MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Garbiñe Muguruza maintained her perfect streak on Tuesday at the Australian Open, winning her first-round match at her first Grand Slam of the year for the 10th time in a row.
Britain’s Andy Murray also passed the round
The Spanish-Venezuelan player, who finished 2021 by dedicating herself in the last WTA tournament, beat Clara Borrell, 20-year-old Frenchwoman who was ranked 77th in the standings, 6-3, 6-4, starting activities at Rod Laver Arena. On the second day of the tournament.
Muguruza, a two-time runner-up in Australia in 2020, when she beat Sofia Kenin, who had lost the day before, said she was very cautious at the start of a major tournament.
“I’m aware of it,” said Muguruza, laughing when asked if she knew of his Melbourne Park line. “It’s so complicated. You’re always nervous when you play here on Rod Laver, which I love, and you start doing a Grand Slam. I always got through the first round.”
“I’m so happy with the way you played, of course, to control my nerves,” she said.
Muguruza, the 13th seed, will meet France’s Alize Cornet, who beat Victoria Tomova 6-3, 6-3.
Five-time finalist Andy Murray, for his part, had to fight in five sets against a player he defeated last week to win his first Melbourne Park match since 2017.
Murray defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to advance to the second round. The Briton beat Basilashvili last week to qualify for the final of last week’s warm-up tournament in Sydney.
In another tough five-set duel, Maxime Creasy defeated fellow American John Isner, the 22nd seed, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4.
Daniil Medvedev, who may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Novak Djokovic’s relay, also got off to a good start by defeating Henri Laksonen 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round.
In the first results of the men’s championship, Argentine Diego Schwartzman defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, while Marin Cilic defeated Ecuadorean Emilio Gomez 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
Canadian Leila Fernandez, for her part, fell 6-2 6-4 to 133rd seed Madison Ingles in her first Grand Slam match since reaching the US Open finals.
Iga Sweetek, the 17th seed, the Roland Garros 2020 champion, started her participation with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Britain’s Harriet Dart, who qualified for the tournament and is ranked 123rd in the world rankings.
The 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 14th seed Simona Halep also advanced.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost to Romania’s Sorana Kirstia for the second year in a row, this time 6-2 6-2 in the first round.
Others who also advanced were Elise Mertens, who defeated Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-5, and former US Open champion Sam Stosur, who recovered to defeat Robin Anderson 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.
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