Australian Open 2022: 12 players who served a bagel in the first round ft. Emma Raducanu and Sebastian Korda
The first round of the 2022 Australian Open is over and the pool of men's and women's singles players has narrowed from 256 to 128. Most of the big names still remain standing ahead of the second round, which begins on Wednesday.
Across two days, 225 sets of tennis were played in the 64 first-round fixtures. Of those, only 12 sets resulted in a bagel (6-0). Seven women and five men were on the receiving end, out of which two still managed to make the next round.
Without further ado, here is a list of the 12 players who served a bagel in their opening fixture of the 2022 Australian Open.
#12 Camila Giorgi
Camila Giorgi needed only 72 minutes to see off the challenge of Anastasia Potapova and progress to the second round at Melbourne Park. The first set, which the World No. 33 won 6-4, lasted 44 minutes. Giorgi upped the ante in the second set and finished it 6-0 in just 28 minutes.
The Italian fired 17 winners in the match, compared to Potapova's three. She also converted all four of the breakpoints on the Russian's serve. The 30th seed will face Tereza Martincova in the second round.
#11 Dayana Yastremska
Despite bagelling World No. 54 Madison Brengle in the first round, Dayana Yastremska could not seal a spot in the second round. The Ukrainian had to retire in the third set, which she was trailing 5-0.
Brengle took the first set 6-1 before going on to get broken three times in a row in the second set. The American bounced back by breaking Yastremska twice in the third set. Interestingly, Brengle managed to hit only one winner in the entire match. Yastremska, meanwhile, hit 31 winners but also made 60 unforced errors.
Brengle will face defending champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
#10 Sebastian Korda
Sebastian Korda pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament in the first round, beating World No. 12 Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. The match lasted an hour and 42 minutes, of which the second set took only 27 minutes.
The World No. 43 dominated Norrie's serve, winning 40% (27/67) of the points. Korda also converted five out of the 10 break points on the Brit's serve.
The American will play World No. 100 Corentin Moutet in the next round.
#9 Barbora Krejcikova
The 2021 Roland Garros winner did not disappoint in the first round, disposing of German veteran Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-0 in just 67 minutes. The second set lasted a mere 28 minutes, as Krejcikova lost only 10 points.
The World No. 4 hit 28 winners, won 51% of receiving points and converted six of the eight break points she earned on the World No. 73's serve.
The Czech will lock horns with wildcard Wang Xiyu in the round of 64.
#8 Ashleigh Barty
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty underlined her status as the 2022 Australian Open favorite with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 victory over qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. The first set lasted just 24 minutes and the Australian was within touching distance of serving up a double bagel.
Barty struck 14 winners, converted five of her eight break points and won 61% (23/38) of receiving points. The No. 1 seed's next match is also against a qualifier in the shape of Italy's Lucia Bronzetti.
#7 Paula Badosa
Paula Badosa won seven games in a row to close out her first-round fixture against Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-0. The eighth seed needed 82 minutes to seal a spot in the second round, 24 of which were dedicated to the rout in the second set.
The match was shaping up to be an interesting one, but following a medical timeout for both players, Badosa stepped up her game. The Spaniard hit 27 winners as compared to the Australian's seven, and converted seven of the 11 break points on the World No. 43's serve.
The World No. 6 will hope to have a similarly easy outing in the second round against World No. 111 Martina Trevisan.
#6 Christopher O'Connell
World No. 175 Christopher O'Connell put his wildcard at the Australian Open to good use, taking down Hugo Gaston 7-6(4), 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round.
The match lasted two hours and 35 minutes out of which 33 minutes was spent on the second set bagel. The Australian converted seven of the 22 break points he earned on Gaston's serve during the match, nine of which came in the second set.
Up next, O'Connell faces a much more difficult opponent in the form of 13th seed Diego Schwartzman.
#5 Alex de Minaur
Another Australian who made a wonderful start to the Melbourne Slam was Alex de Minaur. The 32nd seed disposed of Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in front of a roaring home crowd in two hours and 31 minutes.
The World No. 42 hit 34 winners, won 47% of receiving points (53/113) and coverted eight of the 21 break points on the Italian's serve.
His opponent in the second round will be Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, who defeated Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.
#4 Emil Ruusuvuori
Emil Ruusuvuori served up a bagel to ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, but the Canadian had the last laugh as he battled to a 6-4, 0-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in a match that lasted three hours and 40 minutes.
The Finn (38) racked up more winners than Auger-Aliassime (26), but his unforced errors (67 as compared to 52) proved to be his undoing.
Up next for Auger-Aliassime is Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
#3 Dan Evans
Dan Evans was expected to have a tough time on his hands when he was drawn against David Goffin in the first round, but the World No. 24 made short work of the Belgian. The Brit cruised into the next round with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win against Goffin.
Evans hit 23 winners during the match as compared to 19 by the Belgian, while his unforced errors (12) were only a third of Goffin's (36). He also won 46% (35/76) of his receiving points and converted six of the 11 break points on the World No. 45's serve.
Evans' opponent in the second round of the Australian Open is Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.
#2 Iga Swiatek
The 2020 Roland Garros winner needed little time to take care of qualifier Harriet Dart in the first round of the Australian Open. The Pole progressed with a 6-3, 6-0 win in 72 minutes.
The World No. 9 notched up 21 winners during the match and made only 17 unforced errors. She won 50% of receiving points and converted five of the seven break points on the Brit's serve en route to winning 11 consecutive games to finish off the match.
The seventh seed will square off with Sweden's Rebecca Peterson in the second round.
#1 Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu needed an hour and 45 minutes to win a difficult contest against Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.
Despite taking the first set in a mere 17 minutes, the 2021 US Open champion did not have the easiest of times out on court. She committed twice as many unforced errors (30) as the winners she hit (15). However, she won 52% (29/56) of receiving points and converted six of the eight break points on the American's serve.
Raducanu will locks horns with Danka Kovinic in the second round.