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There’s no place like home for Thanasi Kokkinakis, who put another notch in his Adelaide belt with a first-round win over world No.34 Maxime Cressy at the South Australian ATP tournament.
A winner and semi-finalist in the two back-to-back events here last year, the Adelaide local again relished the opportunity to play in front of an appreciative audience, registering a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7) victory over the towering American.
Kokkinakis fought back from a break down and a set point in the second set to secure an impressive win which he closed out with an ace.
“I had an incredible summer here last year starting off in Adelaide and with the (Australian Open) doubles (win) as a cherry on top,” he said. “But forever the Adelaide week will be my top moment for sure. I’m hoping to just try my arse off every match.”
After an injury-ravaged six years, Kokkinakis used his hometown run as something of a springboard to rejuvenate his stuttering career.
While he didn’t quite hit the dizzy heights of another tournament win in 2022, he did become ensconced in the top 100.
And with some 340 points to defend across the two weeks of competition in Adelaide, he’ll need to be at his best or risk slipping well down the rankings ladder.
But Monday night was as good a start as he could hope for. He overcame a knee problem in the first set, admitting afterward he needed to take some painkillers. Yet he didn’t face a break point in the opener and rode the crowd as well as his monster forehand when needed to bounce back in the second.
Serve-volleyer Cressy had been one of the surprise packets of the 2022 Australian summer, going from outside the top 100 to reach the final of the ATP event in Melbourne as a qualifier before making the last 16 at the Australian Open.
Things get no easier for Kokkinakis in Adelaide however, with a vastly improved field from last year meaning there’s every chance he’ll meet world No.15, Jannik Sinner, in the second round.
Australian youngster Alexei Popyrin has caused an Adelaide International boilover, shocking Canadian world No.6 Felix Auger-Aliassime in their first-round battle.
The 23-year-old has two wins against top 10 players to his name but both were mid-match retirements.
This time the world No.120, who came through qualifying, proved he was the real deal with a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory to send the second seed packing.
Danish world No.11 Holger Rune was also a surprise first-round casualty, falling to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Sydneysider Popyrin trailed in the 0-3 in the second set and was also down a mini-break in the tiebreak but both times clawed his way back.
He only needed one match point to wrap up the biggest win of his career.
After a rough 2022, Popyrin said it was good to see his hard work paying off under new coach, former Belgian star Xavier Malisse, who is a former world top-20 player.
“I’m pretty happy, it’s obviously an unbelievable feeling,” Popyrin said on court after the match.
“I had a really, really tough season last year and to come out after qualifying and to beat a player of his quality just showed the work I did in the off-season is paying off already.”
Popyrin’s match stats were impressive with 12 aces to his 22-year-old rival’s seven while he also hit 10 more winners.
Known for his booming serve, he showed he was adding to his game winning 22 points from the net – double that of Auger-Aliassime.
He said that Malisse was working to improve his consistency.
“We started in October and he’s been a great addition to my team.
“He’s trying to bring a little bit of consistency to my game.
“I’ve got the big serve, got the big forehand but I want to be more consistent.”
Popyrin next faces American Marcos Giron, who won his opening match against French veteran Richard Gasquet.
In other results, Christopher O’Connell fell to Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-4 while fellow Australian Jordan Thompson also made an early departure from Memorial Drive, going down against Frenchman Quentin Halys 6-3 6-4.
Meanwhile, showcourt 1 was overflowing with fans who packed in to see former world No.1 Novak Djokovic play his first match in Australia in two years.
Playing doubles, Djokovic paired with Vasek Pospisil to take on Gonzalo Escobar and Tomislav Brkic in the first round.
Djokovic, who was deported last year ahead of the Australian Open, was warmly welcomed on to court with a loud cheer as fans queued to see the Serbian superstar in action.
But he was unable to deliver a win, falling to the doubles specialists 4-6 6-3 (10-5).
Tennis great Martina Navratilova will not travel to Australia this month after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancers.
Her prognosis has been described as ‘good’.
Navratilova, 66, said: “This double whammy is serious but still fixable, and I’m hoping for a favourable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while but I will fight with all I have got.”
