And that’s that. Day two of the Australian Open is over, so I bid you farewell. Katy Murrells will be in the chair tomorrow. Do keep her company.
Ashleigh Barty beats Aryna Sabalenka 6-7, 6-4, 6-4!
The rising Belarusian teenager gave her and her supporters a scare, but a relieved Barty has done enough to clamber into the second round.
A beaming Juan Martin del Potro, who has not competed at the Australian Open since 2014, speaks above the raucous noise created by the vociferous Argentinian fans in the stands. “It has been a while, I am so happy to be playing tennis again. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I was close to quitting tennis a few years ago, but now I am here.”
Juan Martin del Potro beats Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-4!
Frances Tiafoe gave a good account of himself, and may well go on to great things if he can add consistency to his obvious talent, but he was no match for Juan Martin del Potro today. The former US Open champion, always a popular figure at the slams and as watchable as ever, rumbles through to the second round after a trademark display of power tennis to see of his young American opponent.
On Rod Laver Arena, Ashleigh Barty has a measure of control in the third set. She’s broken for a 3-2 lead and might just have worked out Aryna Sabalenka’s wily game.
Another crushing blow from Juan Martin del Porto forces an error from Tiafoe on break point. The youngster’s breathing heavily now. Del Potro can spy the finishing line. He leads 6-3, 6-4, 3-2 and stands a few holds away from the second round.
Clobber. Del Potro earns a break point. Tiafoe clings on, though, and holds with a swinging ace down the middle to lead 2-1 in the third set. He’s not giving up, which is impressive. Maybe there’s life left in this one.
Ashleigh Barty wins the second set 6-4 to level the match!
They’re feeling better on Rod Laver Arena after good serving from the home favourite, though Aryna Sabalenka’s threat is not to be underestimated.
Juan Martin del Potro wins the second set to lead Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4!
Frances Tiafoe musters some resistance, flicking a backhand down the line and volleying brilliantly to earn two break points. Del Potro wipes them both out, but Tiafoe is refusing to lie down, scampering to the net to push a forehand away for a third chance. But Del Potro stays cool, keeps the American at bay, earns a set point and kisses the line with an ace. Hawkeye confirms it. Tiafoe hangs his head. This match feels done now.
Ashleigh Barty started the second set extremely well, but Aryna Sabalenka is still giving her a few headaches. The Belarusian has broken back to get it back on serve. As for Frances Tiafoe, he’s scrapping away, saving a set point to hold, but the ever-enjoyable Juan Martin del Potro is still about to serve for a two-set lead.
Dominic Thiem beats Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4, 6-4!
On reflection, that doesn’t deserve an exclamation mark.
It hasn’t been a great day from an Australian perspective and it isn’t getting any better on Rod Laver Arena. Ashleigh Barty takes two points in the tie-break and now the 18th seed finds herself a set down to the Belarusian outsider, Aryna Sabalenka. This is sub-optimal in the eyes of the home fans, who arrived expecting a win for the popular Barty.
Frances Tiafoe is competing better in the second set, pushing Del Potro harder at times, but he’s still a bit erratic. And that means he still trails by a set and a break.
Ashleigh Barty, the 18th seed, has been taken to a first-set tie-break in front of the home fans on Rod Laver Arena. Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka hasn’t been in the mood to hand out any freebies so far.
Yulia Putintseva beats Heather Watson 7-5, 7-6!
Heather Watson, belief slipping away, wonks a forehand off target. It was needless and it gifts Putintseva a match point. A tense rally ensues. Watson never looks comfortable, however, and she blinks first, pedalling backwards and knocking one final shot well wide. That was poor. Watson makes her second consecutive first-round exit at a grand slam.
Updated
Heather Watson misses a backhand by a whisker, the ball landing wide by 0.000000000001mm. A set point comes and goes. It’s 6-6 in the tie-break. Watson to serve.
Juan Martin del Potro wins the first set 6-3!
The hulking Argentinian is looking too powerful for Frances Tiafoe. Strong serving sees him polish off the first set.
Updated
Heather Watson breaks back to force a second-set tie-break! After spurning a load of opportunities, she finally cracks the Putintseva serve, forcing the crumbling Kazakh to send a backhand long.
Yulia Putintseva is having problems closing it out against a belatedly stubborn Heather Watson. But she’s saved some break points and the match is still hers to lose.
Fans of thunderous forehands will be pleased to hear that Juan Martin del Potro is dominating in the first set against Frances Tiafoe, who looks a little frail by comparison at the moment. Del Petro leads 5-2. Tiafoe will serve to stay in the set.
