The Latest: Sharapova routs qualifier at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on Monday at the Australian Open: (all times local):
12:45 a.m.
Bernard Tomic has continued his criticism of Australia’s Davis Cup captain, saying LLeyton Hewitt is causing division among the players and should be replaced.
Tomic, who was beaten 6-2 6-4, 7-6 (3) by sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, said he would not play Davis Cup again with Hewitt as captain.
“No one likes him anymore,” Tomic said of Hewitt. “We have a lot of issues that not a lot of players are happy about … he’s doing the wrong thing and everyone’s leaving.”
Tomic played Davis Cup for 10 years but hasn’t played consistently since Hewitt has been in charge of the team.
“Lleyton’s legacy and his tennis speaks for itself. He’s an unbelievable champion,” Tomic said. “But what he’s doing now is wrong.”
Last year at the Australian Open, Hewitt countered Tomic’s claim that Australia couldn’t win without him by saying he doubted Tomic would play again under his captaincy.
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11:35 p.m.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was shunted from a show court to a side court at Melbourne Park late in the day but it didn’t matter where she was — the Czech player beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes.
The eighth-seeded Kvitova was scheduled to play Rybarikova as the last match at Melbourne Arena, the third show court at the Australian Open. But when Andy Murray’s match against Roberto Bautisa Agut was extended to a fifth set, officials decided to move the women’s singles match.
Good thing, as Bautista Agut’s win over Murray lasted 4 hours, nine minutes.
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11:10 p.m.
Defending champion Roger Federer began his quest for a record seventh Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Denis Istomin.
Playing before a capacity crowd of more than 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena, Federer broke Istomin’s serve at 2-2 in the third set on the way to his seventh win in a row without a loss against the Uzbekistan player.
Federer’s seventh Australian Open title would be the most by any player. Novak Djokovic, who plays his first-round match on Tuesday, and Roy Emerson, also have six wins each at the Australian Open, although Emerson’s wins were before the start of the Open era in 1968.
A win in Melbourne would also be Federer’s 100th tour-level title, the second man after Jimmy Connors to win 100 titles. Connors had 109.
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11:05 p.m.
Andy Murray pulled a full house for what is likely his last match at the Australian Open, and had the capacity crowd at Melbourne Arena in his corner as he lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2 to No. 22-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round.
It wouldn’t have been a Murray match without some kind of a struggle, and he didn’t disappoint.
Limping, stumbling at times and emotionally-charged, Murray rallied from two sets and a break down to extend the match to a fifth set.
With fatigue and pain kicking in after spending most of the last 18 months off the tour, Murray dropped serve in the third and fifth games of the last set to give Bautista Agut the cushion he needed for victory.
The former No. 1-ranked Murray reached the final here five times but never won the Australian title. In a tearful news conference last Friday, the 31-year-old Scottish player revealed his plans to retire at Wimbledon — if his surgically-repaired right hip can get him that far.
Scottish flags — the Saltire and the yellow-and-red Lion Rampant banner — well outnumbered the union flag in the stadium but there was unanimous support for the three-time Grand Slam winner who broke so many droughts for British men in tennis.
He pumped his fist when he won big points, and berated himself in his unique way after committing unforced errors.
Murray let out a long, loud roar to celebrate when he won the third set with a forehand winner on his third set point, having wasted one in the 10th game and another at 6-4 in the tiebreaker.
He dominated the fourth-set tiebreaker, setting up five set points before he forced the match to a fifth.
Murray, holding back tears, and with fans including his mother and brother on their feet, served to stay in the match at 5-1 down.
The match clocked ticked over four hours and he saved a match point before holding, force Bautista Agut to serve it out.
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10:30 p.m.
Andy Murray has rallied from two sets and a break down to extend his first-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut to a fifth set.
It wouldn’t be a Murray match at Melbourne Park without some kind of struggle. After appearing to be down and out in what was potentially his last match at the Australian Open, the 31-year-old Murray rallied to win the third and fourth sets in tiebreakers against the No. 22-seeded Bautista Agut.
Bautista led 6-4, 6-4 before Murray rallied to win the next two sets 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).
The former No. 1-ranked Murray reached the final here five times but never won the Australian title. In a tearful news conference last Friday, the 31-year-old Scottish player revealed his plans to retire at Wimbledon — if his surgically-repaired right hip can get him that far.
