Australian Open 2019: Roundup of first round men's singles upsets from Day 1
Let's take a look at the upsets on Day One of the Australian Open 2019. The Top five seeds Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Kevin Anderson advanced to the second round while top seed Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Alexander Zverev will embark on their campaign tomorrow in Melbourne.
Court 8 Round one:
John Isner‘s defeat remains the biggest upset on Day One of the Australian Open. With an impressive 62% career wins, John Isner failed yet again to progress into the second round of the Australian Open after exiting in the same fashion in 2018.
In a spectacular game between the two Americans which witnessed 87 aces and 143 winners in total, with both men serving at speeds exceeding 135mph, it was a pity to see one lose on tie-breaks in all the four sets. Reilly Opelka tilted the scales in his favor, registering 42 points from his second serve and thumping four backhand passing shots which got no answer from Isner. Reilly Opelka would now face Thomas Fabbiano of Italy in the second round.
Reilly Opelka (102) (USA) defeats John Isner (10) (USA) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5).
Court 22 Round One:
Serbian Davis Cupper Viktor Troicki ousted his higher ranked opponent from Spain in a thrilling five-setter. The Serbian summoned all his experience in converting five of his six break point opportunities to emerge on top.
Troicki started well breaking the Spaniard‘s first two service games to take the first set 6-1. Roberto came back strongly, breaking the Serbian’s service twice in the second and third sets to amass a one-set-to-two advantage. Troicki bounced back to break Roberto twice in the fourth set and broke again to secure the fifth game of the final set to complete the match. He will now face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.
Viktor Troicki (201) (SRB) defeats Roberto Carballes Baena (73) (ESP) 6-1, 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Court 12 Round One:
Henri Laaksonen went all out from the get-go, registering 22 aces and 50 winners to overcome Bosnia’s Basic to register his initial victory at the Australian Open. His unforced errors stood at a high 48 which shows he threw everything at the kitchen sink against the Bosnian. He was lethal when Basic advanced into the nets, sinking six passing shots and three overhead winners with his forehand. He will meet Australia’s Alex De Minaur in the second round.
Henri Laaksonen (166) (SUI) defeats Mirza Basic (97) (BIH) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3.
Melbourne Arena Round One:
2018 semi-finalist Kyle Edmund was dismissed by Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Edmund was never in the game, committing 36 unforced errors with a poor first serve percentage of 59%. Berdych pumped 12 aces along with 37 winners and converted five of his seven break point opportunities to take the match.
Berdych broke Edmund’s first service game of the match to take the first set 6-3. He broke him thrice to sweep the second set 6-0. Edmund played well in the third set before losing the eleventh service game as Berdych closed out the match with an ace to set up a clash with Robin Haase of Netherlands.
Tomas Berdych (57) (CZE) defeats Kyle Edmund (14) (GBR) 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.
Court 20 Round One:
Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas kept his head-to-head record intact against Serbian Lajovic after registering his second victory against him. He will now face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
Cuevas held the upper hand, registering 31 winners and claimed 22 service points from his second serves. The Serbian sprayed the ball with 48 unforced errors and four double faults. After losing two close sets, the Serbian ran out of steam, losing two service games to hand a 4-0 lead to Cuevas who broke again in the seventh game to clinch the match 6-1.
Pablo Cuevas (90) (URU) defeats Dusan Lajovic (45) (SRB) 6-4, 7-5, 6-1.
Court 22 Round One:
Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia got the better of Andreozzi of Argentina in four sets, on Day One of the Australian Open. Losing the first set on a tie-break, Stefano hit 23 aces and converted six of his eleven break point opportunities to take the next three sets.
He was impressive, registering 48 winners, with six out of the 17 winners coming through his backhand rallies. Andreozzi never looked comfortable and made 42 unforced errors in the game. Stefano will meet World No. 20 Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the second round.
Stefano Travaglia (139) (ITA) defeats Guido Andreozzi (80) (ARG) 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Court 19 Round One:
An error-prone match from Tatsuma Ito led to a straight-sets victory for Daniel Evans of Great Britain. Though Ito recorded 33 winners in the match, he had 61 unforced errors and eight double faults to nullify all the good work by him. His first serve percentage was a mere 48% as Evans matched the Japanese with 30 winners and made far less unforced errors than his opponent. Evans will meet Roger Federer in the second round.
Daniel Evans (190) (GBR) defeats Tatsuma Ito (151) (JPN) 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).
Nishioka from Japan overcame last year’s quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren in four tough sets to book a place in the second round where he will face Russia’s Karen Khachanov. Though the Japanese youngster had 35 winners to Sandgren’s 51, he also committed 48 unforced errors than the American who had 66.
A crucial break in the seventh game handed the first set to Nishioka. The second set got decided on a tie-break when Sandgren faltered with a double fault to lose it. He set aside the disappointment to break the Nishioka serve in the first game of the third set, only to give it back by losing the eight game.
He broke Nishioka's serve again in the ninth game to pocket the third set. He broke Nishioka again before wriggling out of four break point opportunities to go 0-2 up in the fourth. The Japanese youngster, though, came back strongly to pocket the eighth and tenth games to win the match.
Yoshihito Nishioka (75) (JPN) defeats Tennys Sandgren (63) (USA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4.
Court 15 Round One:
Steve Johnson fell to his second consecutive first-round defeat at the Australian Open after losing out to Andreas Seppi of Italy in four sets. Seppi scored his first victory against the American after losing all his three previous matches. In an extremely close game between the two, the Italian converted four of his five break point opportunities which tilted the scale in his favor. Seppi, who is yet to enter the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, would face Jordan Thompson in the second round.
Andreas Seppi (37) (ITA) defeats Steve Johnson (33) (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Court 3 Round One:
The home fans had something to cheer about as 24-year-old Jordan Thompson scored a spectacular victory over veteran Feliciano Lopez to earn a meeting with Andreas Seppi of Italy. Thompson won 71% of his points on the second serve and converted three of his eight break points to register a comfortable three-set victory which included a second set tie-break which Thompson won after registering seven straight points.
Jordan Thompson (72) (AUS) defeats Feliciano Lopez (64) (ESP) 6-1, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3.