Monday, January 19, 2015

2015 AUS OPEN Day 1: Ivanovic(5),Kerber(9),Gulbis(11) Upset; Rafa,Raja,Andy,Masha,Halep,Genie Win 1st Round


The Happy Slam has begun! The 2015 Australian Open, with defending champions Stanislas Wawrinka on the men's side and no defending champion on the women's side (due to Li Na's retirement) began yesterday.

On Day 1, there were a slew of upsets on the women's side with two of the Top 10 seeds exiting in pretty shocking upsets when Ana Ivanovic (who reached the final here in 2008) and Angelique Kerber (who has been underperforming in the majors since she entered the Top 10) both lost. Other seeded players who wasted the long flight Down Under were: Svetlana Kuznetsova(27), Sabine Lisicki(28), Carla Suarez Navarro(17) and Lucie Safarova(16).

On the men's side #11 seed Ernests Gulbis lost a match to Aussie youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis while the other Aussie phenom Nick Kyrgios did well to win a five-setter. The only other seeded player to fall was #15 seed Tommy Robredo.

So, who did win? The usual suspects: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych all won their 1st round matches, as did Grigor Dimitrov, in a much-0hyped showdown with flashy Dustin Brown. On the women's side Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, and Genie Bouchard all won their first round matches.

On day 2 both Williams sisters will be in action, along with Novak Djokovic. One popcorn match is Victoria Azarenka versus Sloane Stephenes while another is Caroline Wozniacki versus Taylor Townsend--I think it's gonna be a rough day for the Americans!

1 comment:

carter said...

Indeed it was a rough day for the Americans.
Vika looked quite strong. Sloane did not play her best match, not by any means, but on the other side of the net...
Weak ecosystems from Ivanovic, Gulbis, Robredo have seemingly always taken the toll. Querrey already toast.
Not built for the finals.

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