wta insider

AO Notebook: Rain cancels Konta, Keys, more on Day 1

3m read 20 Jan 2020 5y ago

Defending champion Naomi Osaka

, World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, and all started off with a bang in their Day 1 openers at the 2020 Australian Open, but it was a tough day of waiting for the rest of the field as rain besieged Melbourne Park. In all, 12 matches were canceled, including the openers for No.10 seed , No.12 seed Johanna Konta, and No.22 seed .

Here are the matches that have been moved to Day 2:

[10] Madison Keys

vs.
[12] Johanna Konta vs.
Margarita Gasparyan vs. [22]
vs. [23]
Madison Brengle vs.
vs. [29]
Fiona Ferro vs. Alison Van Uytvanck
vs.
[27] Wang Qiang vs. Pauline Parmentier
vs. Peng Shuai
Polona Hercog vs. Rebecca Peterson
vs.

One match has been postponed and will resume, weather permitting, on Day 2:

[18] Alison Riske leads Wang Yafan, 7-6(5), 0-0.

Melbourne Park boasts three covered courts - Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and Melbourne Arena - which provided perfect conditions for the tournament's top seeds to complete their matches. No.3 Osaka kicked off the day with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Marie Bouzkova

, followed by 23-time major champion Serena Williams' 6-0, 6-3 win in 58 minutes over Russia's . Straight sets ruled on MCA as well, as last year's runner-up Petra Kvitova won 12 straight games to defeat 6-1, 6-0 in 50 minutes, followed by the Wimbledon rematch between 15-year-old and 39-year-old Venus Williams, which was won 7-6(5), 6-3 by the younger American. No.1 Barty needed three sets to race away from , winning 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the night match.

Over on Melbourne Arena, Caroline Wozniacki

quickly put to rest any thoughts that this might be the last match of her career. The 2018 champion defeated Kristie Ahn, 6-1, 6-3 to start her farewell tournament.

Here are the winners who were able to book their spots in the second round before the rain came on the outer courts:

[14] Sofia Kenin

d. , 6-2, 6-4.
[Q] d. , 7-6(4), 7-6(10)
Julia Goerges d. Victoria Kuzmova, 6-1, 6-2
d. Kaia Kanepi, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3
[13] d. Christina McHale, 6-3, 6-0
Zheng Saisai d. , 6-3, 6-2
d. Han Na-Lae, 6-3, 6-3
Zhu Lin d. Viktoria Golubic, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
[25] d. , 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
d. Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-0
d. [32] Barbora Strycova, 6-2, 7-6(5)

Social Post of the Day:

Major Milestones:

Paula Badosa

, , and all tallied their first Slam main draw wins. Badosa was the first winner of the day, defeating Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-0, and will face Kvitova next.

Former doubles No.1 Krejcikova, who is ranked No.128 in singles, backed up her qualifying campaign to oust the always dangerous Kaia Kanepi in three sets.

And 19-year-old American Ann Li

, ranked No.142, earned not only her first Slam main draw win over Aussie wildcard , but also her first tour-level win. As a qualifier, Li played her first WTA main draw just two weeks ago in Auckland.

Stats of the Day:

It took Petra Kvitova just 50 minutes to defeat Katerina Siniakova

. It was Kvitova's fastest complete match victory since 2016.

Coco Gauff

hit the biggest serve of the day, firing a 191 kph (118.7 mph) in her win over Venus Williams. Close behind her was Serena Williams, who hit a 190 kph (118.1 mph) and , who hit a 189 kph (117.4 mph).

Quote of the Day:

Serena Williams on this photo:

me and my mom lol. pic.twitter.com/HvCoPpgShm
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) January 15, 2020

"I thought the picture was cute, so I felt like I should like it and comment on it. Definitely not the mom, though. Definitely more or less cousin? I don't know how Olympia would feel about that. (Laughter.) She would love to have her as a sister, though. That would be really cool. She could be Olympia's sister."

Courtney Nguyen - WTA Insider