Australian Open: Seeded Casualties Rock Day 2

On Tuesday, Verdasco looked headed for the exit when he trailed 0-2 early in the fifth set, only to reel off six straight games to snatch only his third victory in 17 encounters with Nadal.

In fact, Verdasco’s game was significantly more error-strewn than Nadal’s, with the former hitting 90 unforced errors to Nadal’s 38.

Halep, the 2014 French Open finalist, lost, 6-4, 6-3, to Zhang Shuai, giving the No. 133-ranked Chinese qualifier her first win at a Grand Slam after 14 losses.

“I was just closing my eyes and everything went in!” The opening round match between fifth seed Rafael Nadal and compatriot Fernando Verdasco was considered a can’t-miss match so early on in the tournament, and it ended up being one for the ages as Nadal found himself on the losing end of a five-set thriller.

After winning the second and third sets comfortably, Nadal was just two points away from securing a win in the fourth set.

“I’m like, “I didn’t play again after that?’ Even last night they told me at the hotel (about the 2009 match) and I’m like ‘I play against him tomorrow”. “He was playing unbelievable in the last set … more aggressive than me”.

On another sizzling day in Melbourne, sweat-drenched Murray doused the challenge of exciting German prospect Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 to get his campaign underway. “A win against Rafa is an unbelievable feeling”.

Nadal can at least take heart that the Australian Open has historically been his toughest Grand Slam tournament, with his only win coming against Roger Federer in 2009.

“Today is the best moment of my career… beating a top-two player”, an emotional Zhang said, reports News.

Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens awaits Muguruza next and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic improved on her first-round exit in this tournament a year ago. But Verdasco had other plans for the fifth seed as he took the fourth set 7-6 (6-4) and forced a deciding fifth set to be played.

The match against Verdasco was a reprise of an Australian Open classic. “It will be great if I can play against her”, said the confident Spanish world number three.

“But I am not happy about the way that I played the first”.

Venus Williams, seeded eighth after a resurgent 2015, also was upset in the first round, 6-4, 6-2, by Sydney-born British player Johanna Konta, ranked No. 47 in the world. I think I was able to block out everything else once I was out there.

No. 2 Simona Halep and seven-time Grand Slam victor Venus Williams also went out in the first round Tuesday, when a series of upsets took some focus off a match-fixing controversy that had overshadowed the first day of the season’s first major. The 32-year-old will face Israel’s Dudi Sela in the next round before a potential match-up with Jeremy Chardy in the last 32.

“I wanted try one more time, only one more time, yeah”, she said. “Game become a little bit more insane in this aspect”.