MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Highlights of the first day at the Australian Open on Sunday (times GMT):
0700 – QUALIFIER SONMEZ MAKES SECOND ROUND
After coming through qualifying, Zeynep Sonmez became the first player from Turkey to reach the second round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open after the 23-year-old beat 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5 4-6 6-4.
0645 – DAY SESSION ATTENDANCE RECORD
The Australian Open set an attendance record for a day session with 73,235 fans at Melbourne Park on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 68,883 set on the ‘middle’ Saturday of the event in 2019.
0550 – JACQUEMOT UPSETS KOSTYUK IN TIEBREAK THRILLER
Tournament debutant Elsa Jacquemot upsets 20th seed Marta Kostyuk 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 7-6(10-7) in the first Australian Open women’s singles match in the Open Era to be decided via three tiebreaks.
Brisbane finalist Kostyuk rolled her ankle in the third set of the 3-1/2-hour contest but managed to see the match out.
0510 – ZVEREV COMES BACK FROM SET DOWN TO WIN
Third seed Alexander Zverev dropped the first set but came back to beat Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-7(1) 6-1 6-4 6-2. A finalist last year, the German looked rusty early on but settled in the second set and soon got his big serve booming, firing down 15 aces, to move into the next round.
0430 – SAKKARI, CERUNDOLO THROUGH
Greece’s Maria Sakkari beat her French opponent Leolia Jeanjean 6-4 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena, while men’s 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo moved past China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 7-6(0) 6-3.
0410 – ETCHEVERRY GOES THE DISTANCE
Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 and immediately collapsed to the ground in exhausted celebration after nearly four hours on court.
0400 – SVITOLINA MOVES PAST BUCSA
Fresh off her 19th WTA title win in Auckland last week, Ukrainian 12th seed Elina Svitolina stormed past Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-4 6-1.
0240 – COBOLLI MAKES SHOCK EXIT
Flavio Cobolli becomes the first men’s seed to be eliminated after the Italian 20th seed lost 7-6(1) 6-4 6-1 to British qualifier Arthur Fery.
Cobolli appeared to be battling illness during the match and received medical attention in the third set.
0210 – YASTREMSKA FIRST SEED TO FALL
Ukraine’s 26th seed Dayana Yastremska becomes the first singles seed to be knocked out, with the former Melbourne Park semi-finalist losing 6-4 7-5 to Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
0150 – JASMINE PAOLINI OFF TO STRONG START
Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini makes quick work of her opponent on Rod Laver Arena, beating Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1 6-2.
“I will enjoy my Sunday now,” Paolini scribbled on a courtside camera lens before exiting.
0145 – GIBSON FIRST PLAYER TO WIN
Australian wildcard Talia Gibson becomes the first match winner in the main draw when the 21-year-old took down Anna Blinkova 6-1 6-3.
“I want to say thank you to everyone that came out. I couldn’t believe the number of people there were in here today. It means a lot,” she said.
0140 – GROUND PASS SALES HALTED
Tournament director Craig Tiley says Tennis Australia had to pause ground pass sales to day one of the tournament due to intense demand.
“Attendees will still be able to purchase stadium tickets today,” Tiley told reporters.
0040 – PLAY STARTS ON THE MAIN SHOWCOURTS
Play started on the main showcourts in bright sunshine at Melbourne Park with Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini kicking off her bid for a first Grand Slam title against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Rod Laver Arena’s centre court.
Greece’s Maria Sakkari was up against Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean on Margaret Court Arena while men’s 20th seed Flavio Cobolli was playing Briton Arthur Fery at John Cain Arena.
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ORDER OF PLAY ON SUNDAY (Prefix number denotes seeding)
ROD LAVER ARENA (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) v 7-Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
3-Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Gabriel Diallo (Canada)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah (France)
1-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) v Adam Walton (Australia)
MARGARET COURT ARENA (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)
Day session
Maria Sakkari (Greece) v Leolia Jeanjean (France)
18-Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina) v Zhang Zhizhen (China)
10-Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) v Jenson Brooksby (U.S.)
Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Thailand) v 28-Emma Raducanu (Britain)
JOHN CAIN ARENA (0000 GMT/1100 AEDT)
Arthur Fery (Britain) v 20-Flavio Cobolli (Italy)
12-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v Cristina Bucsa (Spain)
29-Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) v Jason Kubler (Australia)
Olga Danilovic (Serbia) v Venus Williams (U.S.)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne and Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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