IT was a huge opening day of the Australian Open with some simply outstanding individual performances. Plenty of seeds moved through to Round 2, while some matches were delayed due to adverse weather conditions. We recap all the matches that went down on Monday.

World number one, Ash Barty has advanced to the second round after a scare from former top 30 player Lesia Tsurenko to post a 5-7 6-1 6-1 victory. As predicted in the Day 1 must-watch matches piece yesterday, Barty was always going to have a fight on her hands from the Ukrainian. It showed in the first set when Tsurenko just made the most of her break point opportunities with three breaks to Barty’s two, and targeting the Australian’s second serve (77 per cent success). She won 45 per cent of her own second serves in that time, and while she hit less winners (five to 11) she also hit less unforced errors (11 to 19) in what proved to be an uncharacteristic set from Barty. The Australian resettled and got on with it after that, only hitting another 11 unforced errors for the match as her serve picked up, and she began to control proceedings with eight successful approaches at the net. She won 78 per cent of her first serves, losing just four points on her first serve in the last two sets. A total of 10 aces for the match sealed a solid first round win as Tsurenko’s nine double faults did not help the underdog.

In the bottom half of the eighth, 18th seed American Alison Riske leads her Chinese opponent, Wang Yafan 7-6 before the match was suspended. If Yafan can mount a comeback, she could set up an all-Chinese battle in the second round after Zhu Lin downed Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, 4-6 6-1 7-6. The match became so tight in the end the super tiebreak had to be enacted, with Lin getting up 10-5 in that tiebreak. Golubic was her own worst enemy in the match, producing eight double faults and winning just 44 per cent of her serving points. Usually this would spell a straight sets defeat, but she broke a remarkable seven times as Lin’s serving was far from perfect either with just over half of her on-serve points going her way. Golubic’s net work was superb with 81 per cent success rate, while Lin broke nine times and hit 13 more winners, though both players were sloppy with a combined 93 unforced errors in the match.

A couple of smashings rounded out the top eighth of the women’s draw with 13th seed Croatian, Petra Martic sending American Christina McHale packing, 6-3 6-0. Martic was solid across the board with 22 winners and as many unforced errors, taking her chances with her serve and volley game. She won 75 per cent of her net points with 27 points to three compared to her opponent upon approach. She broke four times from eight opportunities, while McHale could not capitalise from four of her own break point opportunities. It was one-way traffic for the majority of the match and Martic comfortably ran out the winner to advance through to the next round.

Martic now takes on Germany’s Julia Goerges who will not be an easy task after Goerges down Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, 6-1 6-2 in 56 minutes. Ten years her senior, Goerges showed all her experience and ability on her way to serving nine aces and hitting 21 winners on the day. She also only dropped 10 points on-serve and did not provide a break point opportunity for her 21-year-old opponent, instead breaking four of a possible six times herself. She was sensible with just 10 unforced errors for the match, and was so dominant that she only hit eight less winners than Kuzmova won in total points. It sets up a ripping contest between Goerges and Martic in the second round to be played tomorrow.

[1] A. Barty (AUS) defeated L. Tsurenko (UKR) 5-7 6-1 6-1
P. Hercog (SLO) vs. R. Peterson (SWE)
A. Sasnovich (BLR) vs. [Q] G. Minnen (BEL)
B. Pera (USA) vs. [29] E. Rybakina (KAZ)
[18] A. Riske (USA) leads Y. Wang (CHN) 7-6 SUSPENDED
L. Zhu (CHN) defeated V. Golubic (SUI) 4-6 6-1 7-6
J. Goerges (GER) defeated V. Kuzmova (SVK) 6-1 6-2
[13] P. Martic (CRO) defeated C. McHale (USA) 6-3 6-0

The second eighth of the women’s draw had four completed matches – allowing all the second round matches from that section to be able to go ahead in the coming days if need be. The in-form Ekaterina Alexandrova toppled Switzerland’s up-and-coming 22-year-old in Jil Teichmann 6-4 4-6 6-2 to move clear of their head-to-head battles. It was far from the domination she has showed in recent weeks, but the Russian was able to get the job done, smashing her way to an impressive 36 winners – including five off the return – while claiming 71 per cent of her net points. Teichmann hit 18 winners but was loose with her shotmaking, producing 35 unforced errors at the same time. She also only won 51 per cent of her first serve points, with Alexandrova’s serving game not one the Russian will be fond of. She only recorded a first serve percentage of 49 per cent, and while she was able to win 70 per cent of her first serve points, capitalised mostly off her break point opportunities, where she broke eight times throughout the match.

Alexandrova now takes on Czech qualifier, Barbora Krejcikova who defeated Estonian, Kaia Kanepi in the first round. She only just got there with a narrow tiebreaker win in the first set, then bounced back from a disappointing second set to triumph, 7-6 2-6 6-3 in two and a half hours. Both players served six aces, and Kanepi had more break points, as well as less unforced errors, but was not as consistent on her serve. Krejcikova won 68 per cent of her first serve points, and was stronger at the net with 65 per cent success. She also hit 44 winners from her 99 total points, taking her chances when they came with four breaks from six opportunities. It was not the most clinical performance but she moves through to the Round of 64.