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8:50 p.m.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki saved a break point in the opening game but there was little trouble to follow as she beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. Woznicaki, who saved both break points she faced, clinched the match on her third match point with a forehand to the open court.
The third-seeded Wozniacki beat Simona Halep in last year’s final to capture her first major title.
Wozniacki opened night play at Rod Laver Arena, where three tournament champions preceded her and all won — Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Angelique Kerber. Defending men’s champion Roger Federer was set to play a night match against Denis Istomin.
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8:15 p.m.
Local favorite Ashleigh Barty fell behind 2-0 early and then won the next six games on her way to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luksika Kumkhum at Margaret Court Arena.
Barty, who lost last week’s Sydney International final to Petra Kvitova, beating No. 1-ranked Simona Halep along the way, broke the Thai player’s serve to take a 3-2 lead in the second set, held and then took a 5-2 lead with her second break of the set.
She clinched the match with a forehand to the open court in 57 minutes.
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6:35 p.m.
Tomas Berdych sent 2018 Australian Open semifinalist Kyle Edmund home right away this year.
Berdych picked up a surprisingly easy victory over the 13th-seeded Edmund on Monday, beating him 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.
The biggest difference? Edmund made 36 unforced errors, 22 more than Berdych. Edmund also managed to earn only one break point and failed to convert it, while Berdych broke him five times.
Berdych was the 2010 runner-up at Wimbledon and he twice has been a semifinalist at the Australian Open.
Edmund’s top result at a major came a year ago in Melbourne.
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5:25 p.m.
John Isner hit more aces than his opponent, 47-40. He delivered more total winners and finished with more overall points, too. What Isner failed to do for the first time in his career was beat an American foe at a Grand Slam tournament, and now the highest-ranked man from the U.S. is gone from the Australian Open.
Reilly Opelka, ranked just 97th, earned his first victory in a main-draw match at a major by edging Isner in four tiebreakers 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5).
Isner was seeded No. 9, was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and had been 9-0 in all-U.S. contests at the Slams.
If anyone is the 33-year-old’s equal when it comes to big serving, though, it’s Opelka, a 21-year-old based in Florida who at 6-foot-11 (2.11 meters) is an inch (3 centimeters) taller than Isner.
Isner went up a break in the fourth set and served to force a fifth while ahead 5-4. But he got broken there, missing one backhand followed by a trio of forehands. Opelka took the eventual — inevitable? — tiebreaker with the help with of three aces, including one at 227 kph (141 mph) to close out the match.
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5 p.m.
Katie Boulter started celebrating a bit too soon during her first-round win over Ekaterina Makarova at Melbourne Park. Blame the new tiebreaker being used for the first time this year at the tournament.
Boulter beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (6), including 10-6 in the tiebreaker. But the British player started celebrating and went to the net when she reached 7-4 in the tiebreaker , forgetting the third-set decider wasn’t using a conventional count.
The new rule is first to 10 with a two-point cushion was introduced to ensure matches don’t get too lengthy — previously the third set in women’s matches and the fifth set in men’s matches at the Australian Open had to be decided by a two-game advantage
In the men’s singles draw, the first four sets will feature the regular seven-point tiebreaker at 6-6, with the final set going to a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
In women’s singles play and men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles, the deciding set of three sets will be played with a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
Wimbledon announced in October it will have a standard first-to-seven-points tiebreaker when the deciding set reaches 12-12.
The U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce final-set tiebreakers, with a first-to-seven-points game at 6-6.
The French Open is the only remaining Grand Sam still decided by a long deciding set by advantage.
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4:45 p.m.
Second-seeded Angelique Kerber is through to the second round at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Polona Hercog.
The 2016 champion needed just 72 minutes to beat the Slovenian player, saving all four break points she faced and winning four of five break points on Hercog’s serve.
Kerber became the first German woman since Steffi Graf at the 1999 French Open to win a major when she beat Serena Williams in the final here three years ago.
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4:25 p.m.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko has been beaten 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 by Maria Sakkari in the first round at Melbourne Park.
The 22nd-seeded Ostapenko, who also advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, had beaten Sakkari in three sets in their only previous meeting at Charleston in 2017.
It’s been a poor start to the season for Ostapenko. She lost in the first round to eventual finalist Ashleigh Barty at the Sydney International after also losing in the first round at Shenzhen.
Sakkari had an early service break in the deciding set, then broke again to take a 4-1 lead at Melbourne Arena, the tournament’s third show court. The Greek player used two aces to clinch the next game and take a 5-1 lead, then served out to love two games later to win the match.
