Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny has fallen short of a huge upset in his first grand slam main draw match after forcing a fifth set against Argentinian No.22 seed Francisco Cerundolo. Follow the Australian Open live below!
The Sydneysider took the first set 6-3, with the John Cain Arena crowd getting behind the 22-year-old.
The more experienced former top-20 player took the next two sets but Sweeny took a critical break in the fourth set and went on with it, leaving the match evenly poised.
“He does not give up on a single ball and he is not going to die wondering because he has absolutely chased every single ball down from the very first point,” Todd Woodbridge said on Nine.
But Cerundolo lifted his game to take an early lead in the deciding fifth set and held from there to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2.
Meanwhile Australian wildcard Adam Walton was dispatched in straight sets by Italian top 50 player Matteo Arnaldi.
Walton came close in an opening set tiebreak but the power of Arnaldi proved too great for the local hope.
Arnaldi cruised through the final two sets to defeat his opponent and book a spot in the second round.
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SINNER STORMS INTO SECOND ROUND
Australian Open fancy Jannik Sinner has eased his way into the second round with a straight sets win over Botic van de Zandschulp.
Sinner opened proceedings on Rod Laver Arena and was largely in control as he looks to convert a scintillating finish to the 2023 season.
Sinner defeated Djokovic twice in the backend of the season.
A shrewd addition to Sinner’s team has been Darren Cahill, with the Australian coach helping the 22-year-old continue to improve as he seeks a breakthrough win at a major.
Asked about his coach, a tongue-in-cheek Sinner paid tribute to Cahill… somewhat.
“Darren’s favourite past time outside of tennis is Aussie rules football and eating meat pies, how do you make that personal connection?” Wally Masur asked Sinner post-match.
Sinner replied: “We have a good relationship, but we’re still apart a little bit.”
“For me it’s good to have him, he gives a lot of confidence, a lot of calmness to the team and I think that’s exactly what I need as a player but I think for the whole team it’s really good,” he said.
“He’s getting more Italian slowly, we try to teach him what kind of pasta is good to eat and what not.”
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FORMER FRENCH OPEN CHAMP WINS DESPITE INJURY SCARE
Former world number two and 2021 French Open singles champion Barbora Krejcikova survived a major scare, fighting back to a first-round epic 2-6 6-4 6-3 over Japan’s world number 122 Mai Hontama.
Hontama, in her first ever Australian Open main draw appearance and just her second-ever Grand Slam main draw showing, took her ninth-seed opponent all the way in a two-and-a-half hour thriller, with Krejcikova also requiring a medical time-out in the deciding set for treatment on her foot.
Krejcikova is more renowned as a doubles player, where she is a former world number one with seven women’s doubles slam titles, three in mixed doubles, and a women’s doubles gold medal in Tokyo.
The 28-year-old Czech star is also the reigning two-time Australian Open women’s doubles champion.
Krejcikova let out a fearsome roar after match point, relief evident after a gruelling first-up test.
“Definitely was a really difficult match, I felt like Mai was playing really well and I was struggling,” she said.
“I just tried to stay in – in the second I was down. I never let go, I never give up. I was fighting, every first round is difficult. I’m really happy I’m through and really happy for the fans.”
The match was an absolute rollercoaster, with each player broken six times – and often losing more service games in a set than they held.
Krejcikova – broken twice in a row in the opening set – was down 1-3 in the second set before a stirring fightback. But she also required some major strapping and treatment to her right foot midway through the deciding set in in a concern moving forward – where she’ll face
She will now face Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the second round, who beat Jodie Burrage 2-6 6-3 6-0.
Fiery Ostapenko blitzes the final | 00:59
RECORDS ALREADY TUMBLING
It’s only the first day of Main Draw action at the Open, but the Summer of Tennis is in full swing – and fans can’t get enough in 2024.
The Aus Open heavily promoted ‘opening week’ this year – with cheap tickets for fans to watch qualifiers, a host of live entertainment options, and even handing out thousands of racquets to children.
It resulted in 89,894 fans coming through the gates from Monday to Saturday, breaking last year’s record of 63,120.
And there’s also been crowd records broken around the rest of the country, too.
The cumulative attendance of the other tournaments in the Australian Summer of Tennis – the United Cup in Perth and Sydney, plus the Brisbane, Hobart, and Adelaide Internationals – was 321,069.
That breaks the 2020 record of 314,085, and proves that the summer of tennis is well and truly back after being severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
SLAM CHAMP IN TENSE BATTLE
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic was thumped in the opening stages of his clash with world No.65 Fabian Marozsan, but looks to be fighting back.
A finalist at the Australian Open in 2018, Cilic was absent from the Tour for the majority of 2023 due to a knee injury.
It saw him drop out of the world’s top 500, with Cilic entering the Australian Open with a protected ranking.
Despite losing the opening set, Cilic has rebounded strongly to reassert his dominance.
DJOKER’S SHELTON SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED
Novak Djokovic has delivered a broadside to precocious American Ben Shelton ahead of the Australian Open.
Shelton made headlines when he mimicked picking up and hanging up the phone following his win over compatriot Frances Tiafoe at last year’s US Open, with Djokovic mimicking the same celebration after dispatching Shelton in the following round.
In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Djokovic said he was frustrated by Shelton’s lack of sportsmanship.
“It was a reaction against him, he did not behave properly, with respect, on court, and before the match (…) If anyone one places himself in the unsportsmanlike zone, I react.”
Djokovic could face Shelton in the fourth round of the Australian Open if both win their opening three rounds, with Djokovic’s comments set to add fuel to the fire if the two meet.
DAY 1 ORDER OF PLAY (Show courts + Aussies in action)
Day session from 12pm AEDT, night session from 7pm AEDT, unless listed
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session
No.4 Jannik Sinner (ITA) def Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) 6-4 7-5 6-3
No.8 Maria Sakkari (GRE) def Nao Hibino (JPN) 6-4 6-1
Night session
No.1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Dino Prizmic (CRO) LIVE
Ella Seidel (GER) v No.2 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) LIVE
MARGARET COURT ARENA
Day session
No.9 Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) def Mai Hontama (JPN) 2-6 6-4 6-3
Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) v No.5 Andrey Rublev (RUS)
Night session
No.20 Magda Linette (POL) v Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
No.17 Frances Tiafoe (USA) v Borna Coric (CRO)
JOHN CAIN ARENA (from 11am)
No.32 Leylah Fernandez (CAN) def Sara Bejlek (CZE) 7-6(5) 6-2
No.22 Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) def Dane Sweeny (AUS) 3-6 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2
Not before 4pm: No.12 Taylor Fritz (USA) v Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG)
AUSSIES IN ACTION
Kia Arena, from 11am: Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) def. Adam Walton (AUS) 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4
Kia Arena, not before 5pm: Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) v Jason Kubler (AUS) LIVE
Court 3, Not before 3:30pm: Christopher O’Connell (AUS) v Cristian Garin (CHI) LIVE
MORE COVERAGE
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