Wawrinka starts Australian Open title defense with comfortable win
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E-mail Xinhua, January 21, 2015
Stanislas Wawrinka made no delay in starting his Australian Open title defense, winning his first round match in straight sets on Tuesday.
Fellow top seeds Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic also all made it through to the second round with straight-sets wins.
In the women's draw, there were no signs of a cautious approach as unseeded two-time champion Victoria Azarenka took a 6-3, 6-2 win over American Sloane Stephens.
Wawrinka, who won the 2014 title by defeating the top-two seeds, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, played flawless tennis to win 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 over Marsel Ilhan in less than an hour and a half.
The defending champion was given a warm reception by the Rod Laver Arena crowd, one that the Swiss fourth seed appreciated.
"I can feel that I had a lot of support out here, and it's always nice to come back like that and feel the crowd behind you," said Wawrinka.
"In the second set I was trying to be a little more aggressive, trying a few things that maybe I do more in practice.
"But in general, I'm here to win matches. The score doesn't matter."
Djokovic, who is the No.1 seed going into the tournament, returned to the site of his epic loss to Wawrinka last year with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over lowly ranked Aljaz Bedene.
Djokovic has never lost a Grand Slam match to a player outside the top-100, but it was the 116th-ranked player who produced the first two break points.
Bedene could not convert as the seven-time Grand Slam champion found his groove and continued his quest for a fifth Australian Open title.
Asia's No. 1 Nishikori said he cannot yet fill the void Li Na left when she abruptly retired in September.
Li predicted on Tuesday that the 2014 US Open finalist, who beat unseeded Nicholas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, would soon win a Grand Slam.
"That's a good thing to hear from her," said Nishikori. "She was a big, big leader especially for Asian tennis.
"I think I'm getting close (to reaching her status)."
Nishikori's first round opponent, Almagro, was playing just his second match since a left foot injury forced the Spaniard to retire at last year's French Open.
"Obviously it was a really tough first match. He could be a seeded player," Nishikori said.
Meanwhile, 12th seed Feliciano Lopez was given a serious fright, forced to save three match points to beat wildcard Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.
On the women's side, 2012 and 2013 champion Azarenka began her first Slam as an unseeded player since 2007.
A chronic left foot injury meant former world No.1 played just seven tournaments after making last year's quarter finals at Melbourne Park.
Now ranked No.44, she moved fluidly around the court, dominating Stephens and eliminating the American for the third time in four years.
"I felt pretty good," she said, denying she felt any aches and pains.
"I just want to take it and try to build from here because it's what I need - matches and match play."
She was unfazed at meeting fellow former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the second round after the Dane won 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 over American Taylor Townsend.
"I know she is very dangerous ...(but) I would like to focus on myself and what I can do to build my game," she said.
Petra Kvitova, the No.4 seed, also won in straight sets, accounting for Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp 6-1, 6-4.
It was a bad day for Chinese players with all three female hopes departing in straight-set losses.
Zheng Jie, a 2010 semi finalist, was wiped off the court by wildcard Chang Kai-Chen of Chinese Taipei 6-1, 6-2.
Zheng said she had not fully recovered from surgery in December and it showed with China's No.4 winning just 41 percent of points off her serve.
Zhang Shuai started well with a quick break in Alize Cornet's first service game, only for the Frenchwoman to immediately break back and exert her control.
Zhang quickly fell apart in the second set as the No.19 seed raced to a 4-0 lead before winning 6-3, 6-2.
Zheng Saisai suffered a similar fate, falling to Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-4.
Zhang Ze will try to arrest that trend when he takes on former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt on centre court in Tuesday's night session. Endi
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