Opinion
It was a successful start to the Australian Open for some of the world’s biggest names, with Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams among those to advance to the second round of the delayed tournament.
2019 champion Osaka was given the honour of opening play on Rod Laver Arena for this year’s tournament, and the Japanese star wasted little time settling in, making a mockery of a tough clash against Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and winning in straight sets.
The 23-year-old was barely troubled, breaking the Russian’s serve in the second game en route to taking the first set for the loss of just one game in 33 minutes.
Osaka then broke again in the third game and was never headed from there, taking the second set 6-2 to progress to the second round of the Australian Open for the sixth consecutive year and thus preserve her record of never losing in the first round here.
As if facing Pavlyuchenkova in the first round was tough, the Japanese star will face an even trickier second round assignment when she comes up against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia on Wednesday.
Garcia will have every reason to be confident that she can pull off another Grand Slam upset, after sending Karolina Pliskova crashing out in the second round at last year’s US Open.
The former top ten player set up her date with Osaka by defeating Slovenian Polona Hercog in straight sets.
It was also a successful day for the Williams sisters, with Serena thrashing French Open quarter-finalist Laura Siegemund for the loss of just two games and Venus winding back the clock to defeat former Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens, also in straight sets.
The player who upset Serena in the third round last year, Wang Qiang, fell at the first hurdle as she lost to former French Open finalist Sara Errani in three sets. The Italian, who has been ranked as high as number five in the world, next goes on to face Venus Williams.
Also progressing to the second round was former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who was playing her first match since the 2019 WTA Finals after a shoulder injury and the COVID-19 pandemic saw her sit out the entirety of the 2020 season.
The 20-year-old won the first set of her match against Romanian lucky loser Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-2, but then lost a hard-fought second set 6-4 before regrouping to win it 6-3 in the decider.
Andreescu is now a win away from possibly facing Venus Williams in the third round, and Petra Kvitova in the last sixteen.
Kvitova, for her part, won the first set of her match against Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen and briefly fell behind in the second before rallying to win 6-3, 6-4.
Second seed Simona Halep required less than an hour to defeat Australian wildcard Lizette Cabrera in the first evening match on Rod Laver Arena. She next faces another Australian – Ajla Tomljanovic – in the second round in another match likely to be fixtured on Centre Court.
But the tournament has come to an abrupt end for Angelique Kerber, who crashed to a 6-0, 6-4 defeat at the hands of little-known American Bernarda Pera.
Kerber dropped the opening set without winning a game, and stared down the barrel of a humiliating double-bagel defeat before pegging back some games for a more respectable second-set scoreline of 6-4.
The German was one of 72 players who were forced into hard quarantine after a member on her flight to Melbourne tested positive to COVID-19. Another player who was on that flight – Spain’s Paula Badosa – will play her opening round match today.
Last year’s runner-up, Garbine Muguruza, will open play on Margaret Court Arena this morning after she had contested (and lost) the final of the Yarra Valley Classic on Sunday.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
Should both Muguruza and Badosa win, they will set up an all-Spanish second round clash which they would then have to play tomorrow.
On the men’s side, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem were barely troubled, with the former not facing a single break point as he notched up his 14th consecutive win against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Rod Laver Arena.
The Djoker is seeking his ninth Australian Open title and on the basis of the form he displayed over an hour and a half, it will take more than just Rafael Nadal – whom he is projected to face in the final – to take down the undisputed King of Melbourne Park.
Third seed Thiem looms as the biggest threat to the Djoker reaching his ninth final here, and the Austrian began his bid to go one better by defeating Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets.
Also advancing to the second round was 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, who downed Pedro Sousa in his first match to edge closer to a potential fourth round showdown against Djokovic.
He next faces Marton Fucsovics, who needed five sets to defeat Australian wildcard Marc Polmans.
18th seed Grigor Dimitrov also progressed to the second round after defeating former US Open champion Marin Cilic in straight sets, ending any hopes of a US Open final re-match between Cilic and Kei Nishikori in the third round.
Nishikori himself departed after losing to Pablo Carreno Busta in a rematch of their fourth round encounter from 2019 in which the Spaniard infamously lost his cool after throwing away a two-sets-to-love lead to lose in five sets, 7-6 (10-8) in the last.
After a successful opening day to the delayed Australian Open, Day 2 promises to be just as huge, with Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Ashleigh Barty, Victoria Azarenka, Garbine Muguruza and defending champion Sofia Kenin among those in action.
Kenin, who is back at Melbourne Park for the first time since winning last year’s title, opens play on Rod Laver Arena against Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis.
Later on, 2009 champion Rafael Nadal will begin his bid to overtake Roger Federer’s record of 20 major men’s singles titles when he faces Laslo Djere in a potential championship run that starts with a Serbian opponent and could end with another.
In the evening, Ashleigh Barty will begin her bid to become our first homegrown champion in over four decades when she faces Danka Kovinic, after which is followed by a showdown between Greek showman Tsitsipas and French veteran Gilles Simon.
Muguruza and Azarenka headline the action on Margaret Court Arena, while those with a pass to John Cain Arena (formerly Melbourne Arena) will be treated to matches involving Coco Gauff and Australian 21st seed Alex de Minaur.
Spaniard Paula Badosa – the player in the centre of the hotel quarantine storm – is first up on Court 12 against Russian qualifier Luidmila Samsonova. As mentioned above, a win could set up a potential second round clash against compatriot Garbine Muguruza.
Matches to watch on Day 2
Rod Laver Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am
[4] Sofia Kenin (USA) vs Maddison Inglis (AUS)
Marie Bouzkova (CZE) vs [5] Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Laslo Djere (SRB) vs [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Night session – play starts at 7:00pm
[1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) vs Danka Kovinic (MNE)
[5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Gilles Simon (FRA)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am
[14] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) vs Margarita Gasparyan (RUS)
[12] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs Jessica Pegula (USA)
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) vs [4] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Night session – play starts at 7:00pm
Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs [9] Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) vs Daria Gavrilova (AUS)
John Cain Arena
Play starts at 12:00pm
[7] Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
Coco Gauff (USA) vs Jil Teichmann (SUI)
Not before 4:00pm
Tennys Sandgren (USA) vs [21] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Destanee Aiava (AUS) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS)
1573 Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am
[11] Belinda Bencic (SUI) vs Lauren Davis (USA)
Radu Albot (MDA) vs [12] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
Jasmine Paolini (ITA) vs [6] Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
[24] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS)
Not before 5:00pm
Olga Danilovic (SRB) vs [16] Petra Martic (CRO)
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