it’s a curse I’ve gotten here,” Caro said. “Hopefully I'm going to break that next year and start going the other way.”

Four of the five defeats came against Grand Slam winners. The exception was Garbine Muguruza, who many think could become one someday.

A past study told us that officials most often get it right on line calls that are challenged, likely helped by ‘what the heck’ challenges and players going to Hawk-Eye on pivotal points even when they know they’ll be proved wrong (we'll call those ‘might as well’ challenges).

There’s been no change to the trend in Melbourne. As of the end of play Friday, players challenging were correct 32 percent of the time. The women were sharper: Their percentage stood at 35.1, compared to 30.5 for the men.

More carrots in the diet, perhaps.

Denis Kudla, though, went a perfect 5-for-5 in his lone match.

Not so good is Grigor Dimitrov, who is 0-for-9, with Murray not far behind at 0-for-6. They face off Sunday.

Don’t challenge, you two.

Reciprocal wildcards—the ones handed out by the French, U.S. and Australian Opens—hardly ever seem like they do anything special. But their displays at the Australian Open weren’t bad.

Kudla took the charmed Feliciano Lopez to five sets, even holding three match points.

Lucas Pouille is being anointed a future star after he, too, went the distance with his opponent, Gael Monfils. (Who doesn’t take Monfils to five at a Slam, really?)

Another French player, 18-year-old Oceane Dodin, upset Alison Riske in the first round and claimed a set off one of the hottest players on the tour, Karolina Pliskova, despite losing her racket during a serve:

And Irina Falconi upset Kaia Kanepi in the first round prior to losing to Madison Brengle.

Recall that last year at the U.S. Open, a shambolic situation arose involving two reciprocal wildcards. Bernard Tomic was a walkover and Michael Llodra retired, both in the second round.

Zhang Shuai was once considered a top prospect in China. But the tennis tour is a tough place and awash with can't-miss-prospects who struggle. When Zhang lost to Alize Cornet in the first round, her drought at Grand Slams continued. It's now 0-for-13.

Make no mistake, Zhang has fallen to some very good players (including Kuznetsova, Petrova, Safarova, Hantuchova, Cibulkova, Kerber, Radwanska, Suarez Navarro, and Cornet) but her last eight losses at majors have all been straight-set jobs.

Twelve months ago, Belinda Bencic strode into Melbourne not far removed from her junior days, qualified, and gave Li Na a fright in the second set of their second-round clash. This year, as a seeded player, Bencic was crushed in her opener by Julia Goerges (speaking of prospects who have…).

In two matches this year, Bencic has won a combined six games.

But Switzerland, have no fear.

Forget about Roger and Stan for a second and ponder the achievement of Timea Bacsinszky. In 2013, having given up on tennis, she was doing an internship at a five-star hotel. She worked with a psychologist, fell back in love with the game, and by reaching the third round in Melbourne, will eclipse Bencic as her country's No. 1 when the Aussie Open concludes.

It’s all about how you play the big points, eh? Look at how Nadal saved those seven break points in the third set against Dudi Sela on Thursday. He mostly took it out of the Israeli’s hands.

Dominic Thiem couldn’t convert when he had his opportunities against Roberto Bautista Agut, a David Ferrer clone (identical demeanour, very similar game).

In possibly the stat of the first week, the young, big-hitting Austrian went 2-for-22 on break points.

He’s had some physical issues of late, according to his great Facebook page.

This time in 2009, optimism surrounded the French quartet of Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, and Gilles Simon. They were dubbed the “new musketeers” and Grand Slam threats.

We all know how that’s turning out.

Likewise, much has been expected from the German female foursome of Georges, Sabine Lisicki, Andrea Petkovic, and Angelique Kerber.

Of the four, only Georges won a match in Melbourne. It’s her most productive Slam by far (not Roland Garros, as one might think), the only one where she sits above .500.

Lisicki tallies two fourth rounds at Slams away from Wimbledon, Petkovic hasn’t advanced past the third round at a major since the French Open last year, and world No. 9 Kerber has achieved one Slam quarterfinal in her last 10 attempts.

Sam Querrey’s record in fifth sets sunk to 3-10 after he lost to Vasek Pospisil in the first round. But the number of times Querrey has been in a winning position in those losses is eye-catching: Five times he led two to one in sets.

He’s no doubt a likable guy, although closing out matches continues to be an issue.

Ravi Ubha (@RaviUbha) is a freelance journalist and broadcaster who has written for ESPN, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.