Australian Open 2019 day 2: Live scores, updates

January 15, 2019 John Tennis 0

Serena Williams hit the ground running at Melbourne Park for the first time since her 2017 title win, taking just 49 minutes to wrap up an opening round win. Top seeds Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic take the court and Aussie aces Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Sam Stosur start their campaigns on day two at the Australian Open.

Local favourite Daria Gavrilova was also in action but suffered a shock opening round loss.

ROD LAVER ARENA

11am

(17) Madison Keys (USA) defeated Destanee Aiava (AUS) 6-2 6-2

(16) Serena Williams (USA) defeated Tatjana Maria (GER) 6-0 6-2

(4) Alexander Zverev (GER) defeated Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-4 6-1 6-4

(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Mitchell Krueger (USA)

(4) Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs Magda Linette (POL)

MARGARET COURT ARENA

11am

Kamil Majchrzak (POL) retired hurt vs (8) Kei Nishikori (JPN) 6-3 7-6 0-6 2-6 0-3

Tamara Zidanesk (SLO) defeated Daria Gavrilova (AUS) 7-5 6-3

Venus Williams (USA) vs (25) Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU)

7pm

(1) Simona Halep (ROU) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST)

Benoit Paire (FRA) vs (7) Dominic Thiem (AUT)

MELBOURNE ARENA

11am

(7) Karolina Pliskova (CZE) def. Karolina Muchova (CZE) 6-3 6-2

(11) Borna Coric (CRO) defeated Steve Darcis (BEL) 6-1 6-4 6-4

Laura Siegemund (GER) vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR)

Samantha Stosur (AUS) vs Dayana Yastremska (UKR)

7pm

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs (16) Milos Raonic (CAN)

Zverev sledges Channel 9 star

Commentator Jim Courier made the move from Channel 7 to Channel 9 when the broadcast rights for the Australian summer of tennis shifted but not everything has changed because his on-court interviews are still producing gold.

Speaking to Alexander Zverev after his three-set demolition of Aljaz Bedene, the German had a laugh at the American tennis icon’s expense when it came to comparing both their rigs. And judging by the crowd’s reaction, it found the entire exchange hilarious.

Zverev: My body is close to perfection right now.

Courier: That’s bragging, that’s bragging. We don’t need that. Calm it down young man. That was a leading question, I take responsibility for that.

Zverev: It (my body) just looks so good because I’m standing next to you right now so I just thought I would mention it. I’m kidding, of course.

Courier: This is the beginning of a really special relationship, I can tell.

Zverev: I do enjoy those kinds of interviews — sorry about that — especially if I’m in a good mood.

Mixed fortunes for Aussies as Dasha capitulates

Australian Alex Bolt made the most of his wildcard while compatriot Daria Gavrilova was bounced out in the first round.

After losing the first set to American Jack Sock, Bolt recovered to advance to the second round courtesy of a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.

The 26-year-old was sporting an interesting look too, rocking bleached blond hair and a moustache. It caught the attention of AFL star Chad Wingard, who cheekily likened Bolt to NFL player Odell Beckham Jr.

Remind you of anyone?

Remind you of anyone?Source:AFP

Gavrilova had a horror start against Tamara Zidansek, throwing her racquet and storming off the court after giving up the first set 7-5. She made 24 unforced errors and connverted just one of 14 break points in the set.

The second set didn’t go much better as she found herself serving to stay in the match when she went down 5-2. Gavrilova held serve but Zidansek’s fifth ace gave her a match point and she started celebrating when the hometown favourite blasted her return wide to confirm the Slovenian’s 7-5 6-3 win in an hour and 44 minutes.

Bouchard sizzles in round one

Eugenie Bouchard wasted little time in kicking off her Australian Open campaign in style, breezing through her clash with wildcard Shuai Peng 6-2 6-1.

The Canadian took 28 minutes to claim the opener before racing through the second set to finish the match in under an hour.

