First qualifier of the day for the 2nd round, the protégé of Conchita Martinez will face the winner of the match between the Japanese Moyuka Uchijima (63rd) and the Polish Magda Linette (38th).
The victory of Zheng Qinwen (5th), finalist of the 2024 edition and first player to set foot on the court at the Rod Laver Arena, was slower to take shape against Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni (110th).
While serving for the set at 5-4, 40-0, Zheng Qinwen made, by her own admission, “stupid mistakes”, leaving Todoni to unbreak her and take control (6-5).
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The round finally ended in a tie-break, won 7-3 by the finalist of the 2024 edition before a much more expeditious second round (6-1).
“The first match is never easy,” commented Zheng Qinwen, happy to have “found her rhythm” after a tough first round.
In the 2nd round, the 22-year-old Chinese will face the winner of the match between the German Laura Siegemund (79th) and the American Hailey Baptiste (88th), scheduled for late Monday morning in Melbourne.
After a duel between the Norwegian Casper Ruud (6th) and the Spaniard Jaume Munar (61st), the world No.1 and double title holder Aryna Sabalenka will in turn enter the fray on the Rod Laver Arena, for a tricky first round against the winner of the 2017 US Open Sloane Stephens (84th).
Son provides the essentials, the rain paralyzes the short annexes
Scheduled to open the day on the Margaret Court Arena, the No.2 of French tennis Arthur Fils (20th) struggled against the Finn Otto Virtanen (92nd) but finally validated his ticket for the 2nd round in four rounds: 3- 6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4.
The match started off difficult for the French right-hander, broken by Virtanen at 4-4 in the second set after he had already conceded the first.
But Fils immediately managed to break the break (5-5), before pocketing the second set in the tie-break and definitively gaining the upper hand over his opponent.
“He put me under pressure, I was playing really badly” at the start of the match, commented Fils after his victory. “So I first tried simply to put the ball back in the court. Game after game, I played more aggressively,” said the Frenchman, eliminated in the second round for his first participation in the Australian Open in 2024.
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In the next round, Fils will cross swords with his compatriot Quentin Halys (71st) or the Australian Adam Walton (91st).
If he qualifies, he could cross paths with French No.1 Ugo Humbert (14th) in the third round, who must play his first round at the end of the evening against Italian Matteo Gigante (146th).
The main match of the day in the men’s draw, between world No.2 Alexander Zverev and another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille (104th), is scheduled for the late evening at the Rod Laver Arena.
Apart from the three main courts, which have a roof allowing dry play, the first round matches were suspended around midday (01:00 GMT) following a storm and torrential rain.
The game will resume at 4:00 p.m. (05:00 GMT) at the earliest, said the organizers of the first Grand Slam of the season.
Ruud passes in five sets
Another winner of a marathon match, the world No.6 Casper Ruud emerged 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 after a fight of 3h21 against the Spaniard Jaume Munar (61st) .
“We train a lot together” at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, Ruud explained after his victory. “When you know someone very well, it’s always tricky, he knows your game. The match could also have turned out in his favor,” said the three-time Grand Slam finalist (Roland-Garros 2022 and 2023, US Open 2022).
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