MELBOURNE – Through three rounds, the Australian Open looks thoroughly familiar. In some respects, anyway. Roger Federer is coming off a preserve-in-amber match, showing off the extravagant tennis he first displayed in the early years. Venus Williams, his senior by a year, hasn't dropped a set. Neither has her sister. Nor has 2009 champ Rafael Nadal, who deployed his ground-and-pound make-the-kid-suffer game in beating Alexander Zverev in round three. At age 34 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni—whose previous Aussie Open singles win came in 1998—is still in the draw. No American men made it beyond round three, a lamentably familiar result as well.
Federer, Venus, Brady and British tennis lead 2017 Australian Open midterm grades
