Australian Open 2018: Men's Day 3 review

Day 3 saw the start of the second round matches. Top seed Rafael Nadal was made to work a little harder against Argentinian and World No. 52, Leonardo Mayer. The man from Mallorca reached the third round with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 win. Mayer had taken Rafa to four sets in the first round of the US Open last year. The first two sets had Nadal taking early breaks and holding on to win the set.

The third set stayed on serve but in the tie-breaker, Nadal prevailed 7-4. The first two matches have seen Nadal moving and covering the court so well that it does not seem he has come back from a knee injury. Nadal's trademark ferocious forehands and double-handed backhands have been spot on.

Dimitrov exults after his five-set victory

Dimitrov survived a battle with American qualifier and World No. 186, Mackenzie McDonald.The third seed was given a scare when he lost the first set but recovered to win the next two sets.The scrappy American then handed Dimitrov a bagel before losing his serve and the match in the 14th game of the fifth set. The final scoreline read 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6.

The always tough Tsonga needed a hard-fought five-setter to overcome Canadian sensation, Shapovalov. Tsonga gained a measure of revenge as he was knocked out of the US Open at the same stage by the Canadian. It was almost two Grand Slams defeats in a row to Shapovalov as he was leading 5-2 in the fifth set but the gritty Tsonga reeled off the next 5 games to emerge victorious 3-6, 6-3,1-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Karlovic also came through a tough five-set against Yuichi Sugita 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-6, 12-10. Joining fellow veterans Tsonga and Karlovic was Andreas Seppi who advanced in straight sets against Yoshihito Nishioka. Gilles Muller, needed five sets to overcome Malek Jaziri.

Home hope Matthew Ebden was beaten by Alexandr Dolgopolov. Cilic overpowered Joao Sousa 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the third round while Kyrgios had it a little tougher against veteran Troicki but still prevailed 7-5, 6-4, 7-6.

Schwartzman and Edmund won in straight sets against Casper Ruud and Denis Istomin respectively while Carreno Busta advanced when Gilles Simon retired trailing 6-2 3-0. Rublev knocked out veteran Baghdatis in four sets 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

There will be some interesting matchups in the third round with Kyrgios vs Tsonga and Dimitrov vs Rublev on the cards which promise to be exciting. Nadal will take on Bosnian Damir Dzumhur who should not be too much trouble for Nadal.