The Grand Slam that runs through the night. Ive been watching the Australian Open since high school where I would wake up at 4 am to watch Fed and then fall asleep in school all week. I still will never figure out the time difference but on the East Coast matches begin at 7pm and go until the early hours of the morning and Day 1 was chalk full of some great action.
(1) Novak Djokovic def. Jeremy Chardy: 6–3. 6–1, 6–2
Djok cruised through his opening match. He will have more of a test vs. Tiafoe in round 2 but Novak is just too good and I am sure will be up to the second round challenge.
Francis Tiafoe def. Stefano Travaglia: 7(7)-6(6), 6–2, 6–2
Tiafoe had to grind out the first set but settled in very nicely after and dominated the second and third. It’s unfortunate he runs into Djokovic so early, he is a promising player but it takes and enormous effort to beat the best player in the world.
(27) Taylor Fritz def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas: 7(8)-6(6), 3–6, 6–2, 7(8)-6(6)
Fritz had to battle to get this first round victory and will now have another fight ahead of him against an American foe in Riley Opelka. It was not a great draw for some of the American hopefuls.
Riley Opelka def. Yen-Hsun Lu: 6–3, 7(7)-6(2), 6–3
Opelka made quick work in his first match down under. The tall America is everything we hoped John Isner would be and hopefully more. Its a good first win but unfortunately he has fellow countryman Taylor Fritz on deck so its a civil war for who will get to face Djoker in the 3rd round.
(17) Stan Wawrinka def. Pedro Sousa: 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
With Fed out, Stan is the Swedish rep here in Australia. He has been one of the few to break through during the reign of the big 3 and it was nice to see him have little trouble to kick off the tournament.
Marton Fucsovics def. Marc Polmans: 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 6(3)-7(7), 6–3
Its never easy taking on a player in their home country during the open and Marton had to battle it out with Polmans for 5 sets to get a win. Its a nice earned victory but with Stan up next it could be an 2nd round exit for the Hungarian.
Corentin Moutet def. John Millman; 6–4, 6(4)-7(6), 3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Australians had to be excited about Millman and he left it all out there for 5 sets but it just want enough. The Frenchman played spoiler and now Moutet gets a spot in the second round.
(14) Milos Raonic def. Federico Coria: 6–3, 6–3, 6–2
A painless straight set victory for the Canadian who was probably happy to see Millman upset in round one. Raonic should be a heavy favorite in the second round vs. Moutet.
Emil Ruusuvuori def. (10) Gael Monfils: 3–6, 6–4, 7–5, 3–6, 6–3
Rarely is the ever not a top 10 upset in the first round of the grand slams and Monfils was it day 1 of this tournament. He isn’t really a contender even though he is ranked 10, but this is still a stunning upset.
Pedro Martinez def. Yoshihito Nishioka: 6(3)-7(7), 6–1, 6–1, 6–1
Nishioka may have taken the first set but then the wheels just fell off. With Monfils out there is a nice path to the third round for Martinez.
Alexander Bublik def. Aljaz Bedene: 6–4, 7–5, 5–7, 6–4
This was very much a toss up of a first round match between two pretty inconsistent players and Bublik came out on top. Lajovic had a tough 5 set first round match so maybe Bublik can keep the momentum going.
(26) Dusan Lajovic def. Sergiy Stakhovsky: 5–7, 6–4, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4
Stakhovsky was a qualifier so this would have been a bad loss for Lajovic. A 5 setter to open the tournament can be tough on the legs and he has much stiffer competition in Bublik in round 2.
(32) Adrian Mannarino def. Dennis Novak: 6–2, 6–4, 7(7)-6(2)
Novak seems like he is a first round exit in every single grand slam, but you have to play whoevers on your draw for Mannarino and he took care of business with little resistance.
Miomir Kecmanovic def. Kamil Majchrzak: 6–2, 6–4, 6–3
Two relative unknowns. The Serbian made quick work for this match and will need to be just as good vs Mannarino in round 2.
Maxime Cressy def. Taro Daniel: 7(7)-6(1), 7(7)-6(3), 6–4
The qualifying American gets a nice first round win. He gets to follow it up with a match vs. 6th ranked Zverev but still a nice feather in the cap for Cressy.
