AO24 - 64 Down, 63 to Play

With Day 3's final flourishes, the 1st Round has been completed in Melbourne.

63 women's singles matches remain before a champion will be crowned.






=AO NOTES= ...three days into this Australian Open, the world #1 *finally* stepped onto the court. Perhaps it was the wait that made her a bit "rusty," but Iga Swiatek very nearly dropped her opening set of the slam season.

But have no fear, mere mortals. Despite 2020 AO champ Sofia Kenin serving for the set at 5-4, Swiatek staved off an early match deficit and won a 7-2 1st set tie-break, then polished off her 17th straight match win with a 7-6(2)/6-2 victory over the Bannerette.

Iga is off and running! ?????

The No.1 seed overcomes the challenge from Sofia Kenin winning 7-6(2) 6-2. #AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/S9J9zpacce

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2024

Okay, who's next?

...2023 AO finalist, and Week 1 dominant force in Brisbane, Elena Rybakina had a bit of work to do in *her* opening set in Melbourne, as well. In the Laver Arena night session, the #3-seeded Kazakh dropped serve in the opening game of the match, then saw Karolina Pliskova hold at love in game 2.

Rybakina got the set back on serve in game 4. Up 6-5, she held three SP on the Czech's serve before Pliskova forced a tie-break. Pliskova took a quick 4-1 lead, and held triple SP at 6-3. Rybakina saved all three SP with winners, the first via a drop shot off a Pliskova net cord (the Kazakh showed some mobility to reach the ball and hit the running pass to squash the Czech's best opportunity to push Rybakina's shoulders to the wall) and then a big forehand off the line on the third. Rybakina won the breaker 8-6, converting on her own SP #4.

??

No.3 seed Elena Rybakina saves three set points to take the tiebreak 7-6(6) ?????#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/pDesSWz0N4

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2024

Rybakina never faced another BP in the match, winning 7-6(6)/6-4 to improve to 4-0 vs. Pliskova, having never lost a set in their career head-to-head.

All business ??

No.3 seed Elena Rybakina moves through Pliskova 7-6(6) 6-4 to advance in Melbourne ?#AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/UagwWsn36s

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2024

Rybakina stands at 7-1 on the season, and hasn't lost a set in any of her victories.

...in the big pre-AO junior event in Traralgon, the final will feature Aussie Emerson Jones and Bannerette Iva Jovic.

Emerson Jones through to girls' singles final at Traralgon Junior International.#GoAussieshttps://t.co/Z36CsPIuOj

— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 16, 2024

...with 64 women remaining in the field, perhaps the craziest stat is what has happened with the Hordettes, whose collective 1st Round performance either proves that strength is indeed in numbers in grand slam tennis or, well, that maybe the *next* generation of Russian stars have a bit more "big event promise" than the field of (mostly) twentysomethings who have seemed to be perpetually trapped somewhere between #12-25 in the women's rankings for several years now without any real push to become a consistent Top 10 threat (w/ one possible exception, though even she comes equipped with the fewest "overwhelming weapons," which usually places a virtual result ceiling over her head in events like this).

Survives a ste(a)rn test!

Daria Kasatkina is the first seeded Russian to avoid an early upset as she beats Peyton Stearns 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round.

A real battle out there on Kia Arena, but a very good response by Dasha! pic.twitter.com/7HBEWlIqFv

— WTARussians (@WTArussians) January 16, 2024

Russia came into the AO with 15 flag-less participants in the women's draw, quite a bit but not the *most* of the 34 nations with irons in the Melbourne fire (U.S.-19). But more Hordettes (10) than any other group are still alive in the 2nd Round, and that number comes about with almost no help to speak of from the five seeded Russians in the women's draw.

Of the five, only the aforementioned Dasha Kasatkina advanced, while the *unseeded* 10-strong group went an incredible 9-1, with three players (Alina Korneeva, Maria Timofeeva and Anastasia Zakharova) picking up maiden slam MD wins and a pair of 16-years old (Korneeva and Mirra Andreeva, both '23 AO junior finalists) picking up 1st Round wins. The current group of still-young (so who knows, right?) veteran Russians seem destined to *not* come close to matching the career heroics of the Original Hordettes of the 2000/10s, and with only the "middle generation" likes of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova having reached a slam final ('21 RG) since Maria Sharapova's last in the '15 AO nine years ago.