Dominic Thiem doesn’t look like he’ll be detained too long by Guido Pella. The fifth seed leads 6-4, 6-4.
Updated
Heather Watson is floundering now. She drops her serve to love and Yulia Putintseva breaks to lead 7-5, 6-5. Watson is four points away from a first-round exit.
Heather Watson chucks her racket to the ground after dropping another game. She wasted a break point and has to be careful in her next service game. That she is, though, holding to lead 5-4 in the second set. Can she force a decider? If so, it will be better than anything Kristina Mladenovic has managed today. The 11th seed has fallen prey to a giantkilling on Court 3, losing meekly 6-3, 6-2 to the unseeded Romanian, Ana Bogdan. That’s a shocker from Mladenovic.
Tomas Berdych beats Alex De Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1!
The 19th seed uses all his experience and power to fend off a spirited early challenge from his young Australian opponent, who fell away disappointingly after a spirited showing in sets one and two. The final scoreline makes for grim reading for Australian fans. But De Minaur showed enough fight in the second set to suggest he has a bright future.
Heather Watson was a break up in the second set against Yulia Putintseva. Not any more.
On Hisense Arena, we’ve got a potential cracker in store. Juan Martin del Potro, owner of Thor’s hammer (the Thorhand?), is taking on Frances Tiafoe, an American teenager of rich promise. Tiafoe took Federer to five sets at last year’s US Open, so this could be good. Meanwhile Agnieszka Radwanska has completed her comeback over Krystyna Pliskova, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Will Ferrel has emerged on Rod Laver Arena to interview Roger Federer. He’s doing Ron Burgundy.
Roger Federer speaks. “I was on vacation my whole life and that’s why my body is so good. My dream was to play a long time on tour. We had a few guys who played a long time and that inspired me. I didn’t expect to be here as the defending champion, but I’ll take it. Last year was much than 2008, because I won that one. You always need two to tango. With Rafa last year, the final was epic. The stars really aligned last year for both of us. It was something very special and I was thinking back a lot to what happened last year because it was my favourite tournament of the season. Being back in Melbourne is an amazing feeling. I’m hoping for this year to go well again. Last year was a fairytale. Guys are coming back again, Rafa is playing so well. Last year was last year. I’ll keep working hard and see what happens in the end.”
Updated
Roger Federer beats Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3!
The champion has cruised through after an easy win over Aljaz Bedene. Good luck to anyone hoping to take the title off him. He served well, the backhand purred and he dominated the net. There was no sign of any fitness issues either. All in all, then, not a bad night’s work for the GOAT.
Updated
Garbine Muguruza beats Jessyka Ponchet 6-4, 6-3!
Nothing to see here. A breeze for the No3 seed.
Yulia Putintseva thrashes a forehand wide to drop her serve to love. Heather Watson leads 2-0 in the second set. Over on Hisense Arena, meanwhile, Tomas Berdych leads 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 against Alex de Minaur.
Kristina Mladenovic, the 11th seed, finds herself a set down against Ana Bogdan on Court 3. An upset’s brewing. Agnieszka Radwanska is determined to avoid becoming a big-name casualty, though. She’s a break up in the third set against Krystyna Pliskova.
Dominic Thiem has taken a tight first set against Guido Pella, winning it 6-4. The fifth seed is in control. The same cannot be said for Aljaz Bedene, though, not when he’s two sets and a break down to the great Roger Federer. As for Yulia Putintseva, who’s a set up against Heather Watson, she’s receiving attention from the physio at the start of the second set.
Updated
Yulia Putintseva wins the first set 7-5!
Heather Watson is getting more and more irritable. She saves two set points, Putintseva chucking in a couple of lame drop shots, but she’s soon facing a third after netting a backhand down the line. Putintseva draws her to the net and gets a slice of luck, her forehand pass clipping the top of the net to take the ball spinning past Watson, who will have to do it the hard way as usual.
Roger Federer wins the second set to lead Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4!
Smooth serving, smooth movement, smooth tennis.
Heather Watson sticks a backhand horribly long and Yulia Putintseva breaks to lead 6-5 in the first set. The Kazakh will serve for the set.
Updated
Earlier we mentioned the possibility of a brother-showdown in the second round. It’s not to be, though. While Alex Zverev went through, Mischa was forced to retire in the second set against Hyeon Chung. Still, Zverev v Chung is a tantalising Next Gen prospect.
