Dual Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev has survived a major scare at the hands of a French qualifier, whose chances of an upset were ruined by major cramping that left him in tears. Live updates below!
But there’s been a number of stunning boilovers already on Monday, with four women’s seeds – reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, No.17 Ekaterina Alexandrova, No.23 Anastasia Potapova and No.31 Marie Bouzkova – losing.
Meanwhile, it’s a massive day for the Aussies, with 11 in action including two all-Australian contests in the men’s first round for the first time in 29 years.
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Djoker taken to four by young gun | 01:19
AWKWARD KYRGIOS TWEET RESURFACES
Nick Kyrgios had plenty of praise for 18-year-old Dino Prizmic last night in his gutsy performance against Novak Djokovic, writing on social media: “Prizmic got game” and making a number of positive comments in TV commentary duties.
“That was four hours of pure entertainment,” Kyrgios said on Eurosport afterwards.
“As soon as I saw him strutting his thing, he reminded me of that Holger Rune style energy.
“That’s the longest match in the first round of a slam in Novak’s career, that’s pretty crazy for an 18-year-old.
“I like him, he’s one of my favourite players after that performance. I’d give him some serious energy!”
But social media never forgets – and fans soon pointed out a dismissive Kyrgios tweet from mid-2023. At a tournament in Croatia in June, Australia’s Alexei Popyrin beat Prizmic to book a semi-final clash with Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
Kyrgios responded to a tweet about the news by writing: “Who are some of these players haha”.
Since then, Arnaldi beat Australia to win the Davis Cup with Italy, surged into the top 50, and beat Australia’s Adam Walton in the first round of the Aus Open yesterday.
Prizmic has also burst onto the scene, meaning it’s hardly a surprise that Kyrgios didn’t know either of the youngsters last year.
HEWITT’S SON TAKES HUGE STEP
Cruz Hewitt, the 15-year-old son of Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, will make his junior grand slam debut next week in the Australian Open boy’s singles.
The talented right-hander, who practised with Australia’s top-ranked man Alex de Minaur at Melbourne Park a week ago, is among the 16 wildcards announced on Monday.
It comes 27 years after his famous father made his debut in the main draw of the Australian Open just one month when the same age.
Hewitt, who is the world’s 199th ranked junior, has shown good promise when playing lower-tier professional tournaments over the past year.
The blond baseliner, who also travelled with the Australian team which reached the semi-finals of the recent United Cup, played in a high-tier junior event in Traralgon this week.
After a tough opening round win, he fell to Kazakhstan’s Danial Rakhmatullayev 6-3 7-5.
In an interview with foxsports.com.au prior to the Davis Cup Finals in Spain in November, Hewitt said that he was proud of his son’s progression but there was still work to be done.
Novak on new rule: ‘It distracts you’ | 01:24
REIGNING WIMBLEDON CHAMP DUMPED OUT IN HUGE SHOCK
Dayana Yastremska has delivered the first major shock of the Australian Open by ousting reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in dominant fashion.
The powerful Ukrainian, who plastered stickers referring to the Russian invasion of her country on her racquet bag, played superbly when victorious 6-1 6-2 in 1hr 16min.
Yastremska touched on her family at home following her triumph on John Cain Arena, saying it was difficult to talk about the impact of a conflict raging for nearly two years.
“I am very proud of Ukraine. (I am) very proud of the people,” she said.
The 23-year-old, who has won three WTA Tour titles, is rebuilding her career after a doping furore which saw her initially suspended on the eve of the 2021 Australian Open.
After appeals, the International Tennis Federation ultimately ruled she “bore no fault or negligence” for the positive test to mesterolone, with the provisional suspension lifted.
She has just returned to the top 100 but, when at her best form, can be a formidable player for any rival.
When thrashing Vondrousova, she struck 26 winners to five and while her unforced error rate was high, the aggressive approach reaped rich rewards.
“I think that is my personality. In life, I am also pretty aggressive. It is the same on court. Of course, I have played like that since I was very small and I enjoy it,” she said.
MEDVEDEV SURVIVES SCARE AS CRAMP RUINS RIVAL
French qualifier Terence Atmane has been forced to retire with cramp after distressing scenes against dual Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev.
Playing in his first grand slam main draw, Atmane took the first set against Medvedev after being down a break, but a missed smash at the start of the second set proved a turning point in the match, with the Russian breaking serve to open the set and taking it 6-2.
It was in the third set however that the match took a distressing turn, with Atmane cramping heavily at 1-all in the third set while serving.
The 22-year-old gestured to his right quad and could barely walk, resorting to underarm serves.
He made audible sounds of pain as he stepped to the service line at 15-30 and was given a time violation for not abiding by the serve clock.
“He can’t play,” Roger Rasheed said in commentary for Nine, as the crowd jeered the time violation being given out and Atmane apologised to the crowd.
Atmane effectively gave the game away in order to get to the chair for a changeover and was on the verge of tears, smashing his racquet in frustration and receiving a code violation on his way to sit down.
He would later retire from the match as cramp continued to hamper him, giving Medvedev a spot in the second round.
TSITSIPAS STRUGGLING EARLY
Defending Aus Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas is facing an all-time upset after dropping the first set to Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs.
Bergs, ranked 129th, cruelly lost in the final round of qualifying after suffering horror cramping while leading 7-5, 4-2 over Australia’s Dane Sweeny.
