Highlights: Australian Open day two
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Highlights of day two of the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
Spaniard Paula Badosa, the only player to test positive for the novel coronavirus in Melbourne, was beaten in the first round 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 7-5 by Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova.
Samsonova sent down six aces and hit a total of 49 winners to edge the tight contest and set up a second round match with 14th seed Garbine Muguruza.
1245 KENIN’S TITLE DEFENCE UP AND RUNNING
Sofia Kenin kickstarted her title defence with a 7-5 6-4 win over Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis. Kenin will meet either Kaia Kanepi or Anastasija Sevastova in the next round.
MUGURUZA MARCHES INTO SECOND ROUND
Garbine Muguruza’s bid for a first Australian Open title began with a bang as she trounced Russian lucky loser Margarita Gasparyan 6-4 6-0 in the opening match at Margaret Court.
Twice Grand Slam champion Muguruza reached the final in Melbourne Park last year but lost to surprise package Sofia Kenin.
1110 PLAY GETS UNDERWAY
Play got underway under brilliant sunshine at Melbourne Park with the temperature hovering around 19 degrees Celsius (66.2°F).
There were no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 reported in the state of Victoria on Monday.