Novak Djokovic, who will face Gael Monfils in the second round, has responded to reports that he tried to convince players on the ATP tour to push for increased prize money.
I saw that some of you have written a story that has been a bit exaggerated and you’ve taken things out of context and you’ve portrayed me as someone who is very greedy and asked for more money and asked for a boycott.
“I respect your freedom and your decisions to do that but not much of what you wrote is true.
“What happened is that we players just wanted to talk about certain topics — I don’t think there is anything unhealthy about that. We wanted to use this opportunity to speak about certain subjects and see how everyone reacts to that and see what opinions are. There were no decisions being made, there was no talk of boycotts or anything like that — that’s all I can say really.
“Listen, I know you guys are trying to take this forward several steps. You talk about unions and boycotts and radical decisions to make and moves so we can get financial compensation the way we deserve it but there was no talk about that.
“I never have intentionally thrown anyone out of the room. Everything was done in a very normal and polite way, the players wanted to stay alone and we talked about the things that we talked about and that’s all.
“You never get to hear what the majority of the players think between all the players so that was the whole purpose of it.”
Updated
An impressive response from Alex de Minaur, who has recovered from a sticky first set to level his match with Tomas Berdych. He’s served it out in set two, taking it 6-3, and Berdych is in a battle now.
Roger Federer continues to rumble towards a two-set lead. He breezes through his service games so easily. Bedene isn’t getting close.
Heather Watson is finding it tough against Yulia Putintseva. She’s down an early break in the first set.
Garbine Muguruza wins the first set 6-4!
It’s a long way back from here for Jessika Ponchet.
Updated
Roger Federer is already a break up in the second set. More intriguingly, Alex de Minaur has swept into a 3-0 lead over Tomas Berdych in the second set on Hisense Arena, while Guillermo Garcia-Lopez has beaten Benoit Paire 6-0, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4. Thanasi Kokkinakis has also left the building, meanwhile, after losing in four sets to Daniil Medvedev. Agnieszka Radwanska, the 26th seed, is also in a spot of bother against Krystyna Pliskova after losing the first set 6-2 on Court 11.
Roger Federer wins the first set 6-3!
Roger Federer butchers two set points; no problem, he clips a forehand down the line on the third and Aljaz Bedene is experiencing a sinking feeling.
Andrea Petkovic beats Petra Kvitova 6-3, 4-6, 10-8!
An extraordinary match ends on a disappointing note, Petra Kvitova producing another double-fault to exit the Australian Open in the first round. She had served for the match, but her German opponent kept fighting, kept pulling her back in for more and eventually ground Kvitova down.
Updated
On Court 13, Richard Gasquet has dismissed Blaz Kavcic in straight sets. Which means that it’s time for Britain’s Heather Watson, who’s up to 68th in the rankings, to face the awkward Kazak, Yulia Putintseva.
It’s not a struggle for Roger Federer. He’s cruised into a 4-1 lead against Aljaz Bedene on Rod Laver Arena. Elsewhere Tomas Berdych has closed out the first set 6-3 against Alex de Minaur.
Updated
It’s a struggle for Alex de Minaur. Tomas Berdych leads 5-2 in the first set against the youngster who’s causing so much excitement in Australia.
I wish I was as grown up as Alex de Minaur on the tennis court ☺️ great attitude! Love watching him play🎾💪
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) January 13, 2018
Petra Kvitova’s clenching a fist and glaring at her box. And why not? She’s broken again and will serve for the match again! What an astonishing effort in the heat from the two-times Wimbledon champion!
On Another Big Court, Garbine Muguruza, the world No3, is already a break up against French wildcard Jessika Ponchet. You never know what to expect from Muguruza. She’s arguably the most talented woman behind Serena Williams, as proven by her Wimbledon and French Open titles, but she’s still prone to maddening bouts of inconsistency. She’s never done that well in this tournament, so I’ll reserve judgement on her chances.
On Rod Laver Arena, meanwhile, Roger Federer is soon to begin his title defence. He faces Aljaz Bedene, formerly of Britain, now of Slovenia. I’m not anticipating a strenuous examination of Federer from Bedene, the world No51.
Serving for the match, Petra Kvitova saves one break point ... and then she double-faults to let Andrea Petkovic back in. Kvitova looks utterly drained.
On Hisense Arena, an intriguing match has just got underway. Tomas Berdych, a former semi-finalist and top-10 inhabitant, faces Aussie wildcard Alex de Minaur, who’s making people sit up and take notice of his burgeoning talent. This is a difficult one for De Minaur, though. Berdych isn’t what he was, but the 19th seed remains a powerful presence and got to the Wimbledon semis last year.