After her ranking fell off a cliff last year, Bouchard had a brighter start to 2019 when she made the quarter-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland — a performance which came after she progressed to the semi-finals of an event in Luxembourg to close out 2018.

Bouchard will face Serena Williams in the second round.

Serena’s cold response

Serena is staying mum.

Serena is staying mum.Source:AFP

Serena Williams only refused to answer one question following her first round thrashing of Germany’s Tatjana Maria — the one question the whole tennis world wants to know.

The 37-year-old American champion spoke warmly in her post match press conference, except for the moment she was asked to speak about her US Open final meltdown when losing to Naomi Osaka.

Williams’ controversial tantrum and the chair umpire penalty that preceded it remain some of the biggest talking points in tennis right now, but it’s the one subject Williams refuses to respond to.

“I like literally have no comment,” Williams said when asked if she has spoken to coach Patrick Mouratoglou about their on-court systems since she was penalised for being coached by Mouratoglou from the stands at Flushing Meadows last year.

Williams has been criticised for having a low profile start to the year, choosing not to stage media interview opportunities in the lead-up to the year’s first grand slam.

Tennis commentators have suggested Williams’ behaviour reinforces her refusal to backtrack from the accusations she made towards tennis officials and umpire Carlos Ramos at the US Open.

However, Williams said on Tuesday her decision to stay out of the spotlight in 2019 is simply the result of her new life as a mother of daughter Alexis Olympia.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time with my daughter. I feel like that’s the priority for me,” she said.

“As a working mum, I feel guilty. I want to spend every chance I get with her. These are years I’ll never get back.”

— Tyson Otto at Melbourne Park

‘It’s too much’: Star’s retirement heartbreak

An Australian Open star wept on court after his dream result turned into ash in a difficult to watch incident that dragged out his torment for a full hour.

Polish qualifier Kamil Majchrzak had performed one of the toughest to watch retirements witnessed at the Australian Open when he fought on for more than an hour, despite being unable to move.

Majchrzak was on the verge of the biggest win of his career after charging through the first two sets against No. 8 seed Kei Nisjikori — but a series of cramping attacks saw him collapse to the court on several occasions in the final three sets.

The 23-year-old’s body failed him in the final three sets, where he went stiff as a board due to the cramping and was unable to even jog around the court.

Despite his constant pain, Majchrzak refused to throw in the towel. It created a harrowing scene where Nishikori had to play out the final three sets, despite the Polish talent being unable to chase down any of the shots that came back to him over the net.

He appeared in agony and on several occasions collapsed.

He called for a trainer in the third set and opted against taking a bathroom break because he would have to walk all the way to a bathroom off the court.

Kamil Majchrzak was in a world of pain.

Kamil Majchrzak was in a world of pain.Source:AAP

Nishikori breezed through Majchrzak like he was nothing from that point on, winning 12 of the 14 service games in the third and fourth sets.

Nishikori eventually triumphed when Majchrzak officially retired down 3-6 7-6 6-0 6-2 3-0.

Majchrzak threw in the towel when his request for a trainer was knocked back because cramp does not constitute a medical emergency.

He was left devastated by the retirement and held his hands in his towel to briefly try to hide the tears in his eye.

“In the end he just said, ‘This is too much, can I please stop,’” commentator Geoff Masters said on Channel 9 of Majchrzak.

The heartbreaking scenes of Majchrzak grimacing across the court for more than an hour after the cramps started in the third set captured the attention of the world’s gaze at Melbourne Park.

Some of the international tennis commentators assembled in Melbourne labelled Majchrzak’s effort as brave, while others lamented the torture he put his body through by refusing to retire when the cramps first began.

“I have to say my opponent had it today,” Nishikori said. “He played much better than I thought he would.”

— Tyson Otto at Melbourne Park

Tomljanovic falls agonisingly short

Ajla Tomljanovic played out a thriller against World No. 38 Johanna Konta but fell at the final hurdle.

Tomljanovic, who has dated Nick Kyrgios, pushed the Brit to a third set tiebreak but a couple of lapses cost her and she went down in two hours and 51 minutes.

