Second-Round Recap

The Men

No Major Upsets. Nadal, Djokovic and Thiem all got through comfortably in straight sets, as did Wawrinka, Cilic, Nishikori, Dimitrov and Lucas Pouille. Murray, Raonic and Goffin needed four sets to advance.

Kyrgios. Up a set and a break against Kevin Anderson, serving at 4-2 in the second … and then he won three games the rest of the way to lose in four sets. I was going to call him "Infuriating Nick Kyrgios," but in his post-match press conference he admitted he's been feeling a lot of grief since the recent death of his grandfather, and I know grief well enough to understand that it absolves him of an awful lot.

The Women

Far Less Carnage Than I Expected. Most of the remaining top-16 seeds won. Exceptions were Pavlyuchenkova, whom I thank for losing so I don't have to type her name again, and Madison Keys, who started spraying so many unforced errors (6-1 in the third), it was downright strange. Pressure?

Petra Kvitova lost to one of my favorite players, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in two tiebreaks. Hard to see that as that bad of a result for Petra. These were her first competitive matches this year; she's allowed to be a little bit off.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands. I've liked her ever since I watched her play Serena in the 2015 US Open. In that match, she came out serving and volleying, and for a while Serena was a little off-balance. She also has the most fun fashion sense of anyone in the women's game. For reasons I can't quite figure out, she's not much of a singles player, but she's sure fun to watch. She plays Sam Stosur in the next round. Perhaps Stosur is beatable?

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