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After a controversial lead-up to the first major of the year which saw three-time defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic deported from Australia 12 hours out from the first ball being served in anger, it was, at last, time to turn our focus to the tennis courts.
It has not taken long for the Barty Party to get going, with women’s top seed Ashleigh Barty winning her first round match in style as she attempts to become our first homegrown champion in 44 years.
The Queenslander dominated Lesia Tsurenko in a rather embarrassingly one-sided match, winning 6-0, 6-1 in just 54 minutes to clear the first major hurdle in her bid for a first Australian Open title, and third major title overall.
Such was the 25-year-old’s dominance, she actually had two match points in the sixth game of the second set for a double-bagel, before Tsurenko saved face and held her service game for the only time before Barty duly served it out on her fifth match point in the next game.
It was the second straight year that Barty had won her first match at the Australian Open in such devastating fashion, having fed Danka Kovinic the double bagel in the opening round last year.
Ash made a dominant start to her AO title tilt (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
The match also indirectly marked a decade since she made her grand slam debut as a 16-year-old right here at the Australian Open, in which she won a wildcard playoff in December of the previous year before falling to Anna Tatishvili in the main draw.
That followed a sensational 2011 season in the juniors’ division, in which she won the Wimbledon girls’ title and also reached the semi-finals at the US Open.
Next for Barty is Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti, who in her own grand slam debut came from a set down to defeat Russia’s Varvara Gracheva in three sets.
Also victorious in the women’s draw were Olympic Gold Medallist Belinda Bencic, as well as former US Open finalist Madison Keys, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and defending champion here in Australia, Naomi Osaka.
Bencic got the better of Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets to line up a second-round clash against former French Open semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova, while Osaka kicked off her title defence with a straight-sets thrashing of Colombian Camila Orosio.
The Japanese star raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, however Osario was able to peg back three games before Osaka fought off two break points and held in the ninth game to take the opening set 6-3.
The 24-year-old then broke then consolidated for a 3-1 lead, and from there was never threatened as she preserved her record of never losing in the first round of the Australian Open, dating back to her debut here in 2016.
She will start a hot favourite to defeat Madison Brengle in her second round match before potentially facing a tricky clash against either Bencic, who has beaten her three times from as many attempts, or Anisimova in the last 32.
(Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
All three of Bencic’s wins against Osaka came in 2019, including twice at tournaments where the Japanese player was the defending champion, first at Indian Wells in March, and then at the US Open in September.
But that’s still ahead of Osaka, who otherwise remains on track for a blockbuster fourth round clash against Ashleigh Barty which, if it eventuates, would very likely be scheduled for a prime-time evening slot.
Twenty-fourth seed Victoria Azarenka, who won the first of her two Australian Open titles a decade ago, was also victorious, however 2020 champion Sofia Kenin became the highest-ranked casualty of the tournament so far, going down in straight sets to Madison Keys.
Keys entered the first major of the year on a high after winning her first title since August 2019 in Adelaide, where she defeated Alison Riske in the final, and carried that newfound form to Melbourne Park, winning in two tight sets, including the first in a tiebreaker.
As for Kenin, the defeat means she has now lost two of her last three matches at the tournament since saluting in 2020, and with 2000 points to come off her points tally, it means she will plummet out of the top 90 when the rankings are updated at the end of the tournament.
Madison Keys, winner in Adelaide two days ago, beats the 2020 champion Sofia Kenin 7-6(2), 7-5 to reach the 2nd round. She got a good draw now…
Kenin will drop 2000 points and leave the top… 90.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 17, 2022
Former French Open champions Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko were also victorious; if they beat Wang Xiyu and Alison Riske in their respective second round matches, then they will face off in the third round for, potentially, the right to face Azarenka in the fourth round.
In the men’s draw, which of course was decimated by the absence of the deported Djokovic, men’s sixth seed Rafael Nadal got his tournament off to a winning start, defeating Marcos Giron in straight sets for the loss of just seven games.
