Overview
- World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1 after a shaky opening; she faces qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan next.
- Carlos Alcaraz defeated Australia’s Adam Walton 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 to open his push for a career Grand Slam, setting up a second-round meeting with Yannick Hanfmann.
- Novak Djokovic eased past Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round and log his 100th Australian Open match win as he chases a 25th major.
- Attendance surged to a record 100,763 on opening day, with hot conditions and tight scheduling featuring in a ballkid fainting incident and Felix Auger-Aliassime’s cramp-induced retirement.
- Alexander Zverev recovered to progress in four sets, while shocks included Elsa Jacquemot over Marta Kostyuk and Zeynep Sonmez over Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Venus Williams lost to Olga Danilovic as the event’s oldest singles entrant.