Nick faced world No. 2 Roger Federer in the second round for a tense outing that stretched across an epic 2 hours and 37 minutes. It was the Swiss that struck first blood, edging out a win after a first set tie-breaker, but Nick came back in the second set, striking heaps of baseline winners and aces against the No. 1 seed and three-time champion. The 20-year-old Canberra native would score 22 aces across the entire match. After prevailing in the second set tiebreaker, the match moved into a dramatic decider. Saving two match points in the third set tiebreaker, Nick edged out a tight 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) victory, marking his second career win over a Top 10 player—his first was against Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year. This victory comes off Nick’s run to the finals at the Estoril Open in the previous week. He goes on to face John Isner in the third round.
No. 8 seed Stan Wawrinka (VCORE Tour G, SHT-PRO) won his opening match against Joao Sousa 7-6(1), 7-5, and will face Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.
Martina Hingis (EZONE Ai 100, POLYTOUR PRO 125, SHT-PROL) is currently at the Madrid Open, and appeared at an autograph session in front of a crowd of excited fans. The former World No. 1 signed autographs, and also posed for pictures with fans. She is currently the No. 1 women’s doubles seed at the tournament with Sania Mirza, and will compete in her first match today.
YONEX rising star Belinda Bencic (EZONE Ai 100, POLYTOUR HS 125) won her first WTA title on May 1st at the Prague Open in doubles. Partnered up with Katerina Siniakova, the two made a spectacular run, defeating the No. 1 seeds en route in straight sets. The two also sealed their final match in straight sets against Kateryna Bondarenko and Eva Hrdinova with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.
*Photos of Nick and Belinda taken at the 2015 Australian Open