Fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz, in his first Grand Slam match since losing the U.S. Open final to Italy’s Jannik Sinner last fall, cruised to a victory in the first round of the Australian Open.
The 27-year-old Californian downed fellow U.S. player Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 on Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia.
While Fritz was continuing a hot streak that included his contributions to the U.S. capturing the United Cup a week ago, Brooksby was competing in his first match in two years. He was sidelined due to wrist surgery and also served a 13-month ban for missing three drug tests.
Fritz finished with a 7-1 edge in aces and a 34-20 advantage in winners. Brooksby committed 23 errors to Fritz’s 21.
“I’m super happy how the match went,” Fritz said. “It’s never easy playing the first match of Slams with a bit of nerves. I did a good job shaking that off early and getting it done in straights.”
The seeded players in early Tuesday action all advanced, though 13th-seed Holger Rune of Denmark needed five sets to prevail. Rune got past China’s Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the 18th seed, ousted the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, and 19th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3.
Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, the 31st seed, downed Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-2.
Learner Tien, a 19-year-old U.S. qualifier, squeezed past Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Other first-round winners included Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic and Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin.
–Field Level Media
