The top stars showed little weakness on the first day of the Australian Open without losing a set. The appearance of the world number one Ashleigh Barty was particularly impressive on Monday, who gave the Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Zurenko no chance at 6:0 6:1. Defending champion Naomi Osaka also easily progressed. For the men, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev performed their duties more or less confidently.
After her impressive opening win, in which she was only on the pitch for 54 minutes, Barty has to deal with a qualifier in the second round as well. The 25-year-old local hero meets the Italian Lucia Bronzetti. Osaka, who beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-3 6-3 in 68 minutes of the first round, will play against the American Madison Brengle, who defeated Dajana Jastremska (UKR) 6-1 0-6 5-0 also benefited from the resignation of her opponent.
The Japanese retired from tennis after the US Open last September and took a longer break. Previously, Osaka had made her depression public. At the beginning of January, the 24-year-old returned to the tour after a four-month break. The former number one is currently only 14th in the world rankings.
Clear victories for Barty and Osaka
World number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka celebrated clear victories at the start of the Australian Open.
Maria Sakkari had to fight a little more. The number five seeded Greek defeated Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-4 7-6. On the other hand, young US star Cori Gauff and Sofia Kenin have already been eliminated. The 17-year-old Gauff lost to the Chinese Wang Qiang 4:6 2:6. Kenin, the 2020 Melbourne champion, lost to her US compatriot Madison Keys in straight straight sets. Austria is not represented in the individual competitions of the Grand Slam tournament.
Nadal starts title hunt with a smooth victory
Nadal defeated the American Marcos Giron in 1:49 hours 6:1 6:4 6:2. The 35-year-old Spaniard, who won the tournament in 2009, is the only former Australian Open champion in the men’s field. The fifth in the world rankings had paused for several months last year due to a complicated foot injury. In preparation for the Australian Open, Nadal made a perfect comeback with a tournament win in Melbourne.
Nadal celebrates Grand Slam comeback
Rafael Nadal was able to celebrate a brilliant comeback at the Australian Open after a seven-month Grand Slam break. The 35-year-old beat USA’s Marcos Giron in the first round.
At the Grand Slam tournament there, he could benefit from the absence of world number one Novak Djokovic. His second round opponent is German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, who defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-2 6-3 6-2. Like Djokovic, Nadal has already collected 20 titles in the four most important tournaments. Last year’s Serbian winner left Melbourne on Sunday after Australia’s federal court rejected his appeal to have his visa canceled due to his lack of a coronavirus vaccination.
Zverev also did his mandatory task against his German compatriot Daniel Altmaier in three sets, but had a little more trouble. The number three-seeded Olympic champion won in 2:38 hours 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 7-6 (7/1), his closest competitor is Australia’s John Millman, who beat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6: 1 6-3 4-6 7-5 won.
