Defending Mallorcan champion Rafa Nadal shrugged off a rocky build-up to reach the Australian Open second round with a four-set win over Britain's ailing Jack Draper today after home favourite Nick Kyrgios dropped a Day One bombshell by pulling out injured.
Nadal came into Melbourne Park with only one victory since the U.S. Open and was on the back foot against Draper on a warm and sunny afternoon at Rod Laver Arena before leg trouble struck the 21-year-old Briton.
With Draper's injury reducing him to a groaning wreck, Nadal finished strongly to close out the match 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1. A year on from the "Miracle of Melbourne", when Nadal came back from two sets down to topple Daniil Medvedev in a classic final, the Mallorcan was just happy to get through to his next match against American Mackenzie McDonald.
"If we put it in the perspective of what I've been through in the last six months, it was a positive start," the 36-year-old said on court.
"I played against one of the toughest opponents possible in the first round. He's young, he has the power and I think he has a great future in front (of him)."
Nadal's win will have been a relief for organisers, with one of the biggest drawcards in Kyrgios bowing out because of a knee problem on the eve of his opener.
There were also fears over the fitness of Novak Djokovic after reports the nine-times champion had cancelled a second successive training session ahead of his opening match on Tuesday.
The Serb, who missed last year's tournament after being deported from Australia over his lack of COVID-19 vaccination, has been nursing a hamstring strain. Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios has a tear in his meniscus and decided to pull out after hitting up with doubles partner Thanisi Kokkinakis earlier in the day. "I'm devastated, obviously," said the Australian.
"I'm just exhausted from everything, and obviously (it's) pretty brutal." The withdrawal also ends Kyrgios and Kokkinakis's defence of the men's doubles title, a year after the "Special K's" drew massive crowds through their unlikely championship run.
With Kyrgios gone and last year's women's champion Ash Barty retired, the chances of a another home winner for local fans are greatly diminished.
However, U.S. fans were encouraged after seeing Jessica Pegula, seeded third behind Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur, needing less than an hour to beat Jaqueline Cristian 6-0 6-1.
Seventh seed Coco Gauff also raced into the second round, while last year's finalist Danielle Collins advanced with a tougher, three-set win over Anna Kalinskaya. Pegula, who helped the United States win the inaugural United Cup, simply overpowered her Romanian opponent, and there were loud cheers from the Margaret Court Arena crowd when Cristian held serve in the second set to avoid the dreaded 'double bagel'.
"Definitely first matches are always really tough, especially at a slam, there's so much hype and anxious nerves leading up. So I'm glad it just went very smooth," said Pegula.
CONVINCING WINS
Amanda Anisimova was unable to continue the good start for American women at the first Grand Slam since Serena Williams hung up her racket, the 28th seed tumbling out 6-3 6-4 at the hands of Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. With Williams and Barty retired, and twice champion Naomi Osaka pregnant with her first child, Melbourne Park will almost certainly crown a first-time women's champion this year.
Victoria Azarenka is now the only former champion left in the women's draw after beating 2020 winner Sofia Kenin 6-4 7-6(3). There were convincing early wins for two former U.S. Open champions. Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2020 champion at Flushing Meadows, beat Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4, while 2021 winner Emma Raducanu made light work of Tamara Korpatsch in a 6-3 6-2 victory.
Briton Raducanu will next face teenager Gauff, who won in Auckland and confirmed her good form with a 6-1 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova.
Italian 15th seed Jannik Sinner, a quarter-finalist last year, was the first man to reach the second round, rolling over Briton Kyle Edmund 6-4 6-0 6-2 on John Cain Arena. China celebrated a small triumph for its men's game when 17-year-old Shang Juncheng, the youngest player in the men's draw, beat German Oscar Otte. That made him the first man from his nation to win a main draw singles match at the tournament in the professional era.
"I think it's huge for Chinese men's tennis. You know, we have had really good players from the women's side, but not really big names in the men's," he said.