ICYMI: What happened overnight at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia – What happened while you were sleeping at the Australian Open? A lot, actually. Day One at the year's first major was brimming with drama, disappointments and the news of a baby to be! Here's what you missed:
Nadal in fine, fine form: No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal shook off the worry that had enveloped him in the lead-up to the Australian Open with a convincing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Mikhail Youzhny on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal had been a tepid 7-6 in his last 13 matches on tour and didn't win a singles match in his warm-up event two weeks ago. But the victory here Monday was "very positive" for Nadal, who next faces American qualifier Tim Smyczek, a Milwaukee native.
"I have the element of surprise," joked the little-known, No. 112-ranked Smyczek, who Nadal said he knew almost nothing about. "I'm really looking forward to it, to be honest," Smyczek continued. "It's going to be an opportunity for me to play an amazing champion and I'm going to try and squeeze every bit of fun out of it that I can."
Tomas Berdych (Nadal's projected quarterfinal opponent) also won on Monday, as did Andy Murray and Roger Federer, who are slated to meet in the last eight.
Au revoir, Ana: On a day in which Nadal righted his ship, former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic's quickly sank, the No. 5 seed imploding in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to world No. 142 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.
Whereas the men's draw mostly held steady, Ivanovic led a mass exodus of women's seeds on the bottom half of the draw, with No. 9 Angelique Kerber, No. 16 Lucie Safarova, No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 28 Sabine Lisicki and No. 32 Belinda Bencic all going out. The draw is wide open now for No. 3 Simona Halep and No. 7 Genie Bouchard, who won Monday. Maria Sharapova, the second seed, was the last match due on court in Day One's night session.
Oh, Baby! Defending champion Li Na retired in September due to ongoing knee issues (she had been unable to escape pain after several surgeries), but announced Monday night that things were going well in her post-tennis life.
"Me and Dennis are so proud. Our first child will [arrive] this summer," she said in an opening-night ceremony. Then joked: "I think Dennis is doing a good job, he's just making one ace!"
Speculation had run rampant the past few days around the tennis world about whether Li Na was indeed expecting because the Chinese superstar had made her public appearances in flowing, billowy dresses. Li won her second of two majors at last year's Australian Open. Will baby Li be a contender at the 2035 Australian Open? One can only hope…
Tenth time's the charm! Jarmila Gajdosova doesn't lose 10 times in a row at any tournament. The Australian made certain of that Monday with her first victory at her home major, a 6-3, 6-4 effort over Alexandra Dulgheru.
The win marked her first at this tournament in 10 main draw appearances. Her reward? A second round date with Halep. Gajdosova's triumph was part of an impressive day for Australian tennis, which saw winners in Bernard Tomic, James Duckworth, Sam Groth and Marinko Matosevic. Rising teens Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis were part of Monday's evening session. A first-day record of 49,041 fans poured into Melbourne Park, marking a good day for the "G'day!" crew.
Are you feeling OK? The temperatures were moderate (a high of just 76F) in Melbourne Monday, but that didn't save a couple of on-court messes from being made. At the start of the day, a ball kid got sick inside the new Margaret Court Arena, delaying the start of that match for over ten minutes. And American Christina McHale threw up at 4-4 in the third set of her match late in the afternoon against France's Stephanie Foretz. The impressive part? McHale, the world No. 54, went on to win the match 6-4, 1-6, 12-10. "I actually felt much better after," the 22-year-old said. "I don't know what caused it, but I'm hoping it was just a one-time thing."