Australian Open 2015 Day 2: Serena, Djokovic stroll

By Alexandra Willis

Wimbledon.com's highlights from the second day of play at the 2015 Australian Open at Melbourne

Big win

Gael Monfils. The Frenchman, seeded 17th, came back from two sets down to beat his 20-year-old compatriot, Lucas Pouille.

Victoria Azarenka. The two-time Australian Open champion wasted no time in seeing off Sloane Stephens, their third meeting in a row at Melbourne Park, but in very different circumstances. Neither player was seeded, but virtue of their former glories, were placed on Hisense Arena for the first match of the day. There were a few who thought Azarenka might wobble in the circumstances, but she did quite the opposite. Next up? Caroline Wozniacki.

Dominika Cibulkova. Last year’s finalist survived an ask from Kirsten Flipkens, coming back to beat her 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. There are those who don’t think Cibulkova can defend her performance last year. Perhaps they are right.

The Australians

Lleyton Hewitt made a triumphant return to Rod Laver Arena, beating Ze Zhang in four sets. Zhang was looking to become the first Chinese man to win a main draw Grand Slam match.

Hewitt was followed by three-set heroics from Alja Tomljanovic, who downed Shelby Rogers in three.

The upsets

Madison Brengle d. Andrea Petkovic (13), 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3

Time Bacsinszky d. Jelena Jankovic (15), 6-1, 6-4.

Camila Giorgi d. Flavia Pennetta (12) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Pablo Cuevas (27), ousted by qualifier Matthias Bachinger, 6-7(1), 3-6, 1-6

Fabio Fognini (16) was beaten by Alejandro Gonzalez in four sets.

Alex Dolgopolov (21) lost to Paulo Lorenzi in three.

Stat of the day

The antics of the WTA bring the total number of seeds knocked out in the first round to 11, a record-equalling number.

Happy returns

Vera Zvonareva. The former Grand Slam finalist won her first round match in just an hour and three minutes, trouncing Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-3. It’s good to see her back. She meets Serena next, a repeat of their Wimbledon final in 2010.

And the same to Venus Williams, who safely made it through the first round. Wouldn’t it be something if she could make a real run here.

Cruising through

The following all won in straight sets…

Denisa Allertova (d. Romina Oprandi), Garbine Muguruza (d. Marina Erakovic), Samantha Stosur (d. Monica Niculescu), Victoria Azarenka (d. Sloane Stephens), Kai-Chen Chang (d. Zheng Jie), Tsvetana Pironkova (d. Heather Watson), Alize Cornet (d. Shuai Zhang), Santiago Giraldo (d. Jan Hernych), Daniela Hantuchova (d. Saisai Zheng), Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (d. Timea Babos), Steve Johnson (d. Kyle Edmund), Kei Nishikori (d. Nicolas Almagro), Adrian Mannarino (d Blaz Rola), Stan Wawrinka (d. Marsel Ilhan), Milos Raonic (d. Ilya Marchenko), Marcel Granollers (Stephane Robert), John Isner (d. Jimmy Wang), Caroline Wozniacki (d. Taylor Townsend), Tereza Smitkova (d. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni), Elina Svitolina (d. Yulia Putintseva), Nicole Gibbs (d. Olivia Rogowska), Jarkko Nieminen (d. Andrey Golubev), Madison Keys (d. Lesia Tsurenko), Casey Dellacqua (d. Yvonne Meusburger), Petra Kvitova (d. Richel Hogenkamp), Serena Williams (d. Alison Van Uytvanck).

Marathon match

Feliciano Lopez, the 12^th seed, was pushed to the limit by Denis Kudla, the American wild card. Lopez battled through in 3hrs 14 mins, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8, saving match points along the way.

And then Sergiy Stakhovsky took 3hrs and 31mins to outlast Dusan Lajovic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.

Shortest match

Tereze Smitkova d. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in 47 mins, 6-1, 6-1.

Country watch

Most participants in the draw: USA – 24

Most players lost: Germany – 11 (out of 17)

Most players won: Czech Republic, USA, Spain – 10

Ace watch