Struff and Materer already outside
For Davis Cup player Jan-Lennard Struff, the Australian Open ended in the first round. With a clear 4: 6, 3: 6, 2: 6 against the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, the 31-year-old tennis pro from Warstein said goodbye to the individual competition on Tuesday (18.01.2022).
The disappointment with Struff was “huge”. It actually looked good at the beginning, with 4: 2 the number 52 in the world was ahead. “Suddenly it’s 4: 6, where it suddenly runs away so quickly”, Struff quarreled. “Then I really pulled myself together again, but then I made life difficult for myself again. I have to be honest: I wasn’t happy with the way I played. It wasn’t really good.”
Qualifier Maximilian Marterer also clearly missed a surprise. The former French Open round of 16 lost to 20th seeded Taylor Fritz from the USA 6:7 (8:10), 3:6, 2:6.
Successful performance by Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, won his opening match against the Italian Marco Cecchinato 6: 4, 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 0) and further improved the German men’s record at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season with his second round entry . “Winning is always great,” said the 38-year-old. His performance was “impeccable”.
The Augsburger now faces a more difficult task on Thursday against the 15th seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. Alexander Zverev, Dominik Koepfer, Yannick Hanfmann and Oscar Otte had already progressed before him on Monday.
Co-favorite Medvedev continued without problems
US Open winner Daniil Medvedev advanced to the second round of the Australian Open without any problems. The second in the world rankings advanced 6: 1, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3) against Swiss outsider Henri Laaksonen. Medvedev is a favorite for the title at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, especially after the involuntary departure of world number one Novak Djokovic.
Spaniard Muguruza sovereign
In the women’s category, Garbiñe Muguruza, third in the world rankings, made it through confidently in Melbourne. The 2020 Australian Open finalist won 6-3, 6-4 against Clara Burel of France. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who took part in the 2019 final, suffered a surprisingly clear 6-2, 6-2 loss to Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez also experienced a setback. Four months after her surprising run of success from New York, the 19-year-old Canadian was eliminated in the first round by a 4:6, 2:6 against the world number 133. Maddison Inglis out.