Petra Kvitova breaks to lead 6-5. Of course.
Petra Kvitova holds for 5-5 in the third set. What a fighter.
Updated
Petra Kvitova has saved two match points with a couple of snarling backhands. On it goes.
That third-set tie-break has gone the way of Daniil Medvedev. Thanasi Kokkinakis saved a couple of set points, but he couldn’t keep the Russian at bay and trails 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8).
Andrea Petkovic stops the rot, holding to 30, and she leads 5-4 in the third set. Petra Kvitova must hold to stay in this strange match.
Speaking of tie-breaks, Benoit Paire has just won one on Court 12. The enigmatic Frenchman, predictably unpredictable, lost the first set 6-0 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, but he’s actually decided to bother in the second set and here’s his reward.
Thanasi Kokkiankis and Daniil Medvedev are locked in a nip-and-tuck tie-break in the third set on Court 6. It’s impossible to know which way it’s going to go. Whoever wins it, though, is going to feel mightily confident about reaching round two.
Updated
Incredible! Petra Kvitova has come roaring back in the third set, fighting back from 4-0 down to break twice and get back on serve thanks to some inspired tennis! Andrea Petkovic, scrambling around the court, doesn’t seem to have a response at the moment. The tide has turned.
Karen Khachanov, a big-hitting Russian youngster, is feeling good on Court 20. He took the first set on a tie-break against Polish journeyman Peter Polansky. On Court 10, meanwhile, Japan’s Naomi Osaka has closed out a straightforward victory against Kristina Kucova, winning 7-5, 6-2.
Hang on just a minute, though. A wobble from Andrea Petkovic and Petra Kvitova cancels out one of those breaks to trail 1-4 in the final set. She’s still got a mountain to climb, but stranger things have happened, like Netflix agreeing to four seasons of The Ranch.
Petra Kvitova, struggling in the Australian heat, is fading against Andrea Petkovic. The German breaks again to lead 6-3, 4-6, 4-0. Surely Kvitova can’t come back from this position.
Alex Zverev, the world No4, won handily earlier. He’s a potential champion here. And what a story it would be if he faces his older brother in the second round. Unfortunately that doesn’t look like happening at the moment. Mischa Zverev, who put Andy Murray out in the fourth round last year, is struggling against the brilliant youngster from South Korea, Hyeon Chung, who’s taken the first set 6-2 on Court 19.
Updated
Ouch. Facing a break point, Petra Kvitova double-faults at a bad time. Andrea Petkovic leads 6-3, 4-6, 2-0 on Court 2.
Here’s Kevin Mitchell’s report on Novak Djokovic’s serene return to the grand slam fray.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, who has had such a rotten time with injuries, is in action on Court 3. But it’s not going the Australian’s way at the moment. He’s level at a set apiece with Daniil Medvedev, who put Stan Wawrinka out of Wimbledon last year, but the talented young Russian is giving him plenty of problems in set three.
Updated
Novak Djokovic’s likely second-round opponent is Gael Monfils. He leads 6-3, 7-6 against Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar.
Updated
The afternoon session isn’t over, though. There’s a ding-dong battle taking place on Court 2, where Petra Kvitova has been handed a very tricky first-round assignment against Germany’s dangerous Andrea Petkovic. Kvitova dropped the first set 6-3, but the 27th seed has forced a decider after closing out the second set 6-4.
Hello and welcome to midway through day two of the Australian Open! It’s already been eventful. On the men’s side Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, their respective elbow and knee injuries suitably rested, have got off to flying starts on their grand slam returns. The two former champions looked in fine fettles after their long lay-offs, with Djokovic thumping Donald Young and Wawrinka dispatching Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis in four sets. Elsewhere David Goffin and Alex Zverev are through after fairly routine workouts, but Milos Raonic, a semi-finalist in 2016, is out, beaten by Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.
On the women’s side the good news from a British perspective is that Johanna Konta had no trouble seeing off the USA’s Madison Brengle in straight sets. There have also been wins for Angelique Kerber, Maria Sharapova, Carolina Garcia, Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep, who overcame an early wobble to beat Australian wildcard Destanee Aiava 7-6, 6-1.
That’s that then, but there’s plenty more still to come in the night session, with none other than Roger Federer kicking off the defence of his title against Britain’s Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene. We’ll also be keeping a beady eye on Juan Martin del Potro v Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur v Tomas Berdych and Ashleigh Barty v Aryna Sabalenka.
Updated
