Australian Open: China's women make strong start in Melbourne, while Nadal, Osaka and Barty all win - day 1, as it happened

  • The first grand slam of the year finally got under way, and there were some big wins for China's women, with Wang Qiang's defeat of 18th seed Coco Gauff the highlight
  • Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal, defending women's champion Naomi Osaka and home favourite Ash Barty won their first round matches with ease
Ash Barty dominated Lesia Tsurenko during their first round match at the Australian Open. Photo: AP
0 New Update
Introduction

The Australian Open started in Melbourne this morning, and despite the fact that it feels like we have been talking about it forever, there are still two weeks until it actually finishes.

Much of that of course is down to the Novak Djokovic saga, and unless you've been living under a rock, or stuck in quarantine and couldn't bring yourself to read about the outside world, you are probably as fed up as the rest of us with the whole sorry affair. But if not, you can read about it here and here.

On the court, not in court, there has been plenty for fans to get their teeth into today, with Rafael Nadal and defending champion Naomi Osaka both cruising to relatively easy wins. Defending champion and world No 1 Ash Bart was unstoppable against Lesia Tsurenko, needing just 54 minutes to get the job done. All three Chinese women had winning starts, although compatriot Zheng Saisai was forced to withdraw from the singles competition with a wrist injury.

Here's all the live coverage from a thrilling day 1.

2
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement