Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka took little time to dispatch 16-year-old qualifier Ella Seidel in the last night match on Rod Laver Arena, while earlier in the day, the first seed to find the exit door was Liudmilla Samsonova, who fell to Amanda Anisimova, and former AO champion Caroline Wozniacki advanced when Magda Linette retired mid-match injured.
It’s really amazing that I was able to achieve so many goals in tennis and there are many more to come. I’m working really hard to achieve all my goals. I’m just very grateful for everything I have in life, and for every opportunity I have playing on this incredible court. I really missed you so much. Hopefully I can stay here until the very, very, very last day.” Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka took just 53 minutes to rout the German youngster, 6-0 6-1, ripping a first serve that drew a return into the net on the first point of her defence, which set the tone for what was to follow.
Things moved quickly fon rom there, unlike in the previous match on Laver when Novak Djokovic beat another 18-year-old qualifier, Dino Prizmic, in 4 hours, which meant that Sabalenka and Seidel began their encounter at about 11.40pm local time.
Sabalenka may have lost to Elena Rybakina in the Brisbane final, the player she downed in last year’s high-quality finale at Melbourne Park, but there was no sign that the loss had left any scars.
On Sunday, the Belarusian fired 6 aces and won 80% of her first-serve points against Seidel, the World No 173.
The Hamburg native came back in her second qualifying match at Melbourne Park, winning via a retirement when Fran Jones succumbed to leg cramps in the 3rd set after the Briton led 4-0 in the decider.
Sabalenka gave her no such opportunity, and trailing 3-0 in the second set, Seidel wiped away a tear and the crowd, sensing the difficult moment, rallied around her.
The World No 2 held 2 match points at 5-0 in the second set and thought it was over when a Seidel ball fell close to the baseline, but it was called good, and the match continued.
Sabalenka closed it out on serve in the next game on her 7th match point after Seidel initially clawed back from a 40-0 deficit.
“It feels so great to be back and feel all the support and atmosphere,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I know you guys were cheering for her, but anyway thank you so much for staying that late and supporting us, it’s really important.
“It’s really amazing that I was able to achieve so many goals in tennis and there are many more to come,” she added. “I’m working really hard to achieve all my goals.
“I’m just very grateful for everything I have in life, and for every opportunity I have playing on this incredible court. I really missed you so much. Hopefully I can stay here until the very, very, very last day.”
Sabalenka is bidding to become the first back-to-back women’s champion since her countrywoman Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Her next opponent could prove a tougher nut to crack, though, as 16-year old Brenda Fruhvirtova from the Czech Republic, who also qualified, fought from a set down to upset Ana Bogdan from Romania, ranked 63.
Caroline Wozniacki impressed by easily taking the first set before Magda Linette retired at 0-2 down in the second injured
© Daniel Pockett/Getty Images
Over on Margaret Court Arena, in the night match, Wozniacki advanced to 2nd-round after No 20 seed Linette from Poland was forced to retire due to injury.
Playing in her first match at Melbourne Park since 2020, the former World No 1 led 6-2, 2-0 before Linette retired from the match after 55 minutes of play.
“It’s definitely not the way you want to win,” Wozniacki said. “You want to see your opponent be healthy.
“But I saw she tweaked her leg at one point there late in the first set. I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then I just tried to keep my head cool.”
The result was an unfortunate one for Linette, who was a surprise semi-finalist in Melbourne last year.
“Magda’s a good friend of mine, I’ve known her for so many years,” Wozniacki said. “I obviously followed her last year and [saw] how well and unbelievable she was playing here so I knew coming into today’s match that it was going to be a very tough one.
“This is not how I wanted to finish it, and I really hope that it’s not too serious and that she’ll recover soon.”
Wozniacki came out of retirement last summer during the North American hard-court swing and proceeded to make the Round of 16 at the US Open.
The Australian Open is her second Slam appearance since her return to the Hologic WTA Tour.
Wozniacki will face 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva in the 2nd-round, after the Russian ranked No.170, Timofeeva won her Grand Slam debut by defeating Alizé Cornet, 6-2 6-4.
Last year, Timofeeva won her first Hologic WTA Tour tournament in her tour-level debut, as a lucky loser on the clay of Budapest.
“By the game, I don’t think there’s a really big gap between the Top 10 and No 100 players,” Timofeeva said. “Maybe the Top 3 or 5 players are much more experienced and mentally stronger than players around the Top 100. So the mental part you have to work on it, and then you are there.”
Amanda Anisimova pulled off the biggest upset of the day in beating 13th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova on Day 1
© Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Earlier, on Kia Arena, former Top 25 player Anisimova from the USA pulled off the biggest upset of the day by toppling 13th-seeded Samsonova, 6-3 6-4, in an hour and 24 minutes, the 2019 Roland Garros semi-finalist improving to 2-0 over the Russian in their head-to-head.
Anisimova was off tour for 7 months last year before returning to action 2 weeks ago in Auckland, where she reached the 2nd-round.
The American had to battle back from a break down in both sets, including a 4-1 deficit in the second set, but she methodically pulled herself back into contention, reeling off 5 games in succession to clinch the victory.
Anisimova, who reached the Australian Open Round of 16 in 2019 and 2022, struck one more winner and 13 fewer unforced errors than Samsonova in the big-hitting tilt.
In other late results on Day 1, 16-year old Alina Korneeva, a Russian ranked 180 in the world, saw off Sara Sorribes Tormo, 4-6 6-3 6-4, a Spaniard ranked 53; while Caroline Doelhide from America defeated French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean, 6-4 6-2.
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