Alexander Zverev def. Marton Giron: 6(8)-7(10), 7(7)-6(5), 6–3, 6–2
Giron gave Zverev all he could handle to start the match, and Zverev was noticeably rattled in the first set. The young star zoned in though and closed out the match strong.
(3) Dominic Theim def. Mikhail Kukushkin: 7(7)-6(2), 6–2, 6–3
Theim was down a break early in the first and looked like he would be playing more than 3 sets today, but settled in, won the first set tie break and cruised to victory from there.
Dominik Koepfer def. Hugo Dellien: 7–5, 6–2, 6–4
The winner of this gets the pleasure of facing Theim in round 2 so they Koepfer should enjoy his opening round victory while it lasts.
Nick Kyrgios def. Frederico Ferreira Silva: 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
Kyrgios got a break each set and won in straight. He is the worst, but he will be a fan favorite in his home tournament. I hope he goes home sooner rather than later.
(29) Ugo Humbert def. Yasutaka Uchiyama: 6–3, 6–4, 7(7)-6(3), 6–3
Humbert had the better chance to beat Kyrgios so I was pulling for him. Hopefully he cant keep it going and upset Nick in round 2.
(18) Gregor Dimitrov def. Martin Cilic: 6–4, 6–2, 7(7)-6(5)
This was a tough opening round draw for Dimitrov. Cilic is a long veteran and can be tough on any opponent, but Gregor took care of him with relative ease and now gets a favorable second round match.
Alex Bolt def. Norbert Gombos: 6–2, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Another win for an Aussie. Bolt looked strong but has a tough opponent in Dimitrov coming up so its a shame we couldn’t get 24 more hours and another match of a guy named Norbert.
Jiri Vesely def. Kimmer Coppejans: 6–4, 3–6, 6(3)-7(7), 6–3, 6–3
The Belgian qualifier gave Vesely all he could handle but it just wasn’t enough. Vesely will have to work even harder to try and move on past PCB.
(15) Pablo Carreno Busta def. Kei Nishikori: 7–5, 7(7)-6(4), 6–2
Kei tried to make PCB work but the Spaniards conditioning is too good and he just doesn’t waver. Busta is always happy to play 3 instead of his usual 4 or 5.
(11) Dennis Shapovalov def. Janik Sinner: 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Shapovalov is one of the most exciting players on tour but he is still raw and still a wild card. Sinner was one of the tougher draws for a higher ranked player but Shapovalov outlasted him. The 5 setters take their toll but the young Canadian cant get enough of them.
Bernard Tomic def. Yuichi Sugita: 3–6, 6–1, 4–1 (RET)
Sugita had to retire so Tomic got to move on. He may be fresher than Shapovalov in round 2 but I don’t think that will matter.
James Duckworth def. Damir Dzumhur: 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
Duckworth is an up and coming Aussie with an incredible last name. This was a nice opening round win for him. Another young Canadian FAA awaits in round 2 but its a winnable match for Duck.
(20) Felix Auger- Aliassime def. Cerick Stebe: 6–2, 6–4, 6–2
This was easy work for FAA but he will have a tough matchup with Duckworth in round 2. Many are waiting for FAA to take his next step, we will see if this tournament can be it.
Egor Gerasimov def. (25) Benoit Paire: 6–2, 2–6, 7(7)-6(5), 7–5
Paire is part of the group of underwhelming Frenchman. This is a nice win from Gerasimov with another winnable matchup in round 2.
Aslan Karatsev def. Gianluca Mager: 6–3, 6–3, 6–4
A quick straight sets win for the Russian. With Paire upset in the first round Karatsev second round match became even more of an even match up with hopes to get to round 3.
Alexandre Muller def. Juan Londero: 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–3
Muller was a late addition to the tournament to replace Delbonis and after losing the first set just dominated Londero in the final sets and got the day only love set win.
(8) Diego Schwartzman def. Elias Ymer: 7(7)-6(3), 6–4, 2–6, 6–2
Im sure it was more work than Diego would have liked, but a win is a win and he can move on to focusing on round 2.
That was all over the day 1 Mens action with another full slate on deck throughout the night for Day 2.
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