American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy made sure people will remember his name after a courageous four-set defeat by Novak Djokovic during a busy night session as the opening round continued. Nick Kyrgios’ aspirations for a splash at his home tournament were expertly extinguished by another young upstart in Jacob Fearnley on a day where Alex Michelsen and Belinda Bencic thrived.
Gauff, Pegula get their tournaments going
REGARDLESS of the form she’s in, 2020 champion Sofia Kenin is never an easy obstacle but Coco Gauff ensured there was to be no repeat of their 2023 Wimbledon matchup, beating her compatriot in straight-sets (6-3, 6-3).
She almost racked up as many double-faults (9) as aces (12) over 80 minutes’ play, though the 20-year-old knows she can play much better and was assertive once rallies got going during an errant encounter with 60 combined unforced errors.
American compatriots Jessica Pegula, Caroline Dolehide and her United Cup teammate Danielle Collins succeeded elsewhere in straight-sets, while home hopeful Ajla Tomljanovic survived a set two fightback from Ashlyn Krueger to avenge her Adelaide defeat ten days earlier, winning in three on Margaret Court Arena.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner didn’t have it all his own way, but got through clean with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over Chile’s hard-hitting Nicolas Jarry.
Carlos Alcaraz needed an hour less time to beat Kazakh’s Alexander Shevchenko (61, 75, 61) while compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina progressed after Chinese talented teenager Juncheng Shang retired through a foot injury he’d been managing with painkillers in the build-up after the same issue flared up in Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, Jacob Fearnley embraced the carnival atmosphere and left Nick Kyrgios commending some of the brilliant shots he was producing, time and again, during their longer rally exchanges en route to a 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 win to finish play on the John Cain Arena – which started with Alex Michelsen stunning Stefanos Tsitsipas in four.
Frances Tiafoe led by two sets, was pegged back and endured another four-hour marathon but importantly emerged unscathed against France’s Arthur Rinderknech to kickstart the day’s play on the 1573 Arena, where a returning Belinda Bencic dismissed Jelena Ostapenko before Marta Kostyuk’s recovery win in three.
Nice going, Nihesh
Djokovic [7] bt. Basavareddy [WC] 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
I first became aware of Nishesh Basavareddy while he was quietly making strides at junior level a few years ago and over the final quarter of 2024, the 19-year-old’s form proved too good to ignore — two Challenger titles and three finalist appearances elsewhere — saw him a worthy entrant at the eleventh-hour for the year-end Next Gen Finals on Saudi shores.
Couple that stretch with more success after heading to Brisbane and Auckland, the Newport Beach-born talent has racked up invaluable experience against top-100 players and winning to build up that youthful swagger.
Four months shy of his 20th birthday, he rose to the fore on Rod Laver Arena and gave a 10-time champion all he could handle, before his body – as many before him can attest – began to fail him when he needed it most, up a set and in the groove.
They combined for some exciting, tension-filled rallies during the first hour of a high-quality contest though Djokovic’s serving (23 aces) came in clutch and he’ll need more if the Serbian continues sluggishly as he did here twelve months ago.
We don’t know how long the surprise Djokovic-Murray combination will last, whether this proves the only tournament these fierce former rivals are in tandem as coach and player, but it adds another intriguing subplot to a Major packed full.
The rundown
On the outside courts, there were a pair of contrasting victories for British women: Jodie Burrage won 6-2, 6-4 against French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean, while lucky loser Harriet Dart held her nerve to outlast Croatian qualifier Jana Fett in a deciding set (10-7) breaker.
It doesn’t get any easier for either player though: Dart faces 18th seed Donna Vekic next, while Burrage’s reward is the aforementioned Gauff.
20th seed Karolina Muchova hit 23 winners, saved all three break points faced and lost just two games during a clinical showing against Nadia Podoroska, while last year’s success story Arthur Cazaux went the five-set distance before taking out a seed in Podoroska’s Argentina compatriot Sebastian Baez [28] with 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 the final score.
There was no such luck for 2023 surprise semifinalist Magda Linette mind, as she lost from a set up against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 10-8 in a deciding set tiebreaker.
Grigor Dimitrov, a 2017 semifinalist, had his hopes of a deep run cut short through injury as he retired down 7-5, 2-1 against Italian lucky loser Francesco Passaro, though the writing was on the wall after he withdrew against Jiri Lehecka in Brisbane with a sore hip, suggesting he hasn’t fully recovered in time to risk further damage.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via Australia/world feed TV broadcasts
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