Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday survived a three-set thriller in the first round of the Australian Open as Roger Federer picked up where he left off on a day when Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic helped ensure there were all kinds of comebacks.
Hsieh lost the first set to love against world No. 113 Zhu Lin, with the 23-year-old Chinese looking comfortable and heading for victory before the match totally changed in the second set, the Taiwanese world No. 82 storming back to love to level the match at a set apiece.
“In the first set, she was playing very aggressive, but then she changed her game style in the second set. She played so well that I just didn’t have any chance to attack, she didn’t miss a ball,” Zhu told Xinhua news agency.
Photo: AP
In a tense third set the Taiwanese broke first to take a 3-1 lead, but Zhu broke back to level at 4-4.
Hsieh then broke again at 6-6 and went on to complete a 0-6, 6-0, 8-6 victory in 1 hour, 52 minutes.
Hsieh converted six of the 12 break points she created, while her opponent converted five of seven as the Taiwanese set up a tough second-round match with third seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the reigning Wimbledon champion.
In the men’s singles, defending champion Federer beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in a night match, his first on Rod Laver Arena since clinching a career-reviving title in Melbourne last year.
The 19-time major winner has been met on court after wins here previously by tennis greats Laver, John McEnroe and Jim Courier. Yesterday, he got something different.
Comedian Will Ferrell stepped out of the crowd and, slipping into character as Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchorman, conducted the post-match interview.
As usual, the 36-year-old Federer stayed classy.
Six-time champion Djokovic and 2014 Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka earlier made successful returns from injury layoffs with victories in their first matches since Wimbledon last year.
Sharapova barely missed a beat in her first match in Melbourne since a failed doping test in 2016 resulted in a 15-month ban from tennis.
The five-time major winner recovered from an early break in the second set and closed out her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tatjana Maria with an ace.
“It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been back here — obviously I wanted to enjoy the moment,” the 2008 Australian Open champion said after blowing kisses to the crowd.
Former world No. 1 Kerber, the 2016 Australian Open winner, continued her resurgent run with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Anna-Lena Friedsam to extend her streak to 10 consecutive wins.
“Something is going on with Australia and me,” said Kerber, who won the Sydney International last week.
Djokovic tweaked his service motion while recovering from an injured right elbow and used it to good effect in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Donald Young.
Djokovic lost in the second round last year, but won five of the previous six Australian Open titles.
“Obviously, I wanted to start with the right intensity, which I have,” Djokovic said. “I played perfect tennis, like I never stopped.”
Wawrinka, who had six months out after surgery on his left knee, beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2).
Madison Keys reversed a trend, becoming the only one of the four American women who contested the US Open semi-finals four months ago to reach the second round.
Keys, the US Open runner-up, advanced with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Wang Qiang and is one of four American women in the second round.
World No. 1 Simona Halep had to save set points at 5-2 down in the first set and badly twisted her left ankle early in the second, before beating teenage wild-card Destanee Aiava 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Halep next plays 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard.
“It’s always really cool to go up against the best in the world,” Bouchard said. “I want to... go out there and do some damage.”
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