After the end of the Corona thriller about the unvaccinated top star Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open began with early defeats by German tennis professionals.

Tatjana Maria, Andrea Petkovic and Peter Gojowczyk said goodbye after the first round on the first day of the tournament in Melbourne.

Munich's Gojowczyk lost clearly 3: 6, 3: 6, 3: 6 against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.

Despite a good performance by the clearly favored Greek Maria Sakkari, Maria had to admit defeat 4:6, 6:7 (2:7).

The 34-year-old Petkovic from Darmstadt was eliminated 2: 6, 0: 6 against the French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic and had no chance.

"Just a terrible day for me," said Petkovic after the match: "I've played very well for the last two months and didn't hit a ball today."

Hanfmann now against Nadal

Dominik Koepfer and Yannick Hanfmann, on the other hand, provided bright spots: The Black Forest Hanfmann defeated the Spaniard Carlos Taberner 6:1, 3:6, 6:4, 6:1 and was "very satisfied" with making it into the second round. Finally, he struggles with arm problems. "It works with enough painkillers," said the 27-year-old: "I didn't have any pain today. I'll probably have to take a break after the Australian Open. It's a little stupid. It could be a few weeks. But the timing is still relatively good.”

Qualifier Hanfmann surprised with the smooth 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 2 against the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Karlsruher can now look forward to an attractive duel with the Spanish top player Rafael Nadal. Nadal won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 against American Marcos Giron. The fifth in the world rankings has the chance of his 21st Grand Slam title, with which he could outperform Djokovic and the pausing Swiss Roger Federer (20 each).

Tatjana Maria sees herself on the right track despite her departure.

"I think I played a good match.

I had a few chances that I didn't use," said the 34-year-old Swabian after her performance on Center Court in the Rod Laver Arena.

According to the organizer, Maria is the only mother of two to compete in Melbourne.

Eight-year-old Charlotte was sitting in the stands with her father and coach Charles Edouard Maria, while little Cecilia slept in the stands.

"I feel better than I've felt in a long time and I think that little bit that was missing today will hopefully come soon," said the former top 50 player.

At the end of July, the American-by-choice returned to the tour just four months after the birth of her second daughter.

Only three German women made it into the main draw of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, two have already been eliminated.

Angelique Kerber, who triumphed in Melbourne in 2016, only gets into the action on Tuesday.

Defending champion and co-favourite, Naomi Osaka, confidently advanced to the second round.

The former world number one from Japan beat Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-3, 6-3.

German number one Alexander Zverev meets Daniel Altmaier in a German duel this Monday (2nd game after 9 a.m. / Eurosport).

The Olympic champion is aiming for the first Grand Slam title of his career.

Due to the absence of Serbian world number one Djokovic, his chances have increased.

Djokovic had to leave the country on Sunday after a long back and forth due to his visa being finally declared invalid.

The unvaccinated defending champion wanted to take part in the Australian Open with a medical exemption after a corona infection.

However, the authorities had refused him entry to Australia.

The 34-year-old Serb landed in Dubai on Monday morning, the AP news agency reported.