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3:10 p.m.
Fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens ended a three-match losing streak in first-round matches at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 6-2 win over fellow American Taylor Townsend.
Stephens lost in the first round of the Australian Open in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She missed the 2017 tournament here after undergoing foot surgery and went on to win the U.S. Open later the same year.
Stephens and Townsend were among 15 American women in the singles main draw this year, including those who qualified.
Townsend has lost all three first-round matches she has played in Melbourne.
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3 p.m.
Rafael Nadal wasn’t about to let another Australian wild-card entry beat him at a Grand Slam tournament.
The Spanish left-hander beat No. 238th-ranked James Duckworth 6-4, 6-3, 7-5, his 15th win in 17 matches against wild cards at Grand Slam tournaments.
Nadal’s only previous defeats to wildcard entrants at majors were against American James Blake in the third round of the 2005 U.S. Open and Australian Nick Kyrgios in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2014.
Nadal, wearing a sleeveless top, did an extended left-arm celebratory pump after breaking Duckworth’s serve after two cross-court stunners to lead 4-2 in the third set.
His only stumble as he served for the match and was broken by Duckworth, who got back to 5-4. But Nadal returned the favor, breaking the Australian in the final game of the match.
Nadal has only lost twice in the first round at Grand Slams — to Steve Darcis at 2013 Wimbledon, and to Fernando Verdasco at Melbourne Park in 2016.
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2:05 p.m.
Fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson has overcome traditional poor first-round performances at Melbourne Park with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Adrian Mannarino.
Anderson has lost in the first round here six times, including to Kyle Edmund last year. It was the South African’s first win in Melbourne since 2015.
He warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his sixth ATP tour title at Pune, India.
Mannarino became upset when Anderson took a lengthy bathroom break after the third set, complaining to the umpire. The Frenchman’s mood wasn’t improved when he lost his service game to open the fourth set.
Mannarino recorded his best performance at Melbourne Park by advancing to the third round last year. He went into Monday’s match having lost in the first round at Doha and at last week’s Sydney International.
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1:45 p.m.
Katie Boulter has the distinction of winning the first 10-point tiebreaker under the Australian Open’s new system for determining level deciding sets.
Boulter beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (6), including 10-6 in the tiebreaker in which the first player to reach 10 with an advantage of two points clinches the match.
In the men’s singles draw, the first four sets will feature a seven-point tiebreaker at 6-6, with the final set going to a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
In women’s singles play and men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles, the deciding set of three sets will be played with a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
Wimbledon announced in October it will have a standard first-to-seven-points tiebreaker when the deciding set reaches 12-12.
The U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce final-set tiebreakers, with a first-to-seven-points game at 6-6.
The French Open is the only remaining Grand Sam still decided by a long deciding set by advantage.
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12:20 p.m.
Maria Sharapova got out of the Melbourne heat as quickly as she could, needing just 63 minutes to beat British qualifier Harriet Dart 6-0, 6-0 in the first match on Rod Laver Arena at this year’s Australian Open.
Sharapova, who wore an ice collar during breaks to help alleviate the 30 degree Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) temperature, was making her 15th appearance at the season-opening major.
The only break point Sharapova faced was when she double-faulted in the fifth game of the second set.
Dart, who described Sharapova as her idol before the match, lost in the first round at Wimbledon last year after being given a wild card in her only previous Grand Slam singles appearance.
The 22-year-old Dart had a game point on her serve in the eighth game of the match, but Sharapova rallied to break the British player and continue the rout.
Another British player, Heather Watson, also lost early on day one, beaten 6-1, 6-2 by 31st-seeded Petra Martic.
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10:30 a.m.
Maria Sharapova will be the first of five former champions playing on Rod Laver Arena on day one of the Australian Open.
Sharapova, who won her only Australian title 11 years ago, was playing Harriet Dart in the opening match on Monday. Rafael Nadal, who won his only Australian title in 2009, was set to play James Duckworth, followed by 2016 winner Angelique Kerber against Polona Hercog.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki was scheduled to play Alison Van Utyvanck to start the night session, followed by six-time Australian champion Roger Federer’s match against Denis Istomin.
The night session on center court was set to begin with a ceremony honoring the man himself, Rod Laver, on the anniversary of his second Grand Slam of singles majors in 1969.
The temperature was 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) as players warmed up for the opening matches, and was expected to rise to 34C (93F) later in the day.
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