Zverev overcomes sluggish start
Third-seeded Alexander Zverev shrugged off a sluggish start to power through his first-round match against rising star Gabriel Diallo as the Australian Open got underway on Sunday. Zverev, the runner-up at Melbourne Park last year, slumped in the first set against the 24-year-old Canadian before rallying on the back of his strong serve to win 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. He’s into the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year.
“Definitely when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said in an on-court interview, speaking of the tricky challenge presented by No. 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive. “First set wasn’t my best tennis, I would say. I was thinking, ‘can’t get worse than that.” It got a lot better after that for me.”
Rod Laver Opener Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 in the opening game on the main show court in Melbourne. Paolini wasted little time, and energy, taking the first set in 27 minutes and not much longer in the second to wrap up her match against Sasnovich.
“I was focused I think all the time, so it was good,” Paolini said. “And, yeah, it’s not easy to play the first match at the Slams on a big court, but I’m happy with my performance.” Fellow Italian, No. 20 Flavio Cobolli, became the first of the seeded men’s players to exit the tournament in a 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-1 loss to British qualifier Arthur Fery. Also, No. 18 seed Francisco Cerundolo beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6 (0),
6-3, and No. 32 seed Corentin Moutet held off Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3, finishing with an underarm serve on match point. Two of the women’s seeds went out in the afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No. 20 Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez upsetting No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Sönmez reportedly halted the match briefly to help a ballkid who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the tournament medical team took over. No. 12 Elina Svitolina defeated Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-1, and Maria Sakkari won over Leolia Jeanjean 6-4, 6-2. Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste.
In a 2 1/2-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3. “It happened (to me) in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago so I was just, like, it’s crazy that that happens twice in three tournaments,” Baptiste said. “Obviously it’s difficult when you’re practicing and planning to play one person. Luckily, they’re both lefty, so that was, I guess, a plus.”
Moutet’s underarm serve seals first-round win: Corentin Moutet sliced in an underarm serve on match point and sealed his first-round victory at the Australian Open on Sunday when Tristan Schoolkate floated his forehand return too long. The crowd at Kia Arena booed loudly but the No. 32-seeded Moutet didn’t flinch, later saying he did what he needed to do to complete the 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win. He said the choice of serve was more instinctual than planned.
“I did it because I thought it would be ... I could win the point,” he said. “I won the point actually. Of course, no disrespect or anything.” The underarm (also known as underhand) serve is within the rules but is rarely used in the highest ranks of men’s tennis, particularly on match point. There’s been some high-profile underarm serves in big matches, but this one caught Moutet’s Australian rival off guard.
“I decided to do this, so I thought it was the better option in the moment,” Moutet said. The 26-year-old Frenchman had struggled at times in the heat on Day 1 of the season-opening major and needed a medical timeout in the third set for what appeared to be a leg problem. He explained that it was more of a “global” issue, saying it was a combination of sickness and soreness and lack of quality sleep over the previous few days.
“We all have some kind of pain every day that we have to deal with,” he said. “So, yeah, I was trying to handle it the best way possible. “I’m glad that I did well, you know, proud of myself. It wasn’t easy, obviously, it’s the first match of the year, so it’s always hard.” Moutet’s best run in 26 previous major tournaments was a fourth-round finish at the 2024 French Open. His best run in Australia was to the third round last year.
If he wins his next round and top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz advances as expected, the pair could meet in the third round at Melbourne Park. Moutet was confident he’d be able to overcome the issues that bothered him in the first round when he lines up again. “I really know the most important is to get through it and deal with it in the best way,” he said, “and I can leave it behind me.
