For the men, it wasn’t the big names on court this time, but the American crowds were able to witness a number of their own in action.
While Ryan Harrison, Donald Young and Steve Johnson unfortunately exited in front of disappointed fans, the pleasant surprise was the win by qualifier Mitchell Krueger, a 24 year old Texan, who has been around for six years, and is ranked 231 in the world. His career high was 169 in May last year.
He has two ITF titles to his name (2013 and 2015) but hadn’t made a main draw impact in 2018 until his victory over Benoit Paire 6–4 1-6 6-4 here in the opening round.
Two all American matches took the locals’ fancy - Jared Donaldson had the better of qualifier Evan King 6-1 4-6 6-4, while two 20 year olds went toe to toe.
Taylor Fritz defeated wildcard Reilly Opelka 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 in what could be the future of tennis in the USA.
However what the fans were waiting for was the return of Serena Williams and she certainly didn’t disappoint.
The 23 times Grand Slam champion is unseeded but dangerous, if her performance against Zarina Diyas is any indication.
Despite being 4-5 and 30-30 in the opening set, Serena blew the match apart as we would expect she might given the “fully match fit “ version, but the champ displayed all the power and brilliance even with the “post baby, first tournament back” edition.
Taking the first set 7-5, Williams broke Diyas immediately with a range of withering shots and claimed a 1-0 advantage in set two.
No coming back for the talented Kazakhstan player, as Serena broke three more times to win 7-5 6-3.
To Zarinas credit Serena had her mighty serve crumble twice, but it was insufficient to prevent a triumphant entry into the second round where Kiki Bertens (29) awaits.
Second mum on the court in the night session was wildcard Vika Azarenka
Her task was to manoeuvre past Heather Watson, which she did decisively 6-4 6-2
Sloane Stephens (13) is the next challenge for the 2 time Aus Open champion.
Day Three will see the completion of the men’s first round matches, while the women trot out the first of the seeds in second round battles after they enjoyed opening round byes.
Matches which appear as highlights include:
Belinda Bencic v Jelena Ostapenko (6)
Naomi Osaka v Agnieszka Radwanska (31)
Samantha Stosur v Kiki Mladenovic (14)
Maria Sakkari v Ash Barty (16)
Johanna Konta (11) v talented teenager Marketa Vondrousova
As an aside, Vika Azarenka will be back, playing doubles with her Belarusian compatriot Aryna Sabalenka. Both scream relentlessly, so heaven help the team at the other side of the net.
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