Venus sent packing from Aussie Open
BAD DAY: VENUS WILLIAMS LEADS EXODUS OF AMERICANS No sign of injuries as Nadal breezes into second round.
Rafael Nadal dispelled any injury worries to storm into the Australian Open second round yesterday as Venus Williams led a slew of seeds out of the tournament in a dark day for American players.
The Spanish world No 1 was hampered by a knee injury in the 2017 season, and he entered the opening Grand Slam of the year without playing a warm-up event.
But he wore no strapping and appeared to move freely in a ruthless 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 demolition of the Dominican Republic’s Victor Estrella Burgos in just 94 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
“I’m very happy to be back, it’s good news for me,” he said, adding that he had experienced “no problems” with his troublesome knee.
But there was no celebrating for fifth seed Williams, who was stunned by Swiss star Belinda Bencic, fresh from winning the Hopman Cup with Roger Federer.
Fellow American and US Open champion Sloane Stephens was also sent packing, along with CoCo Vandeweghe, the 10th seed and a semifinalist last year.
And the US misery was compounded on the men’s side with eighth seed Jack Sock toppled by Japan’s Yuichi Sugita and 16th-seed John Isner sent home by Australian Matthew Ebden.
Other seeded casualties included South Africa’s 2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson, who was bundled out a in a five-set thriller by Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
Third seed Grigor Dimitrov survived, as did volatile Australian Nick Kyrgios, who collected a code violation for swearing. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams struggled against a player who had never before beaten her to go down 6-3, 7-5 and deprive the tournament of one of its biggest names.
It is the first time since 1997 that there will be neither of the Williams sisters in the second round, with Serena not playing after giving birth to her first child.
With Stephens losing to China’s Zhang Shuai, it was a calamitous day for the United States, in stark contrast to the last Grand Slam of 2017, when all three of them made the semis at the US Open.
It left the women’s draw more unpredicable than ever, which was good news for French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who saw off Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.
Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, seeded 14, starts today, along with Federer, Maria Sharapova and top seed Simona Halep.