Caroline Garcia eliminated by Naomi Osaka, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic qualified

Title holder, world number 1, Jannik Sinner, successfully entered the Australian Open by beating Chilean Nicolas Jarry (36^e), Monday January 13, in the first round of the Grand Slam tournament. Winner 7-6, 7-6, 6-1, the 23-year-old Italian joins at 2^e turn his runner-up in the ATP ranking, the German Alexander Zverev, qualified on Sunday.

In search of the only Grand Slam title in Melbourne that still eludes him, the Spanish world number 3, Carlos Alcaraz, also won without much effort against the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko (77^e) : 6-1, 7-5, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic needed to settle down against Nishesh Basavareddy. Surprised in the first round by the young American (19 years old, 107^e) invited by the organizers, the Serb then reversed the trend to qualify for the second round (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2).

Imprecise, his reaction time abnormally slow, the former boss of the circuit – fell back to 7^e rank – showed signs of frustration at the start of the second set, unlike his new coach, Andy Murray, once is not customary to be impassive in his box. But his glorious student, in search of a 25^e Grand Slam title, quickly took back control.

No winning comeback for the former enfant terrible of Australian tennis, Nick Kyrgios, absent from the Grand Slam for more than two years due to injuries. The darling of the local public, entered directly into the final draw thanks to a protected ranking, was eliminated by the Briton Jacob Fearnley (7-6, 6-3, 7-6).

The surprise of the night was signed by the young American Alex Michelsen (20 years old, 42^e world), who cold picked Stefanos Tsitsipas (12^e), released in four sets: 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Finalist in Melbourne in 2023, the Greek suffered his earliest elimination on Monday in Melbourne since 2018, where he also lost in the first round. “You could say karma struck. I wasn’t able to play the way I wanted to.”Tsitsipas could only note, frustrated at having “too much time to recover” before his next official match.

Swiatek and Gauff pass without incident

The American Frances Tiafoe (16^e) also suffered against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, but emerged after a five-set battle, lasting more than four hours. Among the Tricolores, Alexandre Müller did not ride his momentum, winner of his first ATP title on January 5 in Hong Kong, also stalling in the first round. Just like Léolia Jeanjean. Eighth finalist at the Australian Open in 2024, Arthur Cazaux brought smiles back to the French clan with a victory in five sets (6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3) against to the Argentinian Sebastian Baez (28^e).

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek wasted no time entering the fray, winning 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and twenty minutes, against the Czech Katerina Siniakova (50^e). World number 3, Coco Gauff, also had an uneventful first round on Monday. In a 100% American duel, the 20-year-old Floridian beat her compatriot Sofia Kenin (74) 6-3, 6-3.^e), winner of the tournament in 2020.

With the qualification on Sunday of the double title holder Aryna Sabalenka (world number 1) and the 2024 finalist Zheng Qinwen (5^e), all members of the top 5 have so far validated their ticket for the second round, while awaiting the entry into the running of the Italian Jasmine Paolini (4^e) mardi.

On the Rod Laver Arena, the day ended with the duel between the double winner of the tournament Naomi Osaka (2019, 2021) and Caroline Garcia, at the same stage as during the 2024 edition. And this time, it is the Japanese who had the last word, after a disjointed match (6-3, 3-6, 6-3). Back on the courts four months after putting away her racket, mentally exhausted, Caroline Garcia hopes to enjoy the court again in 2025 to try to regain the level which allowed her, in 2022, to reach the semi-finals of the US Open, before triumphing at the WTA Masters a few weeks later.