Maybe the new wave will ultimately fare better in that arena.

As it is, for this AO opening round, the Hordettes thus put together a first-time ever slam award combination as they pick up both the "Revelation Ladies" (the 9-1 unseeded crew) *and* the "Nation of Poor Souls" (for the disappointing 1-4 mark from the seeded veterans). It takes a *large* and varied group to pull off such a feat, and the current Hordette crop is more than deep enough to pull it off.

In all, there were 12 seeds ousted in the 1st round, the most at the AO since 2016. Of the 12 to go, only France had a hand in more than one seed being sent packing, as Diane Parry defeated #30 Wang Xinyu and Oceane Dodin took out #29 Zhu Lin, who reached the Round of 16 last year. Throw in the seeded Caroline Garcia knocking off former champ Naomi Osaka (not an upset, per se, but noteworthy) and the Pastries earn the "Upset Queens" moniker.

While the final 64 contains 10 Russians, the nations following in line with the next most survivors are the U.S. (9), France (5), and the Czech Republic and Ukraine (both w/ 4).

Only one nation emerged unscathed that had more than one player in the draw, and it might not be an *expected* one. Finally with *both* of its top women's players successfully lining up their games in the same slam, it's Denmark with Caroline Wozniacki, the '18 AO champ (and '06 girls' finalist) in her first AO in four years, and Clara Tauson (the '19 AO junior champ) in her first Melbourne MD since reaching the 3rd Round in 2022.

On the other end of the spectrum, both Japan (even w/ Osaka's return) and Romania (in the last slam before Simona Halep finally has some sort of resolution, for good or bad, regarding her suspension) both were 0-3 in 1st Round action.





...DASHA K. DIRECTING HER FIRE AT MORE DESERVING ADVESARIES THIS TIME (it's never nice to "punch down," no pun intended, so this is a welcome change):

No women’s tennis shown on TV. They are playing on Rod Laver, prime time and for what?? don’t wanna say who they actually showing now??

— Daria Kasatkina (@DKasatkina) January 16, 2024

To be clear, she'd been hoping to watch '23 finalist Rybakina, but instead saw -- checking, and rolling eyes -- that it was likely Zverev being given the showcase on Aussie TV.


...STORM NO LONGER STANDS ALONE AMONG AUSSIES IN THE 2nd ROUND:

First #AusOpen win since 2021 ????@Ajlatom rallies from 1-4 down in the decider to defeat Martic 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/xI0yb0qyTL

— wta (@WTA) January 16, 2024

**AO 1st ROUND BY NATION - alphabetical**
1-0 - ARG
2-4 - AUS
1-2 - BEL
2-1 - BLR
1-0 - BRA
1-0 - BUL
1-1 - CAN
2-5 - CHN
0-1 - COL
0-2 - CRO
4-5 - CZE
2-0 - DEN
0-1 - EGY
2-2 - ESP
5-3 - FRA
2-1 - GBR
3-2 - GER
1-0 - GRE
3-3 - ITA
0-3 - JPN
1-1 - KAZ
1-0 - LAT
0-1 - MEX
1-0 - NED
2-1 - POL
0-3 - ROU
10-5 - RUS
1-1 - SLO
0-1 - SRB
1-1 - SUI
0-1 - SVK
1-0 - TUN
4-3 - UKR
9-10 - USA
==
TOTAL NATIONS: 34
MOST IN 2nd RD.: 10-RUS,9-USA,5-FRA,4-CZE/UKR
UNDEFEATED 1st RD.: 2-0 DEN; 1-0 ARG,BRA,BUL,GRE,LAT,NED,TUN
WORST 1st RD.: 0-3 (JPN/ROU)
SEEDS OUT: 12 (4-RUS,2-CHN,2-CZE,1-CRO,1-CZE,1-POL,1-ROU)
DEF.SEEDS: 2-FRA; 1-CHN,CZE,DEN,GER,NED,RUS,SLO,SUI,UKR,USA

