The 2021 tennis season began with the 2021 Australian Open in progress. The Australian Open was a Grand Slam tournament that was not impacted by COVID-19 in 2020, but it is certainly not the case this time. The tournament was initially scheduled to start on January 18 and last until the 31st, but officials decided to postpone it for three weeks.
As for the action, the star-studded field is led by the world’s best player Novak Djokovic, who seeks to win his third consecutive title at the Australian Open. Djokovic also has a male record of eight victories at the Australian Open.
In addition, Rafael Nadal also has a chance to make his own story. Nadal is tied with Roger Federer for the largest number of men’s individual Grand Slam titles and can set the record with a win below. Nadal has an Australian Open title on his resume, despite reaching the finals on five different occasions. Federer, on the other hand, is absent from the Australian Open while recovering from a serious knee injury. The Swiss star plans to return in March at the Qatar Open.
On the women’s side of the bracket, current Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin entered the tournament as the fourth seed, but lost to Kaia Kanepi in the second round (6-3, 6-2).
Ashleigh Barty is the best placed player in the women’s individual bracket and will try to avenge her defeat in the semifinal at Kenin’s hands. While the WTA tournaments were restarting in August, Barty decided to take the rest of the year off in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Timeline
Thursday, February 11
Male Singles
Second round
- No. 2 Rafael Nadal defeated Michael Mmoh (6-1, 6-4, 6-2)
- No. 4 Daniil Medvedev defeated Roberto Carballés Baena (6-2, 7-5, 6-1)
- No. 21 Alex De Minaur defeated Pablo Cuevas (6-3, 6-3, 7-5)
- No. 16 Fabio Fognini defeated Salvatore Caruso (4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, (14-12))
Third round
- No. 18 Grigo Dimitrov x Pablo Carreño Busta, 21:45
- No. 32 Adrian Mannarino vs. Alexander Zverev, 22:15
- No. 8 Diego Schwartzman vs. Aslan Karatsev, 11 pm
- No. 23 Dusan Lajović vs. Pedro Martinez, 23:30
Female Singles
Second round
- No. 5 Elina Svitolina defeated Coco Gauff (6-4, 6-3)
- Jessica Pegula defeated Samantha Stosur (6-0, 6-1)
Third round
- No. 19 Marketa Vondroušová vs. Sorana Cîrstea, 19h
- No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ann Li, 7pm
- No. 15 Garbine Muguruza vs. Zarina Diyas, 8:30 PM
- No. 10 Serena Williams vs. Anastasia Potapova, 9pm
- No. 3 Naomi Osaka vs. No. 27 Ons Jabeur, 9:30 pm
Results
Wednesday, February 10 | Second round
Male Singles
- No. 18 Grigor Dimitrov defeated Alex Bolt (7-6, (7-1), 6-1, 6-2)
- No. 6 Alexander Zverev defeated Maxime Cressy (7-5, 6-4, 6-3)
- Nick Kyrgios won No. 19 Ugo Humbert (5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, (7-2), 6-4)
- No. 15. Pablo Carreño Busta defeated Jiri Vesely (6-3, 7-6, (7-3), 2-6, 6-4)
- No. 32 Adrian Mannarino defeated Miomir Kecmanović (6-1, 6-2, 6-4)
- Feliciano Lopez won No. 31 Lorenzo Sonego (5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4)
- No. 7 Audrey Rublev defeated Thiago Monteiro, (6-4, 6-4, 7-6, (10-5))
- No. 19 Karen Khachanov defeated Ricardas Berankis, (6-2, 6-4, 6-4)
- No. 24 Casper Ruud defeated Tommy Paul, (3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5)
- No. 28 Filip Krajinović defeated Pablo Andújar, (6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4)
- No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis (6-7, (5-7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, (5-7), 6-4)
- Mackenzie McDonald won No. 22 Borna Coric, (6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4)
- No. 9 Matteo Berrettini defeated Tomas Machac (6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3)
Female Singles
- No. 3 Naomi Osaka defeated Caroline Garcia (6-2, 6-3)
- Simona Halep defeated Ajla Tomljanović (4-6, 6-4, 7-5)
- No. 15 Iga Świątek defeated Camila Giorgi (6-2, 6-4)
- No. 32 Veronika Kudermetova defeated Varva Gracheva (5-7, 6-2, 6-2)
- Sara Errani defeated Venus Williams (6-1, 6-0)
- No. 18 Elise Mertens defeated Zhu Lin (7-6, (10-8), 6-1)
- No. 6 Karolina Plíšková defeated Danielle Rose Collins (7-5, 6-2)
- No. 11 Belinda Bencic defeated Svetiana Kuznetsova (7-5, 2-6, 6-4)
- No. 25 Karolina Muchová defeated Mona Barthel (6-4, 6-1)
- No. 1 Ashleigh Barty defeated Daria Gavrilova (6-1, 7-6, (9-7))
- No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Barbora Krejčíková (6-3, 7-6, (7-4))
- No. 26 Yulia Putintseva defeated Alison Van Uytvanck (6-4, 1-6, 6-2)
- No. 28 Donna Vekić defeated Nadia Podoroska (6-2, 6-2)
- Kaia Kanepi won No. 4 Sofia Kenin (6-3, 6-2)
- No. 21 Anett Kontaveit defeated Heather Watson, (6-7, (5-7), 6-4, 6-2)
- No. 22 Jennifer Brady defeated Madison Brengle (6-1, 6-2)
How to watch the 2021 Australian Open
Dates: February 8th to 21st
Time: Varies
Localization: Melbourne, Australia
TV: ESPN
Stream: FuboTV