MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on opening night of the Australian Open, the No. 1 seeds advancing in straight sets in a Sunday session that started with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Roger Federer in the crowd.
Rod Laver Arena was heaving for their first-round matches, capping a day when a record total of 100,763 fans packed into Melbourne Park.
The 45-year-old , too, becoming the oldest player ever in the women’s singles draw at the Australian Open.
Out on John Cain Arena, the so-called People’s Court because it’s open to fans with ground passes, Williams was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the third set before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The seven-time major winner, playing on a wild-card entry in the singles in just her second major since returning to the tour last year, plans to continue in doubles.
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of my effort today because I鈥檓 playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,鈥� she said. 鈥淩ight now I鈥檓 just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself.鈥�
Sabalenka fended off left-handed wild-card entry Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 6-4, 6-1 after dropping the opening service game.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 start my best. She showed up. Fired on. She was playing great,鈥� said Sabalenka, who won the Australian title in 2023 and 鈥�24 and was runner-up last year. 鈥淚t was a tricky start.鈥�
Sabalenka prepared for the first major of the season with a but was a little more nervous than usual because Laver, the Australian great, and 20-time major winner Federer were watching.
鈥淚鈥檓 a huge fan. I wanted to show great tennis so you guys enjoyed watching me play,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was definitely a lot of pressure. I was walking, thinking 鈥榙on鈥檛 look there, don鈥檛 look there!鈥欌��
Her next round is against Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan, who outlasted 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10) in a 2-hour, 43-minute match. No. 28 Emma Raducanu, who could potentially meet Sabalenka in the third round, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.
Day 1 of a scheduled 15 closed with winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Adam Walton, beginning his bid to set a record for being the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam.
Zverev advances
Alexander Zverev, runner-up here last year to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year.
鈥淒efinitely, when I saw the draw, wasn鈥檛 too happy to be honest,鈥� Zverev said of the tricky challenge presented by No. 41-ranked Diallo. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.鈥�
No. 10 Alexander Bublik advanced over Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, No. 29 Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-rounder.
Zheng, a college star at Columbia who advanced through qualifying to make his tour-level debut, will next face No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.
Upsets and ballkids
Two of the women鈥檚 seeds went out in the opening afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No. 20 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep S枚nmez upsetting No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
S枚nmez halted her match briefly in the second set to who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the tournament medical team took over.
Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, No. 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari all advanced in straight sets.
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste.
In a 2 1/2-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Monday matches
Coco Gauff will open play Monday on Rod Laver Arena against Kamilla Rakhimova. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic have night matches.
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