The first round of the new season's Australian Open women's singles concluded with many high-seeded players, including Polini, Rybakina, Kasatkina, and Navarro, making their appearances. Additionally, several Chinese players such as Zhang Shuai, Wang Yafan, Zheng Saisai, Wang Xiyu, and Wei Siqi also competed.
Navarro and Kasatkina both secured victories in the morning matches, with Kasatkina winning comfortably 6-1, 6-3 against Tomova, while Navarro narrowly avoided an upset.
As the No. 8 seed, Navarro faced Sterns, ranked 46th in the world, in a tough three-set match filled with breaks of serve. Navarro lost the first set tiebreak 5-7 but won the second set tiebreak 7-5. In the decisive set, she came back from a 3-5 deficit to win four consecutive games, securing the set 7-5 and the match 2-1, narrowly avoiding becoming the first top-ten seed to be eliminated in the first round at this year's Australian Open.
However, No. 26 seed Alexandrova and former US Open champion Raducanu both lost in two tiebreak sets, resulting in a 0-2 elimination, making Alexandrova the fourth seeded player to exit in the first round.
Seeded players eliminated in the first round include: [16] Ostapenko, [21] Azarenka, [26] Alexandrova, [29] Noskova.
Grand Slam champions who did not advance past the first round are: Ostapenko, Stephens, Azarenka, Kenin.
Among the Chinese players who competed in the morning, Wang Yafan, Zheng Saisai, and Wang Xiyu experienced mixed results.
Zheng Saisai lost 1-6, 6-7 to D. Andreieva, ending her run in the first round. On the other hand, Wang Xiyu performed well, winning the first set 6-1 easily and leading 3-0 in the second set before being caught up by her opponent to 5-5. She then held serve and broke her opponent's serve to win 7-5, advancing to the second round for the first time in three years with a 2-0 victory, improving her ranking to NO.95.
Wang Yafan, after losing the first set 3-6, staged a comeback in the next two sets, winning 6-3, 6-4 to reverse the match 2-1 against Bondar, having advanced to at least the second round in all six Grand Slams since her return. Her next opponent will be No. 9 seed Kasatkina.
Currently, three Chinese players have advanced to the second round (top 64) of the Australian Open, including Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xiyu, and Wang Yafan.
Upcoming matches include Zhang Shuai versus Kesler and Wei Siqi versus Polini, with the possibility of up to five Chinese players advancing to the second round. Let's cheer them on!