Taylor Fritz eases into the second round at the Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Taylor Fritz showed just how dramatically life has changed for both he and Jenson Brooskby since their last Grand Slam meeting when Fritz took less than two hours to clinch their first-round match at the Australian Open.
Fritz is seeded fourth, was the U.S. Open runner-up last year and helped the U.S. team win the United Cup in Sydney last week.
He needed just 1-3/4 hours for a 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 win on John Cain Arena Tuesday against fellow American Brooksby, who was playing his first event at any level in two years.
Brooksby has a protected ranking of No. 52 following surgery on both wrists in 2023 and that helped him get a spot in the main draw at the year’s first major.
He managed to save a match point with a lunging, angled backhand winner when he was almost down on one knee. But otherwise, it really was over quickly.
Brooksby, 24, won his only previous match against Fritz at the 2021 U.S. Open, where he reached the fourth round as a wild-card entry.
Now, while he's contemplating his next move on the road back to a ranking, it will be Fritz aiming to keep moving through the rounds at Melbourne Park, where he reached the quarterfinals last year. It was a run that set him on course for success in 2024.
“I guess that first match in the Slam there's a bit of nerves," Fritz said, “So I did a really good job.”
No. 8 Emma Navarro needed 3 hours and 20 minutes and rallied from 5-3 down in the third set to beat fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the women’s first round.
A semifinalist at the U.S. Open last year, Navarro was seeded in the top eight at a major for the first time and was completing a set of appearances on the center courts at the Grand Slams with her first appearance on Rod Laver Arena.
So, how did she feel after being pushed all the way by the big-hitting Steans?
“Great,” she said, telling the crowd the duration of the match felt like a time warp. "Crazy match today.
“I just kept telling myself to make the most of what I had today. Maybe it wasn't my best, but she put up a really good fight. Really happy to just get the win.”
For Emma Raducanu, winning in the first round at the Australian Open was always going to be more important than how she achieved the result.
That was clear Tuesday when the 2021 U.S. Open champion celebrated her 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) win over No. 26-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova out on Court 3, where a scattering of British flags fluttered in a light breeze on Day 3 at Melbourne Park.
In her first match since November, the 22-year-old British player had 15 double-faults, made 30 unforced errors and won just 30% of points on her second serve. But she was good enough in the big moments, with 22 winners and nine aces, to claw her way into the second round.
Because she wasn’t playing competitively, the biggest news about her back home was her minor back trouble earlier this month and the fact she refused treatment for ant bites last week — just to be on the safe side in terms of medication that might run her afoul of anti-doping regulations.
Alexandrova served for the first set, which contained eight service breaks, but Raducanu broke back immediately.
In the second set, Raducanu led 4-2 but then lost control of her serve again and needed to save a set point before forcing another tiebreaker, which she dominated.
Raducanu raced to a 6-0 lead in the breaker and, with too much of a lead to worry, held her nerve to clinch her first win of 2025.
Since becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam title after going through qualifying, Raducanu hasn’t been past the fourth round of a major. She has reached the third round for the last three years in Australia.
She’ll next play Amanda Anisimova, who had a 6-2, 6-3 win over Maria Carle.
Ninth-seeded Daria Kasatkina was the first through on Day 3, dropping the first game before winning the next seven straight enroute to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Viktoriya Tomova.
In early men's results, No. 19 Karen Khachanov advanced over Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3, and 2022 semifinalist Matteo Berrettini beat Cameron Norrie 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
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