Australian Open Day One: Upsets and Results

Published 01/14/2019, 11:13 AM EST

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The premiere slam of the year has commenced with the tennis world eagerly waiting for Andy Murray’s opener at the 2019 Australian Open. It was an emotional day for Andy in the Melbourne Park. He was a finalist at the Melbourne major for five times but the sensations which were gushing through him today were bizarre and the feelings were unusual than ever, today Murray played the farewell match of his career in the Melbourne Park. The Briton bade adieu in the best possible way he could. He lost 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 but he won everyone’s hearts in the packed Hisense Arena in the Melbourne Park.

After tussling for more than four hours, the Brit shared his feelings, “If this was my last match, it was an amazing way to end,” Murray uttered. “I gave everything I had – it wasn’t enough tonight. Maybe I’ll see you again. I’ll do everything possible to try. “If I want to go again, I’ll need to have a big operation, which there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to come back from anyway, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

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On the other ATP courts, the American Skyscraper, John Isner receives an early exit from the 2019 Australian Open. He was defeated by his compatriot, World Number 97 Reilly Opelka. The duo faced four tie-breakers and the Wimbledon semi-finalist, Isner conceded 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) to his American foe. Isner slammed seven aces more than his American opponent however Isner couldn’t outnumber the 21-year-old Florida based, Opelka in the count of the total number of winners. The ninth seed Isner, for the first time in his career, couldn’t surpass an American tennis player at a major tournament.

The British Number one, Kyle Edmund packs his bags on the day one of the Australian Open. The Czech Republican, Tomas Berdych toppled a 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory over the Briton in less than two hours. The 2010 Wimbledon finalist, Berdych will now face Robin Haase in the second round. The Australian, Bernard Tomic falls 6-2 6-4 7-6  to the 2018 Aussie Open finalist, Cilic. With the Australian tennis presently being disputed, Tomic disrupted on the former Australian champ, Lleyton Hewitt.

The ‘Baby Fed’, Grigor Dimitrov saw off the Serbian, Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round in Melbourne and Jordan Thompson continues to glorify the host nation’s pride as the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez retired in the first round against the Australian, Thompson. The 31st seed, Steve Johnson was stopped by Andreas Seppi in the opening round. Seppi lost to Alex De Minaur in the final at Sydney International last week. The 2018 quarterfinalist in Melbourne, Tennys Sandgren has been stopped from continuing his journey at the Melbourne major by the Japanese, Yoshihito Nishioka.

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On the WTA courts, the Belgian Kirsten Flipkens could sustain on the Melbourne courts for less than an hour. She was seen off by the Belarusian, Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-1 on the opening day of the Australian Open. The 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist, Julia Goerges was stunned by Danielle Collins of the United States. The World Number 14 German suffered a 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in the opener of the Australian Open. The 2017 Roland Garros champion, Jelena Ostapenko’s loss was one of the big upsets in Melbourne today. The Greek woman, Maria Sakkari edged past the Latvian 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. Germany’s Andrea Petkovic collapsed during the second set after winning the first one of her first-round match, consequently retired from the match due to an incurring heat stroke. The American Bethanie Mattek-Sands was toppled by a 22-year-old Australian, Zoe Hives in the opening round of the Australian Open. 

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Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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