Australian Open Day 1: Federer cruises; Wozniacki loses in opener

Australian Open 2016 Day 1: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams advance; 19-year-old American Noah Rubin upsets Benoit Paire; Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens lose.

Author:
Jamie Lisanti
Publish date:
Jan 17, 2016

Catch up on all of the action, news and results from Day 1 at the 2016 Australian Open on Monday that you may have missed while you were sleeping.

Djokovic, Federer cruise in opening matches

No. 1 Novak Djokovic had no trouble with South Korean teen Hyeon Chung in his opening match, winning 6–3, 6–2, 6–4. In his on-court interview after the match, Jim Courier asked Djokovic to reflect on his 2015 season:

"I undoubtedly had the the best season and the best year of my life in 2015. Ever since I became a father everything has been going uphill on the tennis court. So...darling, I guess we'll have to make more babies, what can I say," he said, laughing. "Yeah I'm going to probably get criticized for what I said now."

See the full post-match interview here:

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Roger Federer made quick work of his opponent Nikoloz Basilashvili, racing to a 6–2, 6–1, 6–2 victory in just 72 minutes on Rod Laver on Monday night. He'll play Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round.

Serena wins in first match since U.S. Open loss

In her first match in nearly four months, Serena Williams defeated Camila Giorgi 6–4, 7–5 to advance to the second round in Melbourne. After pulling out of Hopman Cup with a knee injury, Serena's health was a big concern ahead of her opening match, but the World No. 1 got right back into the rhythm against Giorgi.

"I think I served well today. I think, you know, I got broken once, but other than that, I was able to stay focused on that part. And I was able to serve really well and that really helped me," she said after the match. Her next opponent will be Su-Wei Hsieh, who defeated Jelena Ostapenko 3–6, 7–5, 6–1.

Serena Williams dispels doubts with opening win at Australian Open

Here's Serena after the match when asked about being named SI's Sportsperson of the Year in December:

Q. The Sports Illustrated award obviously was fantastic. First woman in a long, long time. First tennis player in a long, long time. But what was the most fun or quirky or surprising thing about the whole experience of being Sports Illustrated's sportsperson of the year?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Obviously it was a great experience not just for me but I think for women in general and for young girls that want to strive to be athletes and for people that, oh, you should do this, but they can show athletes can be cool and awesome, you know, and just great role models.

I thought that was really cool. And also just being in the atmosphere and learning about all the other people that had been nominated, sports kid of the year, so many really, really inspiring stories that make you look at yourself and be like, Wow.

Things could be different, things could be worse, and, you know, you just always look at more positive things.

Rubin upsets Paire for first main draw win

Ranked No. 328, 19-year-old Noah Rubin earned his first main draw win on Monday with a huge upset over No. 17-seed Benoit Paire, 7–6(4), 7–6(6), 7–6(5). The Long Island, N.Y., native and former Wake Forest standout Noah Rubin earned a spot in the main draw from the USTA with a title at the Charlottesville Challenger in November. He'll play Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round.

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Wozniacki, Stephens ousted in first round

Caroline Wozniacki could not put an end to her bad luck streak in Melbourne, losing to Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, 1–6, 7–6(3), 6–4. Wozniacki was up a service break in the second set, but she began to tire during the 88-minute set and eventually received treatment on her right ankle during a medical time out in the third set.

"I would say it's a pretty s***** start to the season," she said after the match. "It wasn't a pretty first set but I got it done and really should have closed it off in two. You know, I let her back into the match, and it was basically my own fault that I'm not here as the winner."

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Qualifier Qiang Wang took down No. 24 Sloane Stephens, a shocking defeat for the American after a run to the title at the ASB Classic in Auckland last week. Several other seeded players in the women's draw also lost in the first round on Monday, as Margarita Gasparyan topped No. 17-seed Sara Errani, American Lauren Davis beat No. 26-seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daria Kasatkina defeated 27th-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

More notable results: Sharapova d. Hibino 6–1, 6–3; Bouchard d. Krunic 6-3, 6-4; Dimitrov d. Lorenzi 6–3, 7–6, 6–3; Kvitova d. Kumkhum 6–3, 6–1; Radwanska d. McHale 6–2, 6–3; Nara d. Dodin 7–6, 6–2; Kudla d. Krajinovic 6–2, 6–1, ret'd; Bencic d. Riske 6–4, 6–3; Kyrgios d. Carreno Busta 6–2, 7–5, 6–2