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Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka extended her Australian Open winning streak to 15 matches on a rain-soaked opening day at Melbourne Park.
Less than an hour of play was possible on the outside courts before a huge thunderstorm hit Melbourne Park, sending spectators running for cover and causing a delay of more than six hours.
The matches continued as scheduled on the three covered courts, and Sabalenka opened the night session on Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3 6-2 victory over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
While it was a tough draw on paper, Stephens has slipped to 81 in the rankings and, barring a mini revival from the American when she won three games in a row after losing the first four, this was smooth sailing for Sabalenka.
“I’m super happy to be back. I love this place and we have a full stadium, I couldn’t dream for more,” said Sabalenka.
“I don’t feel like I played my best probably but I’m glad that I managed to close this in straight sets. It definitely feels like home.”
The player Sabalenka beat in the final last year, fifth seed Qinwen Zheng, also safely reached round two.
The 22-year-old from China, who went on to win Olympic gold in Paris, did not have things all her own way against Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni but battled to a 7-6 (3) 6-1 victory.
Zheng looked in complete control serving for the set at 5-4 and leading 40-0 only for Todoni to win five points in a row.
The Romanian then held three set points with Zheng serving at 5-6 but could not take any of them and things were comfortable for the fifth seed thereafter.
“The first match is always not easy,” said Zheng in her on-court interview. “She’s playing really good but I was doing a bit stupid mistakes at 5-4 40-0, I don’t know what happened there.”
Teenager Mirra Andreeva could be a factor come the latter stages of the tournament and she began strongly with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Marie Bouzkova.
However, 29th seed Linda Noskova, who upset Iga Swiatek on her way to the quarter-finals last year, fell to a 5-7 6-3 6-4 loss against talented Dane Clara Tauson.
In the men’s singles, sixth seed Casper Ruud survived a major scare to avoid a first opening-round loss at a grand slam since Wimbledon four years ago.
The Norwegian was twice pegged back by Spaniard Jaume Munar but proved too strong in the deciding set to claim a 6-3 1-6 7-5 2-6 6-1 victory.
Also prevailing in a fifth was Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori, who came from two sets down to beat Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 4-6 6-7 (4) 7-5 6-2 6-3 for just his second slam victory since 2021.
The 35-year-old former US Open finalist has been dogged by injuries in recent years but, after saving two match points in the third, he extended his five-set record to a superb 29 wins from 37 matches, coming through in four hours and six minutes.
Nishikori has quite the reputation for winning in matches that go the distance, and he said: “Even after the match, everybody, a couple of players, was joking to me, ‘Another five sets’.
“I mean, it’s good to have that record because I always have good confidence, and players know that I have a good record. It’s good pressure for them if I have that.”
Second seed Alexander Zverev played the final match of the night session and he eased to a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over France’s Lucas Pouille.
PA
