Australian Open: Osaka, Barty, Nadal advances into second round

Melbourne: The first test of Naomi Osaka’s new approach to tennis might have been when she completely whiffed an overhead to give her opponent a break point on Day 1 of the no-Novak-Djokovic Australian Open. Osaka didn’t chuck her racket. She didn’t roll her eyes. She smiled. “There are situations where I previously would get […]

Melbourne: The first test of Naomi Osaka’s new approach to tennis might have been when she completely whiffed an overhead to give her opponent a break point on Day 1 of the no-Novak-Djokovic Australian Open.

Osaka didn’t chuck her racket. She didn’t roll her eyes. She smiled. “There are situations where I previously would get upset. But at this point in my life, like, I’m here because I want to be here and because I find that it’s fun for me,” Osaka said. “Might as well enjoy it while I still can.”

In Osaka’s mind, the drama involving nine-time champion Djokovic’s deportation on the eve of the Australian Open was something for the players in the men’s draw to worry about.

Her title defense began smoothly enough: She won the first five games on the way to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Camila Osorio on the main court.

With so much attention on the 11-day saga of Djokovic’s attempt to participate in the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, and bid for a fourth consecutive title at Melbourne Park, the returns of Osaka and Rafael Nadal have been overshadowed.

Osaka wasn’t bothered by that. Nadal didn’t seem to be put off by it, either, renewing his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam singles title with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Marcos Giron.

A potential fourth-round meeting with top-ranked Ash Barty could be waiting. Barty, aiming to be the first Australian woman to win the title here since 1978, started with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Lesia Tsurenko.

After winning here last year, capturing her second Australian Open title in three years, Osaka pulled out of the 2021 French Open before the second round, then sat out Wimbledon.

She played at the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the cauldron, but ended her 2021 season early after a third-round loss and a teary news conference at the US Open.

French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari, No. 15 Elina Svitolina and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka all advanced.

Two young US contenders went out in the first round, with 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin losing 7-6 (2), 7-5 to fellow American Madison Keys and No. 18 Coco Gauff saving five match points before losing 6-4, 6-2 to Wang Qiang.

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic advanced to a second-round match against Amanda Anisimova.

On the men’s side, No. 14 Denis Shapovalov followed up his win with Canada in the ATP Cup with a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win over Laslo Djere. Also advancing were No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 16 Cristian Garin and No. 17 Gael Monfils and No. 23 Reilly Opelka, while No. 12 Cameron Norrie lost in straight sets to Sebastian Korda.

Djokovic had been scheduled to play Monday night’s last match on Rod Laver against fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. Salvatore Caruso, who lost in qualifying but became the so-called lucky loser to fill the late vacancy in the draw, lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 to Kecmanovic.

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