IT was one of the quickest days out at the tennis many might have ever been to, with the two Day 1 blowouts seeing Australia and France head into Day 2 with one win apiece. After Australian captain Alicia Molik chose Ajla Tomljanovic for the second singles rubber, the Australian fronted up on court in the first rubber against top-ranked Frenchwoman, Kristina Mladenovic in the opening match of the day, with world number one Ash Barty and Caroline Garcia scheduled for the second rubber.

The two matches lasted just 128 minutes, with Mladenovic taking 72 minutes to dispose of Tomljanovic, 6-1 6-1, before Barty went one better and did not allow Garcia a game in a 6-0 6-0 rout in just 56 minutes of play. In the first match, Mladenovic completely outplayed the nervy Tomljanovic, smashing 16 winners to two, with 15 of them coming off her weapon of a forehand. The Frenchwoman forced the debutant into making 17 forced errors, while the Australian also served an average of one double fault a game – serving up seven and serving at just 42 per cent efficiency. Mladenovic’s serving was not any better with just 43 per cent of her first serves in, but she capitalised when she did winning a massive 83 per cent of the points – the same amount as when she delivered her second serve in. She also won six of a possible nine break opportunities, while Tomljanovic won off her one break point opportunity and one of only two games for the match.

With France moving 1-0 up, all eyes turned to world number one Barty and just how she would play backing up from such a busy schedule – including winning the WTA Finals and finishing the year in the top ranking spot. It is fair to say it did not impact her in the slightest as she took just 56 minutes to send Garcia back to the drawing board, completely outplaying the world number 45 who is no slouch in her own right. Barty rocketed her way to 15 total winners from a first service percentage of 90 per cent in. Garcia was strong off her second serve, converting 15 of a possible 16 points, but could not capitalise off her first serve in an odd day out where she won just 14 of a possible 32 points – less winning points off her first serve compared to her second.Barty’s ability to hit winners off both her backhand and forehand was superb as she claimed the victory with ease and levelled the rubbers.

The reverse singles will take place today, with Barty and Mladenovic likely to spend more time on court today, as will Tomljanovic and Garcia who will be keen to atone for their Day 1 capitulations. In the following doubles, Barty will team up with Sam Stosur, while Mladenovic and Garcia partner up for doubles.