Born in Croatia before becoming an Australian citizen, this is the second time Tomljanovic has played at Melbourne Park under the Australian flag. Unfortunately, the home crowd was crushed when the World No. 47 was pipped at the post by Konta, who secured a 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (10-7) win.

Tomljanovic took an early lead in the final set tiebreak but Konta’s mental toughness kept her in it as the Aussie wilted under the weight of expectation.

On Centre Court, Serena Williams kicked off her tournament in style with a 6-0 6-2 romp over Tatjana Maria from Germany.

Keys cruises past young Aussie

In her first match of the season, against an Aussie on center court, Madison Keys made it seem straight forward as she advanced to the second round of the Australian Open.

The 2017 US Open finalist beat 18-year-old wildcard entry Destanee Aiava 6-2 6-2 in the first match on Rod Laver Arena on Day 2.

“I expected it to be tough – obviously playing an Aussie on Rod Laver. Thanks for the love, anyway,” Keys told the crowd.

She broke Aiava’s serve four times and fended off the only break-point chance she faced. Aaiva, who was the first player born in this century to play in the main draw of a major when she got a wild card here in 2017, didn’t help herself with six double-faults.

The No. 17-seeded Keys has reached the semifinals or better at three of the last five Grand Slam tournaments, and her focus is on the bigger prizes for now.

“I was having issues with my knee at the end of the year (and) ran out of time to be ready for Brisbane – wanted to be 100 per cent for here,” she said of her lack of competitive matches recently. “It’s my first matchof the year, so mostly just happy I did everything pretty well.”

Seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova won the Brisbane International title in the first week of the season and continued her streak by beating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-2 to advance to the second round.

Pliskova, who beat both Venus and Serena Williams to reach the US Open final in 2016, has made it to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the past two years.

— AP

Lineswoman goes off

An unnamed lineswoman left the court after copping a blow to the back during Fabio Fognini and Jaume Munar’s clash at 1573 Arena.

The pair’s first round match-up was briefly stalled as the official was escorted from the venue with her hand over her face in apparent pain. The playing pair were forced to wait until a replacement umpire arrived.

The official was seen on court a few minutes later and received a clap from the Melbourne crowd.

Kid jumps in the spotlight

Sometimes the stage is lit and nobody is there to fill it. Enter: this kid.

Luckily, the normally mundane coin toss was made all the more exciting after an Open ball boy well and truly went beyond the call of duty, completing a little kick and spin before flipping the coin for Kei Nishikori and Kamil Majchrzak.

Rumour has it he’s in a Michael Jackson cover band.

Carpe diem, little dude, carpe diem.

Tomic opens up the heart of Australian tennis

Bernard Tomic has unloaded and arguably left Lleyton Hewitt exposed. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Bernard Tomic has unloaded and arguably left Lleyton Hewitt exposed. AAP Image/Lukas CochSource:AAP

While the eyes of the tennis world were on Andy Murray, Bernard Tomic produced an honourable loss to Australian Open sixth seed Marin Cilic.

Then he blew it all up by launching a scathing attack on Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt as he suggested bias and promotion of players loyal to Hewitt and his management company — and in doing so implicated both Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis ahead of their Australian Open starts.

“We have a lot of issues that not a lot of players are happy about,” Tomic said when first asked if he expects to play Davis Cup this year.

“The players that I have spoken to aren’t. Myself, Kokkinakis, Kyrgios. I think once that sort of gets resolved we’ll see. I stand by my call a couple years ago. I knew something was wrong in the Davis Cup. And now there is Kokkinakis and Nick as well who aren’t playing because they have issues with some people. Hopefully that can be arranged and the best players can be playing for Australia.”

The tirade sent social media into meltdown but some analysts seem to think Tomic may have hit a nerve, even if his point was made at the wrong time.

Unsurprisingly other tennis luminaries came out to support Hewitt. Todd Woodbridge led the charge and described it as a “poor attempt to deflect”.

