Nadal charges into second round at Australian Open

But the Swiss said that at his age and in his 19th Australian Open, he liked to play down his chances.

Nadal, who is gunning for a 17th major title but only his second Australian Open crown, is making up for lost time from a knee injury at the tail-end of the 2017 season. “You just see it in every round, in tournaments, in slams. Even if it’s 100 per cent healed, after six months of no competition, you never know”. Talking with the Australian Open, yeah, they gave us the chance to play like an open practice but closer to the match for the crowd. Ostapenko has rocketed up the rankings after her stunning win at last year’s French Open.

A flurry of upsets were seen on the first day of the Australian Open.

“When I was number one in the world, winning all these tournaments, that was a lot of fun, too. All the five-setters, as well”, Federer said.

“So let’s see. There’s not much more I can do”.

With former Australian Open winners Novak Djokovic (elbow) and Stan Wawrinka (knee) returning from injuries, Nadal and Federer are once again favourites to prevail at Melbourne Park.

But he added “at the end of the day, it’s all just talk beforehand”. If (Goffin) he is fresh, and I believe that he is, he’s very complete player. “I’m stronger physically. I have a different look to my game”.

“Toni was not always in the (player’s) box”.

“My focus, yeah, needs to be early because I have my own problems to get through my section of the draw, my game”.

The world number two is chasing Grand Slam number 20, a feat which would underline his status as the greatest player to ever pick up a tennis racket.

Federer will be up against Aljaz Bedene in the first round on Tuesday.

Here’s all the key matches and events at Melbourne Park.

The fifth seed and last year’s finalist was shocked 6-3, 7-5 in the first round by the world No 78 in just under two hours on Rod Laver Arena. A Raonic-Del Potro-Djokovic/Zverev-Nadal run might be even steeper than the one he overcame previous year, but Federer too is even more in his zone than he was 12 months ago. The 25-year-old appeared crushed by the defeat and snapped sarcastically at reporters when asked where he would go from there.

“I just write a simple half-page”, Rosewall told The Australian newspaper on Monday. I start from zero again.

“There it was all about managing the energy and the body, hoping to be able to play”.

After the match, the 31-year-old opened up on how he’d used the off-season to prepare for the Australian Open and how he’d adapted his schedule in order to return to peak physical condition.

The Hopman Cup went very well.

As is tradition for this time of year, temperatures are expected to be reasonably high for the majority of the tournament, even reaching the low 40’s on the first weekend.

“I think he’s a wonderful man. Nothing to complain about”.

“Yeah, practice is flawless”.