Opinion
With Day 2 of the 2021 Australian Open in the books, one player has already made a huge statement at the tournament: local favourite – and our best hope of glory Down Under – Ashleigh Barty.
Barty went into the tournament off the back of winning the Yarra Valley Classic – in which she defeated Garbine Muguruza in the final – and has carried over her impressive form.
The 24-year-old Queenslander was barely forced to sweat as she fed Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic a double-bagel in just 44 minutes, winning the first 16 points of the match and not facing a single break point on her serve.
It is the first time an Australian women’s player has won a match by the most dreaded scoreline at the Australian Open since Wendy Turnbull won her first two matches in such fashion in 1985.
Watching on was Richmond’s three-time premiership captain Trent Cotchin, whom Barty presented the premiership cup to after the Tigers won last year’s historic AFL grand final at the Gabba.
Trent Cotchin (Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Media/via Getty Images )
Barty next faces compatriot Daria Gavrilova, who was coincidentally the last Australian player to record a double-bagel win at a Major, when she defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo in the first round of the 2018 US Open.
In another coincidence, Gavrilova defeated the Spaniard in their first meeting since then, 6-1, 7-5, to book her all-Australian clash with Barty, likely to be played on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday night.
It was a mostly successful day for the locals, with Samantha Stosur recording her first win at Melbourne Park since 2015 by defeating compatriot Destanee Aiava in straight sets.
She will now fancy her chances of reaching the third round when she comes up against American Jessica Pegula, who pulled off another major upset when she defeated two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets earlier in the day.
The Belarussian sprayed 25 unforced errors, including seven double-faults, as she crashed to her second first-round exit in three years at the tournament she won in 2012 and 2013. The 31-year-old has now not won a match at here since 2016.
It was much better news for defending champion Sofia Kenin, who fought off a serious challenge from Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis to record a 7-5, 6-4 victory and avoid becoming the first defending champion since Jennifer Capriati in 2003 to crash out at the first hurdle.
She was joined in the second round by Garbine Muguruza, whom she beat in last year’s final, after the Spaniard defeated Russian Margarita Gasparyan 6-4, 6-0. Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova was also barely forced to sweat as she dropped just two games in a straight-forward victory over Jasmine Paolini.
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
But the tournament is over for former Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Sloane Stephens, both beaten in the opening round by Karolina Muchova and Yulia Putintseva, respectively.
20th seed Maria Sakkari was also an early casualty, losing to Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in three sets, despite winning the middle set 6-0, while 2016 semi-finalist Johanna Konta was forced to retire after winning the opening set of her match against Kaja Juvan and then going 0-2 down in the second.
On the men’s side, second seed Rafael Nadal defeated Serb Laslo Djere in straight sets and shrugged off any concerns over a back injury which ruled him out of the ATP Cup.
While it is widely expected Nadal and Novak Djokovic will contest the championship, one man who could throw a spanner in the works is fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek star, a semi-finalist here two years ago, made a mockery of a tough first-round clash against Gilles Simon, not facing a single break point as he won 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 in just over 90 minutes.
The Athens native next comes up against Greek-Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who made the most of his wildcard entry by defeating South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo, also in straight sets.
Given the strong Greek community presence in Victoria, you can bet that this match will be scheduled for either Rod Laver Arena or Margaret Court Arena in the prime time evening slot.
Our best hope in the men’s field, 21st seed Alex de Minaur, sent last year’s quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren packing with a straight-sets victory. Sandgren, who held seven match points in his quarter-final against Roger Federer last year, was critical of the hotel quarantine system after being one of 72 players forced into hard lockdown when a member of their flight to Melbourne tested positive to COVID-19.
13th seed David Goffin went down to local Alexei Popyrin in five sets, despite serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set and having four match points, two in the tenth game and another two in the tiebreak.
He was followed out the door by Spanish 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who lost to Radu Albot in four sets after winning the opening set.
The Russian pair of Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, who could face each other in the quarter-finals, both won their opening round matches with minimum fuss, taking care of Yannick Hanfmann and Vasek Pospisil, respectively.
Day 3 will see the commencement of second round matches, with four of the five matches on Rod Laver Arena to feature four players who share 44 Grand Slam titles between them.
2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu has the honour of kicking off the action on Centre Court, coming up against Chinese Taipei veteran Hsieh Su-wei, followed by tenth seed Serena Williams coming up against Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic.
Following that, Djokovic will continue his bid for a ninth Australian Open and 18th Major title overall when he comes up against Frances Tiafoe, a quarter-finalist in 2019.
In the evening, 2019 titlist Naomi Osaka comes up against France’s Caroline Garcia, before Alexander Zverev tackles American qualifier Maxime Cressy.
On Margaret Court Arena, seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka and ninth seed Petra Kvitova face Daria Kasatkina and Sorana Cirstea, respectively, before Dominic Thiem takes on Germany’s Dominik Koepfer in the afternoon.
Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic will have her work cut out when she faces second seed Simona Halep, as will Alex Bolt, who faces 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Stan Wawrinka, Venus Williams, Sara Errani and Iga Swiatek are among the names to watch on John Cain Arena, while Nick Kyrgios will bring the flair for his evening engagement against France’s Ugo Humbert as he looks to book a potential third-round showdown against Dominic Thiem.
Matches to watch on Day 3
Rod Laver Arena
Day session – play starts at 11am
[8] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) vs Hsieh Su-wei (TPE)
Not before 1pm
Nina Stojanovic (SRB) vs [10] Serena Williams (USA)
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Night session – play starts at 7pm
Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs [3] Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Maxime Cressy (USA) vs [6] Alexander Zverev (GER)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session – play starts at 11am
[7] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) vs Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
Sorana Cirstra (ROU) vs [9] Petra Kvitova (CZE)
[3] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Dominik Koepfer (GER)
Night session – play starts at 7pm
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) vs [2] Simona Halep (ROU)
[18] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Alex Bolt (AUS)
John Cain Arena
Play starts at 12pm
[17] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
Venus Williams (USA) vs Sara Errani (ITA)
[15] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Not before 7pm
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs [29] Ugo Humbert (FRA)
(All times are local.)
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