He could hardly move and medical treatment failed to fix the issue, with the Belgian 24-year-old retiring early in the next set – handing Sweeny a first-ever main draw berth.
But he was given a reprieve when Marco Berrettini pulled out with injury on the eve of the tournament, and Bergs is making the most of his second chance – stunning seventh seed Tsitsipas to claim the first set 7-5.
He broke to make it 5-6 and defended three break points to see out the set with an ace in a marathon 16-point game.
GAUFF FUMES AT CARTOON BEFORE FIRST ROUND STATEMENT
World No.4 Coco Gauff blew up on social media at the US Tennis Association over a cartoon they posted to social media to promote US stars at the Australian Open.
The cartoon presented a host of seeded US players in the style of the 1990s Nickelodeon show the Wild Thornberrys, depicting them in the Aussie outback. But 19-year-old Gauff wasn’t pleased with the caricatures.
“Worst thing I’ve ever seen,” Gauff said in an Instagram story.
“Like a caricature artist decided to make (us) all look like hideous looking people. The art style is cool for a cartoon show but not for a hype post. Foul.”
The reigning US Open champion disposed of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in one hour on Rod Laver Arena in a powerful opening round.
AUSSIE FINALLY ENDS HOODOO ON STACKED DAY
But there was better news for doubles world number one Storm Hunter, who overcame a mid-match wobble to seal an impressive win, beating Italy’s Sara Errani 6-4 6-3.
It comes on one of the biggest days for locals at the Australian Open in recent memory, with a whopping 11 Aussies in action on day two at Melbourne Park.
The only seeded local, world No.10 Alex de Minaur, headlines the night session against the powerful former world No.3 and semi-finalist Milos Raonic.
And at least two Aussies are guaranteed to advance, because they’re playing a compatriot – with Alexei Popyrin defeating Marc Polmans, plus Aleksandar Vukic facing Jordan Thompson, both in the afternoon.
Former world No.20 Daria Saville and reigning Australian Open doubles champion Rinky Hijikata are also in action and considered strong chances to progress.
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DAY 2 ORDER OF PLAY (Show courts + Aussies in action)
Day session from 12pm AEDT, night session from 7pm AEDT, unless listed
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session
No.4 Coco Gauff (USA) def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) 6-3, 6-0
Zizou Bergs (BEL) vs No.7 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Night session
No.10 Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs Milos Raonic (CAN)
No.16 Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs Naomi Osaka (JPN)
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Day session
No.3 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) def Terence Atmane (FRA) 5-7 6-2 6-4 1-0 ret
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs No.21 Donna Vekic (CRO)
Night session
No.6 Ons Jabeur (TUN) vs Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR)
No.27 Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs Dominic Thiem (AUT)
JOHN CAIN ARENA (from 11am)
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) def. No.7 Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 6-1, 6-2
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) def Marc Polmans (AUS) 6-3 7-6(3) 6-2
Magdalena Frech (POL) vs Daria Saville (AUS)
Not before 5pm: Omar Jasika (AUS) vs No.9 Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
AUSSIES IN ACTION
Kia Arena, from 11am: Storm Hunter (AUS) def. Sara Errani (ITA) 6-4, 6-3
1573 Arena, from 11am: No.19 Elina Svitolina (UKR) def Taylah Preston (AUS) 6-2 6-2
Court 3, Match 3: Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS)
Court 3, Match 4: Rinky Hijikata (AUS) vs No.24 Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Court 6, Match 2: James Duckworth (AUS) vs Luca Van Assche (FRA)
Sabalenka runs through Seidel | 01:19
DJOKER’S X-RATED SPRAY AFTER FAN CHANGE
Novak Djokovic has weighed in on a change at the Australian Open that appeared to spark an angry outburst from the world No.1
An error-strewn Djokovic kickstarted his bid for an 11th Australian Open and unprecedented 25th Grand Slam crown in unconvincing fashion on Sunday, dropping a set to “incredible” teenage qualifier Dino Prizmic.
The Serbian superstar struggled to impose himself against the confident Croat on Rod Laver Arena before finally taming the 18-year-old 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 after a four-hour marathon.
One moment during the second set showed the pressure Djokovic was under.
A 2-2 in a second set tiebreaker he raged at a fan making noise during the point, yelling “shut the f*** up!”.
It followed a move by Australian Open organisers to allow fans to move around in the stadium during games. Previously fans were only allowed to enter into the stadium during a changeover between games, which is the rule at other tournaments.
Djokovic, however, said he was unaware of the change.
“Look, I mean, I understand the motive behind it is to enhance and improve the experience for fans, right? We do play for fans. We want fans to have a great, thrilling experience of being out on the court,” he said in his post match press conference.
“Like Tiafoe, for example, is one of the players that was saying we should let people, like in other sports, freely walk and talk during matches.
“It’s hard, I must say. I understand that and I support it to some extent, but at the same time all my career, all my life I’ve been used to some kind of atmosphere. When that changes, it kind of messes up, distracts you a bit.
“I don’t know if it’s really the best rule, but I do understand from a tournament and fan perspective it’s probably better because they don’t want to wait. They want to come out and enjoy every single point.
“I’m kind of divided between the two in a way.”
Aussie FUMES at crucial umpire ‘mistake’ | 00:41
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