Sharapova sails into Australian Open third round

It reversed the epic 5-hour, 14-minute semifinal the pair played in 2009 at Melbourne Park, which Nadal won in five sets and went on to take the title.

South Korean teenager Chung Hyeon fell to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the opening round of the Australian Open tennis championships Monday.

“I’m more excited than nervous now”, Murray said of the pending arrival.

“It wasn’t very easy – she obviously plays really well…”

Konta need not have anxious as Williams, the oldest player in the draw at 35, never got to grips with Konta’s serve and accurate ground strokes and she took the first set with a beautifully hit ace straight down the middle.

Roger Federer started his bid for a fifth Australian title with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili in a night match, following Williams and Djokovic on the center court.

The BBC and BuzzFeed reports said 16 players had been repeatedly flagged to tennis authorities for suspicious performances, including a Grand Slam victor, and half of them were at this year’s Australian Open. “It was an incredible moment to be in the final of this event again”, said Sharapova, who played her first-round match on Margaret Court Arena, one of three e two other covered stadiums at Melbourne Park.

Murray, who beat beat Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, said it was “hypocritical” that tournaments – the Australian Open’s official betting partner is William Hill – could be sponsored by betting companies while players can’t.

It solidifies her position as Britain’s number one and, although coming against an out-of-sorts Williams, the win was built on a mixture of devastating groundstrokes and impressive defence. Djokovic won eight games in a row before a rain delay brought the match to a halt and delayed his chances of becoming the first man since 1969 to hold all four majors at the same time and just the third in history.

The set second started as the first finished with the Russian dominant, immediately breaking to pile all the pressure on Hibino, who has progressively climbed the rankings since her WTA debut in 2012. “People are talking about names, guessing who these players are. I haven’t played in a long time, but I have been playing for 30 years, so it’s kind of-I try to focus on that”.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova earned the distinction of winning the first completed match at the tournament when she beat Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum earlier on Rod Laver Arena, avenging her upset three-set loss in the first round here in 2014.

Wozniacki, seeded 16th, lost 1-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 to Kazakhstan’s world number 76 Yulia Putintseva, while America’s Stephens was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Chinese qualifier Qiang Wang.

Nadal overcame Verdasco in a momentous five-setter in the Australian Open semi-finals six years ago, but few expected a similar battle with Verdasco now 32 and with his best days behind him.