The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
The year's final grand slam began with an upset as 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet was upended 6-2 6-2 6-3 by Britain's world number 84 Kyle Edmund at the U.S. Open on Monday. Gasquet, who has reached the last 16 at Flushing Meadows four times in his career, was outplayed throughout and his U.S. Open experience lasted just one hour, 41 minutes.
Rediff.com presents the early surprises at the year's final Grand Slam
The 25-year-old Dzumhur recovered from a poor start to beat the Briton 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and will bid to become the Balkan nation's first Tour winner in Saturday's title-decider against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.
Osaka survives test to reach last 16
The 36-year-old was all over the world number 58 throughout a one-sided contest under the Rod Laver Arena roof, breaking three times to win the opening set in 33 minutes.
Rafael Nadal's Australian Open quarter-final curse struck again on Tuesday, an injury forcing the top seed to retire in the fifth set against Croatia's Marin Cilic.
Juan Martin del Potro delivered a huge blow to Britain's hopes of retaining the Davis Cup when he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a five-hour thriller as Argentina grabbed a 2-0 lead in their world group semi-final on Friday.
Both won in style on Sunday, with Spanish fifth seed Nadal pouncing on Guido Pella's serve to break the Argentine five times en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in sizzling afternoon heat on the stadium hard court.
Murray, who is attempting to return to the top of the tennis world after undergoing hip surgery in January, was out of sorts in the first set of the rain-delayed match, losing three service games behind some uncharacteristically soft second serves.
Britain will attempt to win the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years this weekend when they take on Belgium in Ghent, although if they do succeed the Scottish town of Dunblane could argue its name should be enscribed on the trophy.
Indian wild card entrant Jeevan Nedunchezhian crashed out of the Chennai Open after a bright start soon after Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into the singles main draw with a superb win over higher-ranked Slovakian Norbert Gombos in Chennai.
IMAGES of the all the action from Day 1 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Monday
Top seed Serena Williams dropped the second set before bouncing back to beat compatriot Christina Mchale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in second-round action at the Miami Open in Florida on Thursday.
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 US Open in New York, on Wednesday.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov kept cool in the Rod Laver Arena maelstrom to knock home favourite Nick Kyrgios out of the Australian Open in a fourth-round thriller on Sunday.
Relief was at hand, however, with a cool change blowing over the city and the temperature expected to fall back below 30 by the evening.
Williams, a record 23-times Grand Slam champion, will be returning to the All England Club for the first time since giving birth to her daughter last September.
The 16-times Grand Slam champion, who has been slightly ill lately, was kept on his toes before racing to victory to set up a meeting with seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
A tenacious Roberto Bautista Agut battled back to beat world number one Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Tuesday as the Spaniard claimed his second win over the Serb this year.
Images from Day 3 of the French Open in Paris on Tuesday
Britain's Andy Murray enjoyed a routine win over Argentina's Juan Monaco to ease into the third round of the tennis tournament at the Rio Games on Tuesday, while Spain's world number nine David Ferrer was knocked out.
Roger Federer avoided any more security scares as he moved smoothly into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday but danger still lurks in the bottom half of the draw, namely in the shape of Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
But for the 23-year-old Bouchard, a former world number five who has slumped to 56th in the rankings, it was another blow after her first-round exit in Indian Wells.
Raucous home support for holders Argentina did not make up for the absence of Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis on Friday as they fell 2-0 behind to Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Big-serving Isner reaches Montreal second round
Former world number one Serena Williams looked sharp in her return to the hardcourts after a week-long break, soundly defeating Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Check out some of the up-and-comers who could cause an upset at Wimbledon this year.
Lucas Pouille crowned a glorious French charge at the U.S. Open on Sunday by ousting 14-times grand slam singles winner Rafa Nadal in a five-set thriller. The 22-year-old Pouille, seeded 24th, won a deciding tiebreak 8-6 to complete a 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6) marathon victory and join compatriots Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils into the last eight at Flushing Meadows.
World number five Alexander Zverev continued his poor recent form as he crashed out of the Italian Open in the second round while Serena Williams had to pull out of the women's draw with a recurring knee injury.
Rafael Nadal swept into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The top seed, who will reclaim the world number one ranking from Roger Federer if he wins his eighth title in Rome, turned in a near-flawless performance, losing only five service points as he honed in on victory in an hour and 22 minutes.
Naomi Osaka eased into the second round of the Italian Open on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka, on a day in which local favourite Roberta Vinci called time on her career.
Photos from the Wimbledon matches on Day 1
The match ended in 52 minutes as Williams played her forehand into the net.
Nadal, playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, fell behind 5-2 in the tiebreak before roaring back to prevail in his first career meeting with world number 53 Evans.
Frenchman Benoit lost his temper in the third game of the second set when top seed Tsitsipas halted the match to attend to a broken shoe lace.
Home favourite Kei Nishikori defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Saturday, setting up a final against Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.
The Frenchman, seeded five, had no answer to left-hander Muller's swinging serve as he bowed out 6-4, 6-4.
It was Kristyna's first win over a top-five ranked player and she will go on to play fellow Czech Barbora Strycova in the quarter-finals.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances