Achievement
Perhaps one of the main events of the gaming day was the achievement of Roger Federer. Going on court in a match against American Stephen Johnson, the 38-year-old Swiss broke the record for the most entries in the Australian Open. The current tournament was his 21st career, and in this respect he broke away from Lleyton Hewitt, who performed 20 times in Melbourne. At the same time, Roger won six victories in the major.
The meeting itself was not too intriguing. Federer did not leave his opponent a single chance and broke his resistance in three sets in an hour and a half - 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 2.
“I think the first three circles will be key for me in terms of form collection. But today everything went great. I did breaks early in each set, gained momentum and acted freely. I move forward round after round, rally after rally. I know that other guys are playing incredible right now. It’s important for me to remain calm, ”Federer quotes the Championship with reference to AFP.
Numeral
The current champion Novak Djokovic met with the 35th racket of the planet Jan-Lennard Struff. The German, learning about with whom he will play in the first round, had conflicting feelings.
“When I saw the results of the draw, I thought:“ God, for what? Why?". No one wants to please Novak in the first round. But a little later he reconciled with this thought. Nice to play on the central court the second run in the evening session. This is a special moment. I’ve already played with Federer in Melbourne, and I remember that match to this day, ”Struff quoted the ATP official website.
And the German really managed to get together and give battle to the favorite. He fought on equal terms with Djokovic in the first set and lost only in the tiebreaker. Moreover, when the score was 5: 3, Novak applied to the set in his favor, but allowed the opponent to make a break.
And Shtruff completely left behind the third game with three breaks - 6: 2. But it was not in Djokovic’s interests to delay this match, and in the fourth set he still finished off the unyielding German, allowing him to take only one game. Moreover, the victory was for the Serb the 900th anniversary in the ATP tour.
9️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Tour-level match-wins! @DjokerNole advances to the #AusOpen second round for the 14th consecutive year, def. Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (5) 6-2 2-6 6-1. # AO2020pic.twitter.com / pnqAHZ8YIL
- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2020Sensation
The 13th seeded tournament Denis Shapovalov became the author of the first surprise with a minus sign. The Canadian lost to the 70th racket of the planet Marton Fuchovich in four sets - 3: 6, 7: 6, 1: 6, 6: 7. At the same time, the athlete noted unsportsmanlike behavior. After one of the unsuccessful episodes, he threw a racket on the court, for which he received a warning from the judge. Shapovalov was also dissatisfied with this and aggressively spoke out to the referee.
“I didn't break her. If I broke a racket, you could have warned me one hundred percent. You are not doing your job, but simply looking for a reason to punish me, ”Yahoo Sports quoted Shapovalov as saying.
Victory
In the men's part of the tournament, the Russians did not go to court on the first day of the game. But in the women's match, three domestic tennis players held their matches at once. Unfortunately, only Ekaterina Alexandrova managed to win the victory. A native of Chelyabinsk, who recently won the first WTA trophy in her career, and rose to fourth place in the champion race, was stronger than Swiss representative Gil Belen Teichman.
However, the match was not the easiest for the Russians. She left the first set for herself - 6: 4, but she lost the second with a similar score. Fortunately, Catherine gathered in the decisive game and squeezed the opponent with a margin of 6: 2. Thus, Alexandrova managed only the second time in her career to break into the second round of the Australian Open, where she will meet with Barbora Kreichikova.
Failures
If the lot turned out to be favorable to Alexander, the 18-year-old Anastasia Potapova immediately received the formidable Serena Williams as an opponent. Surprisingly, at the time of the birth of the Russian woman in 2001, the American managed not only to start a career, but also to win the Grand Slam tournament.
As a result, the ex-first racket of the world did not leave an opponent a single chance. She completely won the first set “under zero” and spent only 19 minutes on it. However, one cannot say that Potapova looked hopeless. In some games on the court, a fight ensued, but Anastasia could not win more than two draws.
In the second installment, the Russian woman looked much more confident, and Serena eased the pressure. Potapova managed not only to take the first game on his serve, but also to break the story - 2: 1. Unfortunately, the American immediately returned what was lost. In the fifth game, Anastasia again had a break point, but did not realize it. After that, Williams Jr. easily brought the matter to victory and made it to the second round of the competition.
By the way, in the 74 opening matches of the Grand Slam tournaments, the American won 73 victories and only once was defeated.
“I think I started the match very well. In the first set, she played powerfully and just used it. I feel that I can still add during the tournament. It was a good first step. The title in Auckland helped me relieve stress in some way. It was very important to win the final. It brought relief, now I can move on, ”said Serena.
Was defeated and broke through to the main draw of the tournament through qualification Anastasia Kalinskaya. In the first round match, she failed to impose a fight on the 41st racket of the planet Zheng Saysai - 3: 6, 2: 6. The Russian woman could not make a single ace and implemented only one break point with four of her opponent.
Sequel
A couple of hours after the victory of Serena Williams over Potapova, her older sister Venus came to the court, who again had to fight with 15-year-old compatriot Corey Gauff. In 2019, a young American unexpectedly beat Venus in the first round of Wimbledon, and this event became one of the main sensations of the year in tennis. Moreover, the girl did not stop there and reached the fourth round, where she lost only to Simone Halep.
This time, Williams Sr. was eager to take revenge from her young compatriot, but again nothing came of it. The first set turned out to be incredibly stubborn, and his fate was decided on a tie-break. At the crucial moment, Gauff was stronger. And the 39-year-old Venus did not have a second party, and the young tennis player confidently squeezed it - 6: 3.
Thus, Corey at the Australian Open debut for herself managed to immediately break into the second round, where she will face off with another experienced athlete - 29-year-old Sorana Kirsta from Romania.
Contempt
For Australian fans, the main event of the day was the meeting of the first racket of the world, Ashley Barty, with Ukrainian Lesya Tsurenko. The mistress of the court eventually won and made her way further, but spent a lot of energy. She completely failed the first set and gave her opponent three games at once on her serve, which led to a well-deserved defeat - 5: 7.
After that, Barty got together and in the next two games allowed Tsurenko to take only two games. In addition, Les regularly made double mistakes on her pitch (8). After one of them, when the Ukrainian filed for the first set, local fans did not even restrain themselves and began to applaud. At the same time, it is not customary to react to the mistakes of rivals in tennis in this way.
World No.1 😁
Round 1 win 😁
Plenty of reasons to smile for Aussie local @ashbarty on Night 1 of the # AusOpen. # AO2020pic.twitter.com / CMuNmaSuJu
Weather
Australian tennis lovers had another occasion for joy that day, perhaps even more important. It finally rained in the country, which dramatically improved the situation with large-scale forest fires. The climatic situation here returned to normal, and tennis players no longer complain about the suffocating smell of smoke and burning.
However, due to the weather, the organizers had to postpone all the fights that took place on the outdoor courts. The games were only indoor, of which there are only three in Melbourne. In particular, Radu Albot and Milos Raonic did not manage to hold their match.
All remaining matches on outside courts have been canceled.
Check out our Day 2 schedule: https://t.co/q36IuQ0xOM#AO2020 | # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / ox9EXanmA0
Costume
And in this nomination Gregor Dimitrov won an unconditional victory. The Bulgarian went to the match with Juan Ignacio Londero in a strange spotted costume, which was not appreciated by all the fans.
In particular, one of the Twitter users wrote under the athlete’s photo that he deserves defeat only because of his outfit. And another advised Dimitrov to never put on such a thing again.
The costume is to blame or not, but Gregor lost the first set - 4: 6. However, then he managed to get together and take three games in a row, in which he gave his opponent only six games. But the Bulgarian still had to spend 2.5 hours on the court.
Tracksuit game 💯 @ GrigorDimitrov!
Have you spotted any other fashion statements on Day 1? # AO2020 | # AusOpenpic.twitter.com / d6c8enLxqg