Alexander Zverev confidently mastered his first round match at the Australian Open against Frenchman Lucas Pouille. After a six-hour break, Tatjana Maria also prevailed.
A heavy thunderstorm and subsequent rain caused a long interruption on the first day of competition at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Spectators sought shelter in tents and near the courts during the storm. Lightning struck several times in the immediate vicinity of the facility.
Zverev converts the second match point
Alexander Zverev reached the second round. In his opening match, the 27-year-old beat the French wild card player Lucas Pouille 6:4, 6:4, 6:4 after a confident performance and will now face the Spaniard Pedro Martínez. Zverev wants to finally win his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne. Zverev said at Eurosport that he delivered a “relatively solid match”. It was “actually quite okay” for the start of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The man from Hamburg is aiming for his debut title at a Grand Slam tournament in his 36th attempt – on Wednesday he is now ranked 43rd in the world rankings. Pedro Martínez, who benefited from a submission by his opponent Luciano Darderi (Italy).
Training session at midnight
Zverev dominated the game against the former top ten player Pouille and looked fit. After just over two hours of play, he converted his second match point. Nevertheless, shortly before midnight (local time), the German No. 1 took the racket out of his bag again and trained. “I had an arm injury and didn’t play a lot of tennis,” Zverev explained his extra shift: “I just want to improve a few things.”
Maria unnerves American Pera
Tatjana Maria was the first of the three German starters to take advantage of her chance and reached the second round. The 37-year-old won against the American Bernarda Pera 7:6 (7:3), 6:4. She converted her fifth match point.
Germany’s Tatjana Maria celebrates winning a point against American Bernarda Pera
Maria didn’t let the storm and a six-hour break in the rain bother her. In the tiebreak of the first set, before which the game was stopped, Maria unnerved her opponent with her infamous undercut balls. The American Pera couldn’t find a way to counter this in the second round either. In the next match (from Wednesday) the Danish Clara Tauson is waiting for Maria.
Games of the German participants postponed
Daniel Altmaier and Yannick Hanfmann’s matches, originally scheduled for Monday, were postponed to Tuesday due to weather conditions. Jule Niemeier, originally scheduled for the first day of the competition, has to take part on Monday.
In addition to the Dortmund player, Laura Siegemund, Jan Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer will also play their first round games on Monday. Significantly more stable weather conditions have been announced for the second day of the tournament.
Munar makes life difficult for Ruud
Casper Ruud, sixth in the world rankings, meanwhile struggled to make it to the second round. In his opening game, the three-time Grand Slam finalist from Norway narrowly beat the strong Spaniard Jaume Munar 6:3, 1:6, 7:5, 2:6, 6:1.
Ruud, who has already reached the final twice at the French Open and once at the US Open, has never made it past the round of 16 in Melbourne (2021).
Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori celebrated an emotional comeback victory. The Japanese fended off two match points and beat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 4:6, 6:7 (4:7), 7:5, 6:2, 6:3.
Lebanese Habib makes history
The Lebanese Hady Habib became the first athlete from his country to reach the second round of a Grand Slam tournament with a 7:6 (7:4), 6:4, 7:6 (8:6) win against the Chinese Yunchaokete Bu . The 26-year-old is only the second Lebanese to make it into the main draw at a major tournament since Karim Fawaz at the US Open in 1962.
Sabalenka is safe as usual
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (26) is also in good form early this year. The tournament favorite from Belarus showed no weakness in the first round. In the duel with Sloane Stephens (USA) she made short work of 6:3, 6:2 in 71 minutes.
The world number one can become the first player in Melbourne since the Swiss Martina Hingis (1997-1999) to win the tournament three times in a row.
Zheng and Andrejewa confidently
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen also mastered her opening hurdle. Thanks to the 7:6 (7:3), 6:1 over Anca Todoni, the Chinese became the first top ten player to reach the second round. Zheng only had problems with her Romanian opponent at the beginning of the game.
Top talent Mirra Andrejewa also presented herself confidently. The 17-year-old Russian won easily 6:3, 6:3 against Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic).
2025-01-12 16:26:00