Raonic out early at Aussie Open
POSPISIL DROPS MATCH: On the women’s side, Bouchard and Sharapova both advance
MELBOURNE, Australia — Milos Raonic has slumped to his earliest exit at a Grand Slam since 2011, losing in the first round at the Australian Open to Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., is coming off an injury-filled season that saw his ranking drop to No. 24 from a career-high of No. 3 in 2016.
Raonic missed last year’s U.S. Open after wrist surgery. He returned to the tour for one tournament in Japan in October, but retired from his quarter-final match. He has been among the most vocal proponents for shortening the nearly yearlong tennis schedule to protect top players from injury.
Raonic is a former Wimbledon finalist and has reached at least the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park the last three years.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev has advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over Thomas Fabbiano. The 20-yearold Zverev, coming off five tournament wins last year, broke Fabbiano’s serve at love in the last game to clinch the match.
No. 7-ranked David Goffin had a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Matthias Bachinger.
No. 13 Sam Querrey restored some order for the U.S. men with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Feliciano Lopez, advancing to the second round. Two other U.S. contenders, No. 8 Jack Sock and No. 16 John Isner, were among the first-round casualties on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal defeated Oceane Dodin of France 6-3, 7-6 (5). Also, Maria Sharapova marked her return to the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the first round.
The Russian was suspended from the tour for 15 months after testing positive for the drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. She made her return to the tour last April, but didn’t contest her first Grand Slam tournament until the U.S. Open, where she reached the fourth round.
Sharapova, now ranked 48th, is one of two former Aussie Open champs in the women’s field, alongside Angelique Kerber. Sharapova won the tournament in 2008 and reached the final on three other occasions.
“I’ve got shivers,” Sharapova said of playing again at Melbourne Park. “It means a lot to me. I cherish these moments.”
Sharapova could next play 14th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, who beat the Russian at last year’s U.S. Open.
Former champion Kerber has won her 10th match in a row to start the season, beating fellow German Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-0, 6-4 in the first round at Melbourne Park.
Kerber, who won the 2016 Australian Open, won four singles matches at the Hopman Cup, then followed that up with five wins en route to the Sydney International title last week.
She needed four break points in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead, then held service in the next game after Friedsam saved a match point.
Kerber will celebrate her 30th birthday on Thursday with a second-round match against either Nao Habino or Donna Vekic.
On Monday, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil dropped a 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) decision to sixth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.
Shapovalov, currently ranked No. 50, will face 15th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.
Shapovalov beat the 32-year-old Tsonga in their only career matchup at the U.S. Open last summer.
“It would be an honour to play him again,” Shapovalov said.
Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens were upset in another bad day for U.S. tennis on Monday. Williams lost to Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-5, while U.S. Open champion Stephens fell 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to No. 34-ranked Zhang Shuai.