The former world No.1 previously underwent treatment for early stage breast cancer in 2010.
Navratilova, winner of 59 grand slam singles and doubles titles, was due to attend the Australian Open in Melbourne, where she was intending to work as a TV pundit.
“Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with stage one throat cancer,” read a statement fro her representatives. “The prognosis is good and Martina will start her treatment this month.
“The cancer type is HPV and this particular type responds really well to treatment. Martina noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during the WTA finals in Fort Worth. When it didn’t go down, a biopsy was performed, the results came back as stage one throat cancer.
“At the same time as Martina was undergoing the tests for the throat, a suspicious form was found in her breast, which was subsequently diagnosed as cancer, completely unrelated to the throat cancer.
“Both these cancers are in their early stages with great outcomes. Martina won’t be covering the Australian Open for Tennis Channel from their studio but hopes to be able to join in from time to time by Zoom.”
Venus Williams has won her first competitive match since Wimbledon 2021 with victory over Katie Volynets in the first round in Auckland.
The 42-year-old, who first won a main tour match in 1994, opted against following younger sister Serena into retirement and made a winning start to 2023 by seeing off fellow American Volynets 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
It ended a nine-match losing streak on the tour for Williams dating back to the Melbourne Classic in January 2021.
Her only match victories in that time came at grand slam level, with Williams reaching the second round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon the same year – she lost all four matches she contested last year.
Venus Williams. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Williams, who will make a 22nd appearance at the Australian Open as a wild card, said: “This is one of my favourite places to come and I was so excited that I made it here.
“It is so great to be back and thank you for staying so late and I am glad that I managed to get a win.”
The seven-time grand slam singles champion overcame a rain delay ahead of the first-set tie-break, and she added: “I was so mad at the rain break. It is hard to stop in the middle when you are all fired and suddenly you have to stop. I still love it and I think I can still be competitive.”
Williams next faces China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated Madison Brengle.
Taylor Fritz has added to Alexander Zverev’s struggles on his return from injury at the United Cup, hammering the former world No.2 6-1 6-4 in barely an hour.
World No.9 Fritz cantered through their Monday morning clash in just 64 minutes in Sydney.
Compatriot Madison Keys then beat Jule Niemeier 6-2 6-3 to secure the United States’ passage into the next round of the new mixed teams event.
After defeating the Czech Republic 4-1 in their opening tie, the Americans only needed two points from Germany to ensure top spot in their group.
They will complete their tie against Germany on Tuesday before facing fellow group winners Great Britain for a place in the final four, also to be played in Sydney from Friday.
Zverev is playing for the first time since tearing three ligaments in his right ankle against Rafael Nadal in a French Open semi-final in June.
Now ranked No.12 in the world, his first match was a straight-sets loss to the Czech Republic’s world No.81 Jiri Lehecka on Saturday.
Big-hitting Fritz was a step up again and quickly exposed the German’s lack of mobility and match fitness, losing only one of 27 points when landing his first serve.
“I felt pretty good; it was tough to judge my level because I do feel like he’s coming back from injury, he’s a bit rusty,” Fritz said.
“He was giving me a good amount of free points … I’m sure it won’t take him too long for him to fully get his form back.
“It’s great to start the year off with some wins, for sure. The confidence aspect of tennis is super important, Especially going to Australian Open off an off-season.”
In Perth, three-time Australian Open semi-finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas squared Greece’s tie with Belgium 1-1, impressive in beating David Goffin 6-3 6-2 to move them within one victory of securing a city final berth.
Alison Van Uytvanck defeated Despina Papamichail earlier in the day, 7-5 2-6 6-3 to put Belgium ahead.
They will meet Croatia or France in the city final, with the former in the box seat after taking a 2-0 lead on Monday with Borna Coric and Donna Vekic both enjoying straight-set wins.
Italians Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti both won their singles matches against Norway to secure their passage to the city final in Brisbane.
The city’s other tie is deadlocked at 1-1. Women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek downed Switzerland’s world No.12 Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6 (7-3). Marc-Andrea Huesler levelled the tie for the Swiss with a 6-3 6-2 win over Daniel Michalski.
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