“One of the most disappointing things here is it’s become his habit of deflecting a loss and deflecting what work he does to try to get better as a tennis player,” Woodbridge told 3AW Radio.

“Lleyton copped it last night. The last one that copped it, at Wimbledon a couple of years ago, was Pat Rafter.

“Now, I’ve been in spaces in development that have been around Bernie and I can promise you that myself, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt — who have all got a wealth of experience in this game, both as players and dealing with media and trying to help our next generation — have given him enormous amounts of our personal time.

“I’ve been away from my family and kids, as Pat Rafter did, as Lleyton Hewitt has, to enhance Bernard’s career. So it’s time he actually used some of the things that we’ve given him, the tools, and try to just get his tennis back on track.

“Last night was a poor attempt to deflect that he hasn’t been doing that.”

Hewitt’s manager, David Drysdale, said the former world number one would speak on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m not going to comment on it … there is a number of inaccuracies and I’m sure Lleyton will address all of that this afternoon,” Drysdale told SEN Mornings.

Longtime Hewitt doubles partner Sam Groth expects a strong return serve.

“I’m not sure he’s going to hold a lot back to be honest,” Groth told SEN.

“I think he’s bitten his tongue for a long time on this stuff and I think it’s time to address it and put it to bed.

“In a time where we should be celebrating Australian tennis in the country, we’re talking about a guy who has bowed out in straight sets in the first round and we haven’t really spoken about because this time last year he was off doing reality TV.

“All of a sudden we’re talking about him again when we have so much more to talk about.”

Will nerves take hold as Serena chases Court’s record?

The very last time Serena Williams was at Melbourne Park this was the defining picture of her … also she was 8 weeks pregnant.

The very last time Serena Williams was at Melbourne Park this was the defining picture of her … also she was 8 weeks pregnant.Source:AP

Serena Williams kickstarts her bid to match Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles in her first return to Melbourne Park since winning in 2017 while eight weeks pregnant.

The American, now 37, has kept a low profile in the lead-up to the opening slam of the year, avoiding any pre-tournament press conferences to focus on her game.

Seeded 16, she opens against Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the heat of the day on Rod Laver Arena, with few prepared to bet against her winning an eighth Melbourne Park crown.

But Court suggested nerves could undermine Williams’ quest to match her 24 slam titles and suggested there could be a surprise winner.

“I think it’s a pretty open tournament and I think an outsider can win it,” Court said.

Williams played at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth this month, but her appearance on Tuesday will be first outing on tour since her meltdown in losing the US Open final to Naomi Osaka in September.

Serena Williams will play her first tour match since this one, where she had a complete meltdown against Naomi Osaka in the US Open final. Timothy A. Clary/AFP

Serena Williams will play her first tour match since this one, where she had a complete meltdown against Naomi Osaka in the US Open final. Timothy A. Clary/AFPSource:AFP

Men’s world No. 1 Novak Djokovic is also gunning for a piece of history as he looks to win a record seventh Australian Open title, starting off against American qualifier Mitchell Krueger.

The Serb’s maiden breakthrough in Australia came against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008 and he has won the title five more times since, most recently against Andy Murray in 2016.

Last year’s beaten finalist and women’s world No. 1 Simona Halep plays Kaia Kanepi, who sent her packing in the first round of the 2018 US Open, as she continues her return from injury, while enigmatic Australian Nick Kyrgios has his work cut out against Canadian 16th seed Milos Raonic later this evening.

Japan’s Osaka, seeded four, also gets her tournament under way, following Djokovic on court in a night match against Poland’s Magda Linette.

Seen as a new standard bearer for tennis in her homeland, Asia and the next generation of women, the 21-year-old said she would not be getting ahead of herself.

“I feel like, of course, I have to take it one step at a time. No one wants to lose in the first round of a slam,” Osaka said.

“That would be my immediate goal. From there, I’ve been in the third round 100 million times already. That would be my next goal. Hopefully semis after that. Then I can think about, like, the finals and winning.”

— AFP

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