Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who missed final yr’s Australian Open, made a powerful return to Melbourne Park on Sunday with a straight-set win over No. 25-ranked Marie Bouzkova of Czechia 6-2, 6-4.
Andreescu, who took one hour, 41 minutes to eradicate the 24-year-old participant from Prague, had 23 service winners and solely dedicated eight unforced errors, in comparison with Bouzkova’s 17.
Andreescu had two aces, two double faults and was good on 87 per cent of her first serves. She had 12 forehand winners and three on her backhand.
WATCH | Andreescu cruises into 2nd spherical of Australian Open:
Andreescu cruises to a simple 1st spherical win at Australian Open
Bianca Andreescu scored a simple 6-2, 6-4 straight units win over No. 25-ranked Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic on the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., battled for greater than two hours to defeat Dusan Lajovic of Belgrade, Serbia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second spherical.
Shapovalov cruised via the primary set, then struggled within the second set and half of the third earlier than discovering his groove and ending off the resilient Lajovic.
Shapovalov had 38 service winners, 16 aces and 7 double faults within the two-hour, 20-minute match. He had 23 winners on his forehand, 11 on his backhand had 30 unforced errors in comparison with Lajovic’s 22.
Later Sunday, Rebecca Marino of Vancouver faces Zhu Lin of China, whereas Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal performs Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver within the late recreation.
WATCH | Shapovalov dispatches Lajovic:
Shapovalov wins opening match at Australian Open
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated Dusan Lajovic of Belgrade, Serbia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second spherical.
Gauff, Pegula, Raducanu additionally advance
Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins reached the second spherical in contrasting style.
Third-seeded Pegula overwhelmed Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-0, 6-1 whereas seventh-seeded Gauff overcame a second-set wobble to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4.
Collins, the runner-up final yr to Ash Barty and seeded thirteenth, battled a left knee damage whereas defeating Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Pegula and Gauff may meet within the semifinals whereas Collins may play No. 1 Iga Swiatek within the fourth spherical.
A quarterfinalist in Melbourne in every of the previous two years, Pegula wanted simply 59 minutes to get previous the 161st-ranked Cristian, who was showing in her third Grand Slam occasion.
“Today is simply a kind of days all the pieces was working,” mentioned the American, who will play both Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova or Aliaksandra Sasnovich within the second spherical.
“Always feels good while you win a match like that. I feel when these days come you simply type of take it and do not complain and do not critique. You type of simply transfer on to the following one.”
Gauff, who reached her first Grand Slam singles ultimate on the French Open final yr, was given the honour of opening proceedings on Rod Laver Arena and dominated Siniakova within the first set.
The Czech participant led 4-2 within the second set however Gauff rallied and clinched victory on her seventh match level.
“I used to be not anticipating to open the event on Rod Laver,” Gauff mentioned. “I’m super-honored that the event selected me and Katerina. I’m actually happy with myself. Katerina’s a fighter, I knew she was going to struggle for each level. I simply stayed robust mentally.”
Job completed ✅<a href=”https://twitter.com/CocoGauff?ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>@CocoGauff</a> holds off Siniakova to advance 6-1 6-4.<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>#AusOpen</a> • <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AO2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrcpercent5Etfw”>#AO2023</a> <a href=”https://t.co/3QQdZJxLZD”>pic.twitter.com/3QQdZJxLZD</a>
—@AustralianOpen
Gauff will now play former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu after the British participant shrugged off a bothersome left ankle challenge to beat Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-3, 6-2.
Collins required a medical timeout for a left knee challenge early within the first set of her match with Kalinskaya however survived to win in simply over three hours.
Another former U.S. Open champion, Bianca Andreescu, superior to the second spherical however Twenty eighth-seeded Amanda Anisimova was crushed 6-3, 6-4 by Marta Kostyuk.
Kyrgios withdraws with knee damage
Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Australian Open due to an injured knee, a day earlier than he was scheduled to play his first-round match.
Kyrgios was the runner-up at Wimbledon final yr in singles and the lads’s doubles champion on the Australian Open and thought of the host nation’s strongest probability to win a title at Melbourne Park this yr.
Kyrgios introduced his withdrawal on Monday, Day 1 of motion on the yr’s first Grand Slam event.
He spoke at a information convention at Melbourne Park, accompanied by his bodily therapist.
Kyrgios was seeded nineteenth in Melbourne and was purported to face Roman Safiullin within the first spherical on Tuesday.
“I’m simply exhausted from all the pieces. Obviously fairly brutal,” Kyrgios mentioned of the choice to sit down out. “One of crucial tournaments of my profession. Hasn’t been straightforward in any respect.”
