Defending champion Rafa Nadal shrugged off a rocky build-up to reach the Australian Open second round with a four-set win over ailing Jack Draper on Monday after home favourite Nick Kyrgios dropped a day one bombshell by pulling out injured.
“If we put it in the perspective of what I've been through in the last six months, it was a positive start,” the 36-year-old said on court.
But there were also fears for Novak Djokovic amid reports the nine-times champion had cancelled a second successive training session ahead of his opener on Tuesday. The withdrawal also ends Kyrgios and Kokkinakis's defence of the men's doubles title, a year after the “Special K's” drew huge crowds through their unlikely championship run.
Seventh seed Coco Gauff also raced into the second round, while last year's finalist Danielle Collins advanced with a tougher, three-set win over Anna Kalinskaya. Victoria Azarenka is now the only former champion left in the women's draw after beating 2020 winner Sofia Kenin 6-4 7-6.Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2020 champion at Flushing Meadows, beat Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4, while 2021 winner Emma Raducanu made light work of Tamara Korpatsch in a 6-3 6-2 victory.
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