Fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz, in his first Grand Slam match since losing the U.S. Open final to Italy’s Jannik Sinner last fall, cruised to a victory in the first round of the Australian Open.
The 27-year-old Californian downed fellow U.S. player Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 on Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia.
While Fritz was continuing a hot streak that included his contributions to the U.S. capturing the United Cup a week ago, Brooksby was competing in his first match in two years. He was sidelined due to wrist surgery and also served a 13-month ban for missing three drug tests.
Fritz finished with a 7-1 edge in aces and a 34-20 advantage in winners. Brooksby committed 23 errors to Fritz’s 21.
“I’m super happy how the match went,” Fritz said. “It’s never easy playing the first match of Slams with a bit of nerves. I did a good job shaking that off early and getting it done in straights.”
Also on Tuesday, qualifier Joao Fonseca of Brazil recorded a 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over ninth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia in their first-round match.
Fonseca, 18, fired 14 aces against just one double fault while saving five of the six break points he faced.
“I just enjoyed every moment on this amazing court, it’s my first time playing in a huge stadium,” Fonseca said. “I want to thank this amazing crowd. There are some Brazilians here … a lot of Brazilians here cheering for me!
“I was trying to not put pressure on myself, playing with a Top 10 guy in a huge stadium. (I was) trying to call the crowd to help me. I just enjoyed playing my game. That’s one thing about myself, is that I play better in the important points. I go for my shots. That was the difference today.”
Fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia and 13th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark needed five sets to prevail. Medvedev posted a 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Kasidit Samrej of Thailand and Rune got past China’s Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia collected a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win over Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.
No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti defeated Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a battle of Italians.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the 18th seed, ousted the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, and 19th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3.
No. 21 Ben Shelton outlasted fellow American Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5.
Gael Monfils outlasted fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the 30th seed, 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4, while Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina posted a 6-7 (8), 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over 32nd-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy.
Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, the 31st seed, downed Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-2.
Learner Tien, a 19-year-old U.S. qualifier, squeezed past Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Other first-round winners included Italy’s Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego, Canada’s Gabriel Diallo and Denis Shapovalov, Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, German Daniel Altmaier, Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta, Chilean Cristian Garin, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin, as well as Tristan Boyer, Mitchell Krueger and Marcos Giron of the United States.
–Field Level Media
