Easy for top seeds, Ivanovic ousted
Print Edition
RAFAEL Nadal didn’t give the impression he was lacking any confidence as he raced through the first round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win yesterday over Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny.
Coming back from a right wrist injury and an appendix operation that sidelined him for most of last season after Wimbledon, and coming off a rare first-round loss in a tune-up event in Doha, the 14-time major winner said he had concerns about his fitness for the opening grand slam tournament of the year.
He didn’t show it, hitting 37 winners, breaking Youzhny twice in each set, holding his own serve comfortably and fending off the only break-point chance he faced.
No. 2-ranked Roger Federer, who won the last of his four Australian titles in 2010, got a good workout in the first night match on Rod Laver Arena before beating Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.
Three-time finalist Andy Murray began his quest for an elusive Australian title with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri.
Second-ranked Maria Sharapova followed up her recent title in a warm-up tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Petra Martic in the last match of the day in the women’s draw which is already missing eight seeded players.
No. 3 Simona Halep and No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard also advanced in straight sets, moving into the second round along with No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova, No. 14 Sara Errani, No. 21 Peng Shuai and No. 22 Karolina Pliskova.
Halep triumphed 6-3, 6-2 over Karin Knapp and Bouchard beat Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 6-4.
No. 5 Ana Ivanovic was the highest-ranked of the first-round losers, struggling with her serve in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in the first big upset of the tournament. No. 9 Angelique Kerber, No. 16 Lucie Safarova (16), No. 17 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 28 Sabine Lisicki and No. 32 Belinda Bencic also lost on the opening day.
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