SNAPSHOT FROM DAY ONE OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT MELBOURNE PARK
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Olivia Gadecki – the 20-year-old Aussie prodigy lived as much as the hype together with her maiden grand-slam win with a rousing 7-5 6-1 victory over teenage qualifier Polina Kudermetova.
STAT OF THE DAY: Thirteen years after his Open debut as a teenage junior world No.1, born-again Jason Kubler lastly registered his maiden main-draw win at Melbourne Park with a straight-sets defeat of Argentine Sebastian Baez.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’m devastated, obviously. Going in as one of the favourites, it’s brutal,” massive house hope Nick Kyrgios after becoming a member of the Open’s alarming casualty listing with a knee harm.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Kyrgios’s shock withdrawal provides to the shortage of star energy on the season-opening grand slam following the retirements of Ash Barty, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, the absence of pregnant former girls’s winners Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber and accidents to world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, Venus Williams and former males’s finalist Marin Cilic. But titleholder Rafael Nadal led a raft of seeds safely by way of to the second spherical with a four-set victory over British dangerman Jack Draper. Women’s title hopefuls Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins additionally superior.