*RECENT AO "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"*
2018 USA (0-8 start/1-9 on Day 1; 3/4 of '17 U.S. Open SF ousted)
2019 ROU (2-4 1st Rd., losses to two teens, #25 seed)
2020 BLR (0-2 1st Rd., #11 Sabalenka highest seed; Azarenka absent)
2021 CHN (1-5 1st Rd., two seeds, three Top 50 players ousted)
2022 CAN (0-2 1r, #23 Fernandez out; Andreescu/Bouchard DNP)
2023 GER (1-4 1r; Petkovic ret., Kerber pregnant; NextGen 0-2)
2024 RUS seeds (1-4 1r)

*RECENT AO "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS*
2017 United States
2018 Ukraine
2019 United States
2020 Spain
2021 United States
2022 Romania
2023 Ukraine
2024 France

*RECENT AO "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS*
2017 Australia
2018 Estonia
2019 Teens (6 in 2nd Rd.)
2020 Kazakhstan
2021 Estonia
2022 China
2023 Czech Republic
2024 Unseeded Russians

*RECENT TRARALGON JR. CHAMPIONS; w/ AO Jr. RESULT*
2015 Katherine Sebov, CAN (2r)
2016 Vera Lapko, BLR (W)
2017 Iga Swiatek, POL (1r)
2018 Liang En-shou, TPE (W)
2019 Clara Tauson, DEN (W)
2020 Polina Kudermetova, RUS (QF)
2021 DNP
2022 Sofia Costoulas, BEL (RU)
2023 Melisa Ercan, TUR (1r)
2024 ?

Smart Octopus Escapes of A closed Jar!
Credits ??:Rached ben omrane(YT) pic.twitter.com/9HUchKmY2g

— Science (@ScienceGuys_) January 15, 2024

Cat blocks and prevents a baby from crawling to a fatal fall down some stairs pic.twitter.com/YREkQasFAe

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) January 15, 2024

No way! ????pic.twitter.com/RG1FDkuR0Z

— Figen (@TheFigen_) January 15, 2024

TOP QUALIFIER: Alina Korneeva, RUS
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2 - Alina Korneeva/RUS def. Ma Yexin/CHN 6-7/6-4/7-6(5) - '23 AO girls champ saves 2 MP; qualifies and is youngest in women's MD
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F/WC/Doub.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Kamilla Rakhimova/RUS (def. Emina Bektas/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #13 Liudmila Samsonova/RUS (1r-lost to Anisimova/USA)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Brenda Fruhvirtova/CZE, McCartney Kessler/USA, Alina Korneeva/RUS, Maria Timofeeva/RUS, Anastasia Zakharova/RUS
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: 1r: Anisimova, Badosa, Raducanu, Tomljanovic
UPSET QUEENS: France (only nation to defeat multiple seeds in 1st Rd.)
REVELATION LADIES: Unseeded Russians (9-1 in 1st Rd.)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Seeds from Russia (1-4 in 1st Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: B.Fruhvirtova, Hunter, Korneeva, Timofeeva, Yastremska, Zakharova
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1r wins: Kessler, Wozniacki
LAST AUSSIE STANDING: 1r wins: Hunter, Tomljanovic
Ms. OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT (??): Nominees: 16-year olds (M.Andreeva, B.Fruhvirtova & Korneeva)
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: Linette (1r ret; '23 semis); 4 of 5 RUS seeds out 1r
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF MELBOURNE: Nominee: Siegemund (down 4-2 3rd vs. Alexandrova in 1st Rd., 2 pts. from loss twice in MTB); Wang Yafan (down 6-0/3-0 and 4-1 vs. Cirstea in 1st Rd.)
KIMIKO VETERAN CUP: xx
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominees: Sabalenka, Garcia
AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE ARTS AWARD: xxx
DOUBLES STAR: xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx





All for now. More soon.