Champ’s bizarre post-match Dokic act; Aussie pair in post-midnight heartbreak — Aus Open wrap

After rain ruined the opening day session of the 2025 Australian Open, title contenders impressed while two Aussie wildcards went down to the wire after midnight.
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Back-to-back defending champion Aryna Sabalenka’s quest for a third Melbourne Park crown is off to a solid start, beating former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2.
There were some concerns when the Belarusian gave up a 4-0 start, collapsing to throw away her double break lead, but she surged back into the match from there and showed her class in the second set.
Sabalenka is trying to become the fourth woman in the Open Era to win the Australian Open three times in a row, and the first since Martina Hingis in the late 1990s.
In utterly bizarre scenes, commentator Jelena Dokic got Sabalenka to dance in front of the Rod Laver Arena crowd in her post-match interview.
Fellow title contender Alex Zverev won through in straight sets afterwards, the No.2 seed downing former semi-finalist Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-4 6-4.
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Aussie 25-year-old Adam Walton has copped a heartbreaking five-set loss bidding for his first main draw win at his home slam.
After winning his first grand slam match at Wimbledon last year, Walton was trying to back up his breakthrough season but couldn’t hold his nerve in a late-night thriller against Frenchman Quentin Halys on Court 3, giving up a two-set lead to fall 4-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(4) 7-5.
Halys will face compatriot and No.20 seed Arthur Fils in the second round on Wednesday.
Minutes later Daria Saville bowed out in the first round, losing to Russian Anna Blinkova 1-6 6-4 7-5 at Margaret Court Arena.
The 30-year-old Australian dominated the opening set, completely outclassing Plinkova in all facets of the game to take the first 6-1.
It was serve-for-serve between the duo in the second however, with the first 11 games going unbroken. But with the 12th and final game of the set, Blinkova broke Saville to even the ledger and take the match to a third and final set.
It was Blinkova whose serve was under the spotlight early on, but as fatigue set in and the Russian became more comfortable on court, Saville’s serving became increasingly erratic; particularly with her ball drop.
Incredibly, Saville had a whopping five double faults in the final set to keep Blinkova well and truly in the match. Each player broke once in the third as momentum swayed each way, before the 26-year-old came up trumps to win after two hours and 32 minutes of tennis.
Blinkova will play one of Magdalena French or Polina Kudermetova in the second round on Wednesday.
A valiant effort from wildcard Australian Li Tu wasn’t enough to secure him a career-best spot in the second round, with Czech gun Jiri Lehecka winning 6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6(1) on Margaret Court Arena.
The 28-year-old Aussie took a while to find his groove on Sunday evening, having his serve broken twice inside the first 20 minutes by Lehecka. His inability to convert on second serves cost him to begin with, as the 26th seed took full advantage of his opponent’s conservative serves after faulting.
Tu fought back hard to claim the second set 6-3, but that proved to be his only break for the rest of the four-set match as his opponent held strong throughout the third, before his dominant 7-1 win in the fourth set tiebreaker.
Lehecka will play Frenchman Hugo Gaston in the second round on Wednesday, with Gaston also defeating an Aussie in Omar Jasika to progress past the opening day.
Jasika was down 2-6, 1-0 before rain intervened earlier in the day, and resumed play on Court 3 by taking the second set.
But Gaston got back in control from there, and won it 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2.
Aleks Vukic’s clash with Damir Dzumhur was cancelled due to rain and will take place on Monday.
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN NIGHT 1 ORDER OF PLAY
Show courts and Aussies – all times AEDT
Rod Laver Arena
Night session from 7pm
No.1 Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) def Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-3 6-2
[WC] Lucas Pouille (FRA) def by No.2 Alex Zverev (GER) 6-4 6-4 6-4
Show Court 1
Night session from 7pm
No.24 Jiri Lehecka (CZE) def [WC] Li Tu (AUS) 6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6(1)
Anna Blinkova (RUS) def [WC] Daria Saville (AUS) 1-6 6-4 7-5
John Cain Arena
Twilight session from 5pm
No.11 Paula Badosa (ESP) def Xinyu Wang (CHN) 6-3 7-6(5)
No.14 Ugo Humbert (FRA) def [Q] Matteo Gigante (ITA) 7-6(5) 7-5 6-4
Court 3
Hugo Gaston (FRA) def [WC] Omar Jasika (AUS) 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2
Adam Walton (AUS) def by Quentin Halys (FRA) 4-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(4) 7-5