Australian Open: Nadal, Ashleigh Barty and Osaka begin quest for 21st Grand Slam with easy win

Melbourne, Jan. 17 (IANS): Spanish tennis stalwart Rafael Nadal began his quest for a 21st Grand Slam — and his second Australian Open title in 13 years — dismissing world No. 66 Marcos Giron of the US 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round at Melbourne Park on Monday.

Enjoying a trouble-free opening round, the 2009 Australian Open champion seemed to have recovered fully from the left-foot injury which had forced the 35-year-old to miss the Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open last year.

The Spaniard has improved to 4-0 for the year, having won his 89th title at the Melbourne Summer Set in week one. The winner of a record 13 title at Roland Garros, Nadal dropped just eight points on his first serve and slammed 34 winners, including seven aces in his opening-round win.

“It’s been a very challenging few months… tough moments with a lot of doubts– there still are doubts (about the foot injury having healed completely),” Nadal said after the match. “But I am here and I can’t be happier to be back in Australia in this amazing stadium,” he was quoted as saying by atptour.com.

“You never know when you come back from injury, which unfortunately I have a lot of experience with, how things will be, so you have to take it day by day. You have to forgive yourself if things aren’t going the proper way.”

Nadal is also attempting to become just the second man after Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to win all four majors at least twice. He is also trying to become the third man in the Open Era to win the Australian Open after turning 35 after Swiss master Roger Federer and Australian great Ken Rosewall.

Next up for the 20-time Grand Slam champion is the winner of Adelaide International 2 champion Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.

Ashleigh Barty begins quest for title with easy win

World No. 1 and top seed, Ashleigh Barty, began her quest for a maiden Australian Open title in emphatic manner, dropping just one game on way to beating Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the first round of the year’s first Grand Slam at the Melbourne Park on Monday.

Also, in late-evening matches on Monday, Madison Keys upset former champion Sofia Kenin in an all-American contest, while Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Jessica Pegula of the US too came through tough three-setters on the opening day.

No.1 seed Barty’s quest for a first Australian Open title got off to a perfect start with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of qualifier Lesia Tsurenko in 54 minutes. Two years ago, the Australian had been given a scare by the Ukrainian at the same stage of her home major, eventually pulling through 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

But the rematch was more akin to her 2021 opener, in which she double-bageled Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in 44 minutes.

The Wimbledon champion raced through the first 11 games, facing game points in only one of them. Barty struck 14 winners, including five aces, to 17 unforced errors, and maintained a 58 per cent first serve percentage.

Barty was in control of almost every exchange, dragging the world No. 119 Tsurenko around the court in all directions with slices and heavy forehands.

Madison Keys slammed 31 winners, including 15 aces, to win her 43rd WTA-level match against a fellow American out of 63 to date. No.26 seed Jelena Ostapenko and No.21 seed Jessica Pegula both delivered fine performances to survive determined opponents in their openers.

Ostapenko recovered after losing a first set in which she had held five set points to beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-1 in 2 hours and 15 minutes, while Pegula triumphed 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 over Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in 2 hours and 52 minutes — the longest match of Day 1.

Osaka begins title defence in style

Japan’s world No. 14 Naomi Osaka kicked off her Australian Open title defence with a straight-sets victory over Camila Osorio of Colombia, while Greece’s Maria Sakkari became the first top-10 seed to advance here beating Tatjana Maria of Germany at the Melbourne Park on Monday.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, American Amanda Anisimova, and Italy’s Camila Giorgi also earned early first-round wins on Monday.

Osaka, seeded No. 13 here, defeated Osorio 6-3, 6-3 on the Rod Laver Arena. The former world No.1, who also won the Australian Open in 2019, took 68 minutes to overcome the challenge of 20-year-old Osorio, ranked world No.50.

“I thought it was really amazing to play against (Osorio),” said Osaka. “She was loud, she was fighting. I think that’s something special. I really commended her for that. I thought she had a great return. She was really bold. She kind of stepped in really close to the line,” the 24-year-old Japanese player said.

“I think I was pretty solid. I think I was up 5-0 and had a little dip, but I was fortunate enough to close it out. I think that’s something that I hope I’m not in that position in my next match. If I am, I already did it this time around, so I guess I’ll learn from it.”

Osorio was one of the top movers of last year, having won her first WTA singles title in 2021 on home soil in Bogota. But in their first meeting, Osaka powered her way to victory, as she improved to 17-1 in her last 18 matches at the year’s first Grand Slam event. Osaka is also now 19-2 in Grand Slam first-round matches throughout her career.

World No.8, and No.5 seed here, Sakkari was the first top-10 player to move into the second round, with the 26-year-old Greek defeating Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-4, 7-6(2). Seeded in the top-10 at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, Sakkari took one hour and 46 minutes to fend off Maria, a former top-50 player, who played the Australian Open on a protected ranking of No.100.

“I didn’t feel great out there, but I found a solution, found a way to win,” Sakkari said. “She (Maria) has a tricky game that sometimes it makes you feel uncomfortable inside the court. Yeah, it was a decent match. I kind of, like, survived.”

Sakkari will meet Chinese qualifier Zheng Qinwen in the second round after the 19-year-old defeated Melbourne Summer Set 2 runner-up Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5).

No.15 seed Svitolina also advanced into the second round, besting Fiona Ferro of France, 6-1, 7-6(4) in an hour and 32 minutes. The Ukrainian, a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist in 2018 and 2019, will play Frenchwoman Harmony Tan, who knocked out Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3.

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Bencic also won her opening-round clash with the No.22 seed defeating France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3. Bencic will next face Anisimova of the US. Anisimova battled past Dutch qualifier Arianne Hartono 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Last year’s WTA 1000 champion in Canada, No.30-seed Camila Giorgi of Italy thrashed Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-4, 6-0. “I think it was a great match because it was (my) first one of the year, so I think it’s very important to get the rhythm,” Giorgi said.