Djokovic’s absence from the tournament leaves the Spaniard as the only former champion left in the men’s draw and with the form he has showed in the opening week of the season, would be a huge chance to get his hands back on the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for the first time in 13 years.
(Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
In the second round he will face German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, who upset Adelaide champion Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets.
And while the undisputed King of Clay may be heading towards the twilight of his career, another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, preserved his record of never losing in the first round of a major by way of a straight-sets win against Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo.
Alcaraz hit 40 winners and won by a score of 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to edge closer to a possible third round clash against Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, who is the second-highest seed left in the top half of the draw, only behind Olympic Gold Medallist Alexander Zverev.
Berrettini came from a set down to beat American Brandon Nakashima, while Zverev was due to play his first round match against compatriot Daniel Altmaier, in the second match following Ashleigh Barty on Rod Laver Arena.
The man who took Djokovic’s place at the top of the draw, Italian lucky loser Salvatore Caruso, could not make the most of his unexpected promotion to the main draw, losing to Serb Miomor Kecmanovic in straight sets.
Twelfth seed Cameron Norrie became the highest-seeded player to depart on the first day, as he was beaten in straight sets by Sebastian Korda, who won the 2018 boys’ title exactly two decades after his father, Petr, claimed his only major title here in 1998.
With Day 1 nearly in the books, attention turns to Day 2 where the bottom halves in both the men’s and women’s draws will be in action.
Two-time Major champion and reigning WTA Finals champion Garbine Muguruza kicks off the day’s play on Rod Laver Arena with a clash against Clara Burel; she is followed by 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek, who is up against British qualifier Harriet Dart.
How far can Garbine go at the AO? (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
Then, in the afternoon, reigning US Open men’s champion Daniil Medvedev will contest his first match as a major champion when he takes on Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen.
As a result of Djokovic’s inability to defend his title, the Russian has assumed favouritism for the title but will be wanting to take it one at a time, as he looks to back up his triumph in New York with a second major title Down Under.
In the evening, second seed Aryna Sabalenka will look to belatedly kick-start her season after a pair of losses in Adelaide when she comes up against Australian wildcard Storm Sanders, while Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas is up against Mikael Ymer straight afterwards.
One of the feature matches on Margaret Court Arena is that between past and present US Open champions in Sloane Stephens and Emma Raducanu, who at 17th is seeded at a major for the first time.
Interest and intrigue will centre around how Raducanu, who copped a heavy loss at the hands of Elena Rybakina in Sydney last week, handles the pressure of being a major champion at such a young age, having triumphed at Flushing Meadows two months before turning 19.
Petra Kvitova and Andy Murray, with four Wimbledon titles between them, headline the day session on John Cain Arena before the Ashes come to the tournament in the evening when Nick Kyrgios comes up against British qualifier Liam Broady.
Rod Laver Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am AEDT
Clara Burel (FRA) vs [3] Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
[7] Iga Swiatek (POL) vs Harriet Dart (GBR)
Henri Laaksonen (SUI) vs [2] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
Night session – play starts at 7:00pm AEDT
Storm Sanders (AUS) vs [2] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
Mikael Ymer (SWE) vs [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Margaret Court Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am AEDT
Daria Saville (nee Gavrilova) (AUS) vs Rebecca Peterson (SWE)
[5] Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Gianluca Mager (ITA)
[14] Simona Halep (ROU) vs Magdalena Frech (POL)
Night session – play starts at 7:00pm AEDT
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) vs [32] Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Sloane Stephens (USA) vs [17] Emma Raducanu (GBR)
John Cain Arena
Day session – play starts at 11:00am AEDT
[20] Petra Kvitova (CZE) vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
[6] Anett Kontaveit (EST) vs Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Not before 3:00pm AEDT
[21] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs Andy Murray (GBR)
Not before 7:00pm AEDT
Liam Broady (GBR) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Here is the full schedule for a busy Day 2 at Melbourne Park.
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