Emma Raducanu walks into the practice court with her coach Torben Beltz before a practice session at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
Highlight
- Second seed Aryna Sabalenka opens Australia wild-card entry against Storm Sanders
- No. 3 Garbine Muguruza Opens Up The Play Against Clara Burrelli On Rod Laver
- In the men’s game, Medvedev – now effectively playing the top seed, Henri Laksonen – faces Tsitsipas Yamer.
The high-profile women’s match on Day 2 features current and former US Open champions Emma Radukanu and Sloane Stephens in the first round. Stephens holds six WTA tournament titles, including the 2018 US Open title.
The 19-year-old Radukanu has just one title, but this is a major one. “I saw Sloane win the US Open. . . I really hit with him last year,” Radukanu said at a pre-tournament news conference. “Obviously you can’t win a Grand Slam without being very capable.”
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka’s Australia wild-card entry starts against Storm Sanders, and No. 3 Garbine Muguruza opens the game against Clara Burrell on Rod Laver. In the men’s game, second seed Daniil Medvedev – now effectively having his visa revoked by top seed Novak Djokovic and deported for not being vaccinated against COVID-19 – plays Henri Laxonen .
Number 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Mikel Yammer in a match of the night. Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam singles winner but five-time runner-up at Melbourne Park, plays Nikoloz Basilashvili. Murray is kicking off his run at last week’s Sydney tournament final, where he defeated two top 25 players – Rili Opelka and Basilashvili – before losing to top seed Aslan Karatsev in the final.
Tuesday Forecast
Mostly cloudy, maximum 21 Celsius (70 Fahrenheit).
Monday’s weather
Mostly cloudy but sunny later in the day, maximum 23 C (74 F).
Monday’s Key Results
Women’s 1st round: No. 1 Ash Barty beat Lesia Surenko 6-0, 6-1; Defending champion Naomi Osaka beat Maria Osorio 6-3, 6-3; No. 4 Barbora Krejcikova beat Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-0; No. 5 Maria Sakkari beat Tatjana Maria 6-4, 7-6(2); No. 8 Paula Badosa beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-0; Madison Keys beat No. 11 Sophia Kenin 7-6(2), 7-5; No. 15 Elina Svitolina beat Fiona Ferro 6-1, 7-6 (4); Wang Qiang beat No. 18 Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2; No. 22 Belinda Bencic defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3.
Men’s first round: No. 3 Alexander Zverev beat Daniil Altmayer 7-6 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (1); No. 6 Rafael Nadal beat Marcos Giron 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; No. 7 Matteo Berrettini beat Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3; No. 14 Denis Shapovalov beat Laslo Jere 7-6(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3); No. 17 Gael Monfils beat Federico Correa 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
stats of the day
70: Number of wins for Nadal in the Australian Open singles draw. He first played at Melbourne Park in 2004 and won the tournament in 2009.
40: Feliciano López became the second 40-year-old man in the Open era to compete in the main draw of the Australian Open singles. His 20th Australian Open campaign, and 79th consecutive Major, ended in a first-round loss to John Millman.
Today’s thought
“It’s too complicated, a very messy situation. You can take both sides. It’s honestly very sad that it had to end this way” – American player Amanda Anisimova Top-ranked Novak Djokovic’s deportation from Australia Feather.
(reported by AP)
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