Olympic gold medallist and number five seed Qinwen Zheng has suffered a mighty scare in her opening round match against a qualifier, as rain as washed out play on the outside courts until at least 3pm.
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The Chinese star, who made the final of last year’s Australian Open, hung to take the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak against Romanian world No. 110 Anca Todoni after almost letting it slip.
The first set took an hour and 15 minutes as Zheng reached 40-0 up when serving for the set, but dropped that game and then Todoni went on to take a 6-5 advantage.
Zheng’s service game to send it to a tiebreaker was shaky as well with Todoni having three set points, but she held her nerve before going on to take the tie break comfortably, 7-3.
Meanwhile, on John Cain Arena, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the first winner of the tournament with a 6-3 6-3 triumph in a tricky first round match-up against former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Marie Bouzkova.
Both players were thrown off a bit by starting in the day light with the roof open before it was shut just in time to prevent rain drenching the court.
Then in the second set, it seemed like neither player wanted to hold serve as they were five consecutive games won by the receiver before Andreeva finally held her nerve to clinch the match.
Torrential downpours that swept across Melbourne halted play on the outside courts with wildcard Omar Jasika the only Australian to have started his campaign.
The 27-year-old left-hander dropped the first set 6-2 to Frenchman Hugo Gaston but held his serve to lead 1-0 in the second set when the storms forced them back to the locker room.
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Follow Day 1 of the Australian Open in our live blog below!
BIG OPEN CHANGE PLAYERS ARE FINDING ‘WEIRD’
The 2025 Australian Open gets underway on Sunday and there’ll be a historic change, with coaches allowed for the first time to be on court with players in specially-built “pods”.
Players on each of Melbourne Park’s three main show courts will be allowed to have up to four members of their support staff in the sections, though it is not compulsory for coaches to sit courtside.
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley believes the new initiative will add a fresh element to the sport.
“Some coaches were a bit sceptical at first, but then they sat down and said, ‘This is great’,” Tiley told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Men’s star Stefanos Tsitsipas has long been an advocate for less restrictions on coaching but even he admitted it will take some getting used to.
“I actually laughed when I saw them yesterday, I don’t know, it is kind of weird,” said the Greek star, was coached by his dad Apostolos until August last year.
“You know why it’s weird, I see my coach and other team members in that particular box and the rest of them are upstairs.
“I’m not used to it but I guess I will acclimatise at some point.”
The new rule could see Andy Murray sharing the court with Novak Djokovic as part of their new partnership and it should make for some fascinating dynamics over the next fortnight.
DJOKER SLAMS ‘RIDICULOUS’ SINNER SPECULATION
Novak Djokovic has hosed down claims of a feud or any ill-feeling towards world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
A social media storm erupted over a one-word answer given by Djokovic in a recent interview with GQ. Djokovic asked for the first word that came to mind for several rivals and while Roger Federer (“elegance), Rafael Nadal (“tenacity”) and Carlos Alcaraz (“charisma) earned serious responses, he said “skiing” for Sinner.
Asked by Tennis Majors and speaking in Serbian ahead of the Australian Open, Djokovic strongly denied any direspect and explained the pair shared a passion for skiing.
“Yes, I’ve seen it on social media that it’s being made into some kind of drama or a story, like I humiliated him or I’ve intentionally shown disrespect toward him. That’s ridiculous,” he said.
“It was one of those quiz type of interviews where you have to think of something in a second.
Djokovic questioned on being “poisoned” | 00:57
“Sinner’s name came up and I had this image in my head of him skiing, because I saw he was skiing somewhere. Also, the two of us talk about skiing always, how we’re going to ski together, et cetera.”
“That’s why I said ‘skiing’, not because I don’t respect his achievements in tennis, on the contrary.”
Sinner again looms as Djokovic’s biggest threat in his bid for an unprecedented 25th singles grand slam.
SUPERCOMPUTER PREDICTS OPEN CHANCES
Meanwhile a supercomputer analysis has identified Sinner as the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy at Melbourne Park, with a grim outlook for the Aussies in the men’s field.
A calculation by Prime Casino rated every player’s chances, with world No.1 Sinner rated a 51.6% chance to win the tournament, well ahead of Djokovic (14.1%), Carlos Alcaraz (8%) and Alexander Zverev (6.8%.)
Top Australian hope Alex de Minaur is rated a 26.2% chance of making the quarter-finals but just a 0.6% hope of winning the event, with Nick Kyrgios given zero chance of lifting the trophy.
Sabalenka was given a 23.5% chance of winning the women’s event, with her biggest threats Iga Świątek (19.7%) and Coco Gauff (16.8%).
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Sinner speaks out on Kyrgios drama | 01:04
Aryna Sabalenka will begin her quest for a historic third consecutive Australian Open crown on Day 1.
The Belarusian world number one headlines the evening session on the main Rod Laver Arena in a potentially tricky encounter with 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
Men’s second seed Alexander Zverev rounds off the first night against the dangerous Lucas Pouille of France, who made the semi-finals at Melbourne Park in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China has the honour of playing the first point of the tournament on centre court when the fifth seed faces Romania’s 110th-ranked Anca Todoni at 11:30am.
Sabalenka is aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis (1997-99) to win three consecutive Australian Opens.
If she lifts the winner’s Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup again, Sabalenka will join a select group of Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Hingis as the only women to complete a Melbourne three-peat.
“I know that I have the possibility of joining legends by winning three times in a row,” Sabalenka said.
“Hopefully by the end of this tournament I’ll be able to put my name into history.”
Wildcards Daria Saville and Omar Jasika are among the Australians in action on Day 1.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 1 ORDER OF PLAY
Show courts and Aussies – all times AEDT
Rod Laver Arena
Day session from 11:30am
[Q] Anca Todoni (ROM) vs No.5 Qinwen Zheng (CHN)
Not before 1pm
No.6 Casper Ruud (NOR) vs Jaume Munar (ESP)
Night session from 7pm
No.1 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) vs Sloane Stephens (USA)
[WC] Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs No.2 Alex Zverev (GER)
Show Court 1
Day session from 11:30am
Otto Virtanen (FIN) vs No.20 Arthur Fils (FRA)
Diane Parry (FRA) vs No.18 Donna Vekic (CRO)
Night session from 7pm
No.24 Jiri Lehecka (CZE) vs [WC] Li Tu (AUS)
Anna Blinkova (RUS) vs [WC] Daria Saville (AUS)
John Cain Arena
Day session from 11am
Marie Bouzkova (CZE) vs No.14 Mirra Andreeva (RUS)
Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs [Q] Thiago Monteiro (BRA)
Twilight session from 5pm
No.11 Paula Badosa (ESP) vs Xinyu Wang (CHN)
No.14 Ugo Humbert (FRA) vs [Q] Matteo Gigante (ITA)
Kia Arena
Not before 3:30pm
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs Aleks Vukic (AUS)
Court 3
From 11am
Hugo Gaston (FRA) vs [WC] Omar Jasika (AUS)
Adam Walton (AUS) vs Quentin Halys (FRA)
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