The final two matches in the section were complete blowouts with seventh seed, Petra Kvitova needing just 50 minutes to send 23-year-old Czech, Katerina Siniakova home, 6-1 6-0. It was a complete domination by Kvitova who dusted off the cobwebs at Melbourne park with a ridiculous number of winners (20) and serving percentages that anyone would be proud of. Kvitova won 78 per cent of her first serves and 83 per cent of her second serve points, only losing a total of seven points on serve for the whole match. She saved Siniakova’s only break point opportunity, while pouncing on six of nine for her self in the rout. Her net work was superb with 11 of her 12 approaches successful, while winning a massive 57 per cent of her receiving points.

Despite the domination by Kvitova, her next opponent had just as easy time, with Spain’s Paula Badosa shocking former top 20 player, Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-0. The result was not so much a shock for the 95th ranked Spaniard, but the manner of how it came about was, with Larsson showing great form in qualifying only to be bundled out in just 57 minutes of action. Badosa looked good on serve, winning 81 per cent of her first serves, and saving all three break point opportunities from the Swede. The Spaniard hit 27 winners and only 13 unforced errors, while claiming 71 per cent of her net points. She has a huge task in the next round but comes in with good form.

[10] M. Keys (USA) vs. D. Kasatkina (RUS)
M. Linette (POL) vs. A. Rus (NED)
[Q] N. Hibino (JPN) vs. S. Peng (CHN)
M. Gasparyan (RUS) vs. [22] M. Sakkari (GRE)
[25] E. Alexandrova (RUS) defeated J. Teichmann (SUI) 6-4 4-6 6-2
[Q] B. Krejcikova (CZE) defeated K. Kanepi (EST) 7-6 2-6 6-3
P. Badosa (ESP) defeated [Q] J. Larsson (SWE) 6-1 6-0
[7] P. Kvitova (CZE) defeated K. Siniakova (CZE) 6-1 6-0

Of the 128 scheduled matches between the men’s and women’s draw, the third eighth of the women’s Day 1 schedule was the only completed section. It helped that seven of the eight games were in straight sets, with only 24th seed Sloane Stephens‘ disappointing loss the exception. The American went down to Zhang Shuai of China after winning the first set 6-2, losing 2-6 7-5 6-2 in a capitulation not overly surprising considering the 26-year-old’s recent form. Shuai was simply better and full credit to the Chinese hitter, producing 41 winners to Stephens’ 28, dialing it back after the first set with 13 unforced errors costing her. Shuai broke six times to Stephens’ five, but ran away with the contest in the last set, serving at 87 per cent, breaking three times from three opportunities, and hitting a massive 14 winners and zero unforced errors in a clean display.

Shuai booked a spot in the second round against American qualifier Christine McNally who had the fortunate luck of drawing Sam Stosur in the first round of the Australian Open. Unfortunately for Stosur, her struggles at Melbourne Park are well documented and often the criticism is unfair of those who only watch her over the Australian summer. She is a US Open winner – defeating Serena Williams no less – and has made a Roland Garros final. Unfortunately for Stosur, this year marks the fifth consecutive year she has bowed out in the first round of her home Grand Slam and it seems unlikely the external, and clearly by now, internal pressure valve will ever be released. That is not to take anything away from McNally who won 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 39 minutes. She hit 22 winners and 22 unforced errors, breaking five times and being more consistent on her first serve than Stosur. The Australian hit one additional winner, but a clumsy 39 unforced errors, breaking just once from the same amount of opportunities as her opponent – 12 – while recording winning serve percentages of just 52 and 43 on her first and second serve.

It was a good section for the Americans and not so much the home nation, as qualifier Ann Li doubled down on the success with a 7-6 7-6 victory over Australian wildcard, Lizette Cabrera. The Australian had a couple of set points in the second set and had a led by as much as 5-2 at one stage in that set, but the Wimbledon Junior runner-up kept coming and twice forced her way back into the second tiebreaker, claiming victory 12-10 in the end to advance through to the next round. Neither player was clean with the match at times resembling more of a whoever missed least would win. A combined 97 unforced errors showed that both players were going for too much, but at least Li hit 32 winners to Cabrera’s nine. In the end though, Li won just six more points in a thriller not for the quality but for the closeness, though the 19-year-old will want to be a lot cleaner in the next round when she faces countrywoman Sofia Kenin.

The 14th seed was strong in her first match downing Italian qualifier, Martina Trevisan 6-2 6-4. Kenin only hit the 13 winners but produced just the 21 unforced errors, breaking her opponent five times to keep her at bay. Trevisan had her share of winners too – 11 – though she struggled on-serve, winning just 52 and 38 per cent of her first and second serve points respectively. She showed good strength at the net, but just lacked the extra class that the American had. It sets up an all-American battle in the Round of 64, with Kenin predicted to use all her experience to see off Li.

