On January 18, 2022, Beijing time, the first round of the 2022 Australian Open continued, and in the last matchday, China Jinhua Zheng Qinwen, Wang Qiang and Wang Xiyu all defeated their opponents in the first round and advanced to the second round. In today's competition, the other two Chinese Golden Flowers Zhang Shuai and Wang Xinyu also ushered in the first game of the Australian Open, and in the end, they both won.
Zhang Shuai's first-round opponent is the world's 40th-ranked Swiss SLR player GruBich, after two sets of competition, Zhang Shuai defeated GruBich 6-3, 6-4 to win the first singles win of the new season, and won the Australian Open after two years. After this campaign, her career Grand Slam singles wins also reached 30. Zhang Shuai will face 12th seed Lebakina in the next round, and the two previous encounters between the two sides have come from 2020, and it is the Kazakh girl who laughs to the end.
In addition, after two fierce sets, Wang Xinyu defeated American player Ann Lee 7-6 (5)/6-3 to win her first singles victory in the Grand Slam main tournament. Wang Xinyu will face No. 2 seed Sabarenka in the second round, who beat wild card player Sanders in three sets. In this way, China's Jinhua Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xiyu, Wang Qiang, Zhang Shuai and Wang Xinyu all passed the first round.
In addition, two-time Grand Slam winner and No. 14 seed Halep won five consecutive sets after 1-3 in the second set to defeat Polish player Fletcher 6-4, 6-3 to achieve a wave of six consecutive wins in the new season. No. 10 seed Pavlyuchenkova swept Bondal, who made her first Grand Slam tournament, 6-2, 6-1, and won the first game of the new season. Next, she will be separated from Stosur.
American Qualifier Baptiste overcame a 4-6, 3-5 deficit to reverse Garcia 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the second Grand Slam match of his career (last year's French Open). Last year's US Open runner-up and 23rd seed Fernandez lost 4-6, 2-6 to homegrown Wild Card Inglis, and three appearances in the Australian Open were stopped in the first round. Inglis scored her first Grand Slam regular win of her career, the first time she had beaten a TOP50 player.
Former tournament champion and 16th seed Kerber lost 4-6, 3-6 to Estonian star Kanepi in two consecutive sets, losing his debut in the new season and encountering a round trip at Melbourne Park for two consecutive years. The last time Canepi beat a TOP20 player was at last year's Australian Open, when she eliminated defending champion Kenning in the second round. No. 7 seed Swartec won 11 consecutive sets after falling behind 1-3 in the opening to finally sweep England qualifier Dart 6-3, 6-0 to make a strong start. Next, she will play against Swedish player Peterson.
New U.S. Open champion and No. 17 seed Raducannu made her Australian Open debut, she only lost four points in the first set, and finally eliminated the 2017 US Open champion Stevens 6-0/2-6/6-1, achieving a wave of 11 consecutive wins (including qualifying) at the Grand Slam and ending the three-game losing streak. Stevens lost the first game of the new season and suffered a round trip at Melbourne Park for three consecutive years.
So far, after the first round of the 2022 Australian Open, in addition to Abdul-Jabbar, who retired due to injury before the game, a total of five seeds have suffered a round trip. They are Kenning, the 11th seed (losing to Keys), the 16th seed Kerber (losing to Canepi), the 18th seed Gauff (losing to Wang Qiang), the 20th seed Kvitova (losing to Costia), and the 23rd seed Fernandez (losing to Inglis). Whose exit surprised you the most?