Australian Open 2020 Results, Day 2: Rafael Nadal blazes past Dellien; Maria Sharapova crashes out
Day 2 of the 2020 Australian Open was headlined by top seed Rafael Nadal, who began his quest for a second crown in Melbourne with a clash against Hugo Dellien.
The Spaniard showed the Bolivian no mercy, dropping just five games en route to a comfortable victory.
Dominic Thiem, who has endured his fair share of struggles in Melbourne in the past, got off to a solid start as well, picking up his 8th victory over Adrian Mannarino to set up a second-round clash with Australian wildcard Alex Bolt.
Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, picked up his first win of the year, cruising past Marco Cecchinato in straight sets.
However, it was not smooth sailing for many other seeds, including the likes of Hubert Hurkacz and Stan Wawrinka, who were made to work hard for their wins.
While Hurkacz battled back from a two-set deficit to secure a stunning win over Dennis Novak, Wawrinka recovered from a second-set blip to edge past Damir Dzumhur.
Home hopeful Nick Kyrgios needed two tie breaks to stave off the challenge of Italian youngster Lorenzo Sonego, while 40-year-old veteran Ivo Karlovic upset Vasek Pospisil in straight sets.
Ernests Gulbis produced the shock of the day as he sent 20th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime packing in four hard-fought sets.
Men's singles Day 2, Asutralian Open results
Rafael Nadal (1) def. Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-3 6-0
Dominic Thiem (5) def. Adrian Mannarino 6-3 7-5 6-2
John Millman def. Ugo Humbert 7-6 6-3 1-6 7-5
Benoit Paire (21) def. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-7 6-0
Cristian Garin def. Stefano Travaglia 6-4 6-3 6-4
Stan Wawrinka (15) def. Damir Dzumhur 7-5 6-7 6-4 6-4
Fabio Fognini (12) def. Reilly Opelka`3-6 6-7 6-4 6-3 7-6
Ernests Gulbis def. (20) Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5 4-6 7-6 6-4
Tatsuma Ito def. Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4 6-2 7-5
Jordan Thompson def. Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-3 6-2
Jannik Sinner def. Max Purcell 7-6 6-2 6-4
Marc Polmans def. Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-7 6-4
Michael Mmoh def. Pablo Andujar 6-1 6-4 6-4
Diego Schwartzman (14) def. Lloyd Harris 6-4 6-2 6-2
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina def. Norbert Gombos 4-6 6-4 2-6 6-3 6-2
Tommy Paul def. Leonardo Mayer 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4
Nikoloz Basilashvili (26) def. Son Woon Kwon 6-7 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-3
Pedro Martinez def. Dominik Koepfer 6-3 6-4 7-5
Federico Delbonis def. Joao Sousa 6-3 6-4 7-6
Pierre Hugues Herbert def. Cameron Norrie 7-5 3-6 3-6 7-5 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-3 6-3
Andrey Rublev (17) def. Chris O'Connell 6-3 0-6 6-4 7-6
Ivo Karlovic def. Vasek Pospisil 7-6 6-4 7-5
Kevin Anderson def. Ilya Ivashka 6-4 2-6 4-6 6-4 7-6
Taylor Fritz (29) def. Tallon Griekspoor 6-3 6-3 6-3
Mikael Ymer def. Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-4 6-1 6-2
Pablo Carreno Busta (27) def. Jozef Kovalik 6-4 3-6 6-1 7-6
Roberto Bautista Agut (9) def. Feliciano Lopez 6-2 6-2 7-5
Hubert Hurkacz (31) def. Dennis Novak 6-7 1-6 6-2 6-3 6-4
Tennys Sandgren def. Marco Trungelliti 6-1 6-4 7-5
Dusan Lajovic (24) def. Kyle Edmund 7-6 6-3 7-6
Fernando Verdasco def. Evgeny Donskoy 7-5 6-2 6-1
Marin Cilic def. Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-2 6-4
Milos Raonic (32) def. Lorenzo Giustino 6-2 6-1 6-3
Karen Khachanov (16) def. Mario Vilella Martinez 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-3
Filip Krajinovic def. Quentin Halys 7-6 7-6 3-6 4-6 7-5
Daniil Medvedev (4) def. Frances Tiafoe 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2
Alexander Zverev (7) def. Marco Cecchinato 6-4 7-6 6-3
Alexei Popyrin def Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 6-2 6-1 retd.
Nick Kyrgios (23) def. Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 7-6 7-6
Gael Monfils (10) def. Yen Hsun Lu 6-1 6-4 6-2
David Goffin (11) def. Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-3 6-1
Peter Gojowczk def. Chris Eubanks 7-6 6-3 4-6 6-0
Alex Bolt def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 1-6 6-7 6-1 6-4
Aljaz Bedene def. James Duckworth 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-2 6-4
John Isner (19) def. Thiago Monteiro 6-7 7-6 7-6 7-6
Andreas Seppi def. Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-4 7-6
Jaume Munar def. Hugo Gaston 7-5 5-7 6-0 6-3
Yuichi Sugita def. Elliott Benchetrit 6-2 6-0 6-3
Pliskova battles past Mladenovic; Vekic dumps Sharapova out
Maria Sharapova has experienced a drastic fall from grace the past few years and her first-round loss to Donna Vekic sends her out of the top 300 in the WTA Rankings.
Sharapova looked listless for the most part and committed as many as 31 unforced errors that sealed her fate in the end.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber all secured safe passage into the second round.
However, it was curtains for Johanna Konta, who slumped to a miserable 4-6 2-6 loss to Ons Jabeur.
Rising Ukrainian star Dayana Yastremska blasted her way past Kaja Juvan, dropping just two games, while Belinda Bencic saw off the challenge of Anna Karolina Schmiedolva in straight sets.
Women's singles Day 2 results
Donna Vekic (19) def. Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4
Alison Riske (18) def. Yafan Wang 7-6 2-6 6-3
Elena Rybakina (29) def. Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-2
Fiona Ferro def. Alison Van Uytvanck 6-2 6-1
Maria Sakkari (22) def. Margarita Gasparyan 6-2 6-2
Nao Hibino def. Peng Shuai 4-6 7-6 6-3
Dayana Yastremska (23) def. Kaja Juvan 6-1 6-1
Ons Jabeur def. (12) Johanna Konta 6-4 6-2
Belinda Bencic (16) def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3 7-5
Polona Hercog def. Rebecca Peterson 6-3 6-3
Karolina Pliskova (2) def. Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 7-5
Madison Keys (10) def. Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-1
Qiang Wang (27) def. Pauline Parmentier 7-6 6-3
Greet Minnen def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 4-6 7-5
Jelena Ostapenko def. Liudmila Samsonova 6-1 6-4
Ajla Tomljanovic def. (31) Anatasija Sevastova 6-1 6-1
Zarina Diyas def. (21) Amanda Anisimova 6-3 4-6 6-3
Angelique Kerber (17) def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-2 6-2
Alize Cornet def. Monica Niculescu 5-7 6-1 6-0
Anna Blinkova def. Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-4
Simona Halep (4) def. Jennifer Brady 7-6 6-1
Elina Svitolina (5) def. Katie Boulter 6-4 7-5
Garbine Muguruza def. Shelby Rogers 0-6 6-1 6-0
Catherine Bellis def. Tatjana Maria 6-0 6-2