The most talked about women’s match of the day was 15-year-old Coco Gauff’s rematch with 39-year-old Grand Slam winner, Venus Williams. Much like the first round of Wimbledon, Gauff came out on top in straight sets, downing Williams 7-6 6-3 to move through to the next round. Both players won 77 per cent of their first serve points, but it was Gauff who was stronger on her second serve, triumphing 61 per cent of the time to Williams’ 40 per cent. She also hit less unforced errors (30 to 41) and while she hit less winners (17 to 24), showed power with her serve and continued to give the expectation that she will be a Rising Star in the tennis world soon enough.

Gauff’s next task is against Romania’s Sonia Cirstea who bundled out 32nd seed, Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. The world number 74 won 6-2 7-6, just getting up in the second set tiebreaker to avoid a deciding set. It was a case of taking her chances, and Cirstea broke four times while hitting 32 winners and winning 43 per cent of her receiving points. Both had a terrific battle when approaching the net, winning more than two thirds of their points, but Strycova could not capitalise on her high 77 per cent first serve ratio, with just over half of her first and second serve points won.

It was no surprise to see world number three and reigning champion Naomi Osaka advance through to the second round without too much trouble. She downed 21-year-old Czech, Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes, seven seven aces and dominating the play off her racket. She hit 29 winners and 28 unforced errors to her opponents’ 12 and 13 respectively, but the up-and-coming Japanese star was impenetrable off her serve with a 74 per cent winning ratio on her first serve and then capitalising with 88 per cent of her net points. She also broke four times to her opponents’ one, and looked in control most of the time. Osaka advanced through to face Zheng Saisai who knocked off Russian qualifier, Anna Kalinskaya.

Saisai is ranked 41st in the world and showed some powerful hitting in her 6-3 6-2 win over Kalinskaya to give Osaka the indication not to underestimate her. She hit 27 winners and only 14 unforced errors as she dominated first serve points (77 to 51 per cent), while breaking four times and controlling the play at the net with a 74 per cent success rate when appraching. Kalinskaya managed to get 77 per cent of her first serves in, but struggled with only half of her service points won.

[3] N. Osaka (JPN) defeated M. Bouzkova (CZE) 6-2 6-4
S. Zheng (CHN) defeated [Q] A. Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-3 6-2
C. Gauff (USA) defeated V. Williams (USA) 7-6 6-3
S. Cirstea (ROU) defeated [32] B. Strycova (CZE) 6-2 7-6
S. Zhang (CHN) defeated [24] S. Stephens (USA) 2-6 7-5 6-2
[Q] C. McNally (USA) defeated S. Stosur (AUS) 6-1 6-4
[Q] A. Li (USA) defeated [WC] L. Cabrera (AUS) 7-6 7-6
[14] S. Kenin (USA) defeated [Q] M. Trevisan (ITA) 6-2 6-4

The last eighth that was started had just three completed matches – all one-sided smashings – which saw two past Australian Open winners advance through to the next round. Eighth seed and tournament favourite, Serena Williams barely broke a sweat winning the first set 6-0 in 19 minutes before completing the 6-0 6-3 rout of Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in just under an hour. In that time, Williams served nine aces and hit 24 winners – including four off the return – as well as breaking five times from six opportunities. Potapova was helpless to stop the up-and-about Williams who was simply clinical, particularly in the first set where she sent a message to her rivals.

The 2018 Australian Open winner, Caroline Wozniacki cruised through in similar circumstances, downing Kristie Ahn 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes. Wozniacki does not have the same powerful serving ability that Williams has, but she is a clean shot maker who is able to return well and put pressure on her opponent. She created 15 break point opportunities, seizing five of them, while hitting just 11 unforced errors for the match, despite only seven winners. Wozniacki did what she had to do in the victory, while Ahn tried her best with 19 winners, though hit 34 unforced errors as she tried to find a way to outsmart the former world number one.

In the other match, Tamara Zidansek has the fruitless task of trying to stop Williams following her win over South Korean, Na Lae Han 6-3 6-3. Ranked 64th in the world, the Slovenian had no troubles defeating the world number 177th who earned a spot in the main draw via an Asian wildcard. It was far from clinical however, as Zidansek hit 20 unforced errors to accompany her 15 winners. It was more the case of Han being more error-riddled, producing 31 unforced errors for 11 winners. Zidansek was strong at the net, winning 67 per cent of the time, while breaking six times to her opponents’ three. If she has any chance of upsetting Williams however, she will need to improve substantially.

[12] J. Konta (GBR) vs. O. Jabeur (TUN)
M. Brengle (USA) vs. C. Garcia (FRA)
C. Wozniacki (DEN) defeated K. Ahn (USA) 6-1 6-3
[23] D. Yastremska (UKR) vs. [Q] K. Juvan (SLO)
[27] Q. Wang (CHN) vs. [WC] P. Parmentier (FRA)
F. Ferro (FRA) vs. A. Van Uytvanck (BEL)
T. Zidansek (SLO) defeated [WC] N. Han (KOR) 6-3 6-3
[8] S. Williams (USA) defeated A. Potapova (RUS) 6-0 6-3