Australian Open 2022: Day 1: Nadal, Monfils, Zverev cruised into the second round, Kokkinakis, and Norrie bow out

Australian Open 2022: Day 1: Nadal, Monfils, Zverev cruised into the second round, Kokkinakis, and Norrie bow out

Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, and Gael Monfils at Australian Open 2022

The first day of the much anticipated Australian Open 2022 saw some three-set easy wins and some five-set thrillers. The day was full of entertaining and gripping tennis. We got to witness some of the favorites like Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, and Alexander Zverev prevail in their first-round matches, and we saw some huge upsets for Thanasi Kokkinakis and Cameron Norrie.

Rafael Nadal starts the Australian Open in Style

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal faced American Marcon Giron in his first-round match. Giron currently ranked 66th lost his match against Nadal in straight sets 1-6, 4-6, 2-6. Nadal making a comeback from an injury isn’t considered to be the favorite to win the tournament. But in Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer’s absence, he is the only player in the tournament who has lifted the Australian Open title before.

Nadal does have an outside chance of winning the tournament, but he’ll need to take one step at a time. He will be facing German Yannick Hanfmann in his second round.

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Gael Monfils crushes Argentine Federico Coria in straight sets

Gael Monfils
Gael Monfils

Gael Monfils managed to put his great skills into use in the first round of the Australian Open. The 17th seed won his first-round match comfortably against his Argentinian opponent Federico Coria. The Frenchman showed pure dominance as he won the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

Monfils won a tournament in Adelaide to begin his year and continued his good form in the first round of the Australian Open. However, Monfils will hope to continue his good run as the matches start to get tougher and tougher. Monfils will be facing Alexander Bublik in his Second round match.

Alexander Zverev beats compatriot Daniel Altmaier

Alexander Zverev the world No.3 was able to defeat fellow German Daniel Altmaier in straight sets in his first-round match. Although the match ended in three sets Alrmaier did give a tough fight to Zverev. Considering the gap between their rankings and the skills the two players possess, it was good to see a lower-ranked player bring his A-game on the grandest stage.

However, Zverev managed to win the match comfortably 7(7)-6(3), 6-1, 7(7)-6(1). Zverev is considered to be one of the favorites after Daniil Medvedev to win the Australian Open in Djokovic’s absence. In his second round, Zverev will be facing John Millman.

Local Boy Thanasi Kokkinakis faces Shocking defeat in first round

Thanasi Kokkinakis
Thanasi Kokkinakis

Thanasi Kokkinakis in the lead-up to the Australian Open won a tournament in Adelaide. He won matches against players ranked much higher than him and was expected to perform likewise at the Australian Open in front of his home crowd. But Kokkinakis faced an upset from the hands of the German Yannick Hanfmann.

Hanfmann dominated Kokkinakis in the first round and defeated the Aussie in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. This brought an end to Kokkinakis’s journey at the Australian Open. Hanfmann will move on to face the world No.6 Rafael Nadal in his second-round match.

World No.12 Cameron Norrie defeated by Sebastian Korda

Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie

The biggest upset on day 1 of the Australian Open came when Cameron Norrie faced defeat against Sebastian Korda in the first round. Norrie who was exoected to go way beyond the first round, was frustrated after the loss.

However, it is important to applaud Korda’s efforts in deafeating a player of Norrie’s class in straight sets 3-6, 0-6, 4-6. Korda will now moe ahead and face Corentin Moutet in the seconf round

Australian Open 2022: Other Results

  • Tommy Paul defeated Mikhail Kukushkin (6-3, 6-4, 6-2)
  • Aslan Karatsev defeated Jaume Munar (3-6, 7(7)-6(1), 6(3)-7(7), 6-4, 6-4)
  • Oscar Otte defeated Tseng Chung-Hsin (6-4, 6-3, 6-2)
  • John Millman defeated Feliciano Lopez (6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5)
  • Reilly Opelka defeated Kevin Anderson (6-3, 6-4, 7(7)-6(3))
  • Lorenzo SOnego defeated Sam Querrey (7-5, 6-3, 6-3)
  • Hubert Hurkacz defeated Egor Gerasimov (6-2, 7(7)-6(3), 6(5)-7(7),6-3)
  • Denis Shapovalov defeated Laslo Dere (7(7)-6(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7(7)-6(3))
  • Matteo Berrettini defeated Brandon Nakashima (4-6, 6-2, 7(7)-6(5), 6-3)

Also Read: Alexander Zverev wins ‘Battle of Germans,’ cruises into the second round with a straight sets victory at Australian Open 2022