Big names breeze through first round Down Under

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Former champion Rafael Nadal showed no signs of discomfort from his thigh strain as he sailed through to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win over local hope James Duckworth on Monday.

The second-seeded Spaniard had pulled out of the Brisbane warmup with a thigh strain to raise doubts about his campaign, but he allayed those fears on Rod Laver Arena against an errorprone opponent.

“It’s normal that beginnings are tough, but every day helps and every day makes me feel better, makes me feel more confident,” said Nadal, whose 2018 season ended early with ankle surgery and an abdominal injury.

“So that’s an important victory because it is the first victory since a while and at the same time... gives me the chance to be on court again. And that’s what I need.”

The first meeting between the 17-time Grand Slam champion, a winner at Melbourne Park in 2009, and Australian wild-card Duckworth, who is ranked No. 238 in the world, always had the potential to be an uneven contest.

But the 26-year-old Duckworth, who reached a careerhigh ranking of 82 in April, 2015, did not help his cause by looking to attack Nadal from the start and committing 40 unforced errors in the process, compared to just 11 from his opponent.

Nadal, who is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era, and only the third man ever, to win each of the four Grand Slams twice, ran his opponent down with his superior court coverage and ability to hit winners under pressure.

“I played against a super-aggressive player. Today he went on court with the determination to not play tennis the way I understand tennis,” said Nadal.

“It is not a negative point. Not at all. Believe me. He went on court probably doing a thing that works well for him, and he gives himself some chances. And he played smart and he played well.”

Meanwhile, defending champion Roger Federer served straight through Denis Istomin to win their first-round encounter, securing a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Istomin, of Uzbekistan, has twice reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam, and proved to be a worthy combatant from the back-of-the-court, equipped by a heavy, aggressive baseline game.

But the Swiss’s mountainous serve proved too big an obstacle for his opponent to climb, which meant the title contender was rarely challenged on his own service games.

Federer will now play British qualifier Dan Evans, ranked No. 189 in the world, in the second round.

On the women’s side, title contender Angelique Kerber started her campaign with a straight-forward 6-2, 6-2 victory against Slovenia’s Polona Hercog on Monday.

The 2016 Australian Open winner, and No. 2 seed, will play Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round in a battle between two left-handed counter-punchers.

Kerber minimized her time under the hot sun on Monday, where temperatures surpassed 30 degrees Celsius during the day-time matches in Melbourne, securing the straightset win in just over an hour.

Caroline Wozniacki launched her title defense with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck.

The third-seeded Dane broke Van Uytvanck once in each set and kept her unforced errors down to win the baseline battle in an hour and 33 minutes. She will next meet Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, who progressed after Vera Lapko retired while trailing 7-6(5) 3-0.

Brave Murray bows out after epic comeback

Andy Murray’s hopes of a fairytale swan-song at the Australian Open were crushed in the first round on Monday as Roberto Bautista Agut held off a thrilling fightback from the ailing Briton to claim a thrilling 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 victory.

Though locked in a losing battle with his troublesome right hip, the former world No. 1 whipped the Melbourne Arena crowd into a frenzy as he battled back from two sets down to push the match into a fifth.

It seemed the momentum was all Murray’s but it was all a mirage as Bautista Agut rallied to break the 230th-ranked Scot twice and roar to a 5-1 lead.

Murray raised his racket to salute the frenzied crowd before his final service game, but his fans could not prevent Bautista Agut serving out the match to love and ending the Scot’s brave resistance after four hours and nine minutes.

Australian Open first-round action (liveonEurosportandEurosport2from2a.m.)