Australian Open 2022: Andy Murray Win, Sloane Stephens Loss Highlight Day 2 Results
Day 2 of the 2022 Australian Open was highlighted by Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed in the women's bracket, making a statement as she seeks her first career Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka was the highest-ranked player in either bracket in action on Tuesday. Sloane Stephens, who is unranked, had a disappointing day. The American was sent home with a three-set loss to No. 17 Emma Raducanu.
On the men's side of the bracket, Andy Murray scored an upset win over No. 21 Nikoloz Basilashvili. Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who is the highest-ranked men's player with Novak Djokovic unable to participate, is seeking his first win in Melbourne after reaching the final last year.
Here are the notable results from Tuesday's action in Australia:
Women's Draw
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka def. Storm Sanders, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Garbine Muguruza def. Clara Burel, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Anett Kontaveit def. Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-3
No. 7 Iga Swiatek def. Harriet Dart, 6-3, 6-0
No. 10 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Anna Bondar, 6-2, 6-1
No. 12 Elena Rybakina def. Zarina Diyas, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-1
No. 14 Simona Halep def. Magdalena Frech, 6-4, 6-3
Kaia Kanepi def. No. 16 Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 6-3
No. 17 Emma Raducanu def. Sloane Stephens, 6-0, 2-6, 6-1
Men's Draw
No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Mikael Ymer, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime def. Emil Ruusuvuori, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
No. 20 Taylor Fritz def. Maximilian Marterer, 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-2
Andy Murray def. No. 21 Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
No. 24 Daniel Evans def. David Goffin, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0
No. 32 Alex De Minaur def. Lorenzo Musetti, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3
Full results available at AusOpen.com
Recap
Tuesday was a fairly quiet day as far as upsets go, but Murray made his return to the Australian Open a successful one.
Playing in this tournament for the first time since 2019, Murray sent Basilashvili home in a five-set thriller that took nearly four hours to complete.
After splitting the first two sets, Murray took control in the third thanks to sloppy play by Basilashvili. The Georgia native committed 99 unforced errors in the entire match, including 25 in the third set.
Basilashvili was able to rebound with a tiebreak victory in the fourth set, despite committing four double-faults. He won all five of his net-point opportunities and had 21 winners, nearly one-third of his total for the entire match (69).
Both men continued to trade blows in the decisive fifth set. They were tied at four after eight games when Murray finally broke through.
"It was amazing," Murray said of his win in an on-court interview after the match. "It has been a tough three or four years. I’ve put in a lot of work to get back here. I have played on this court many times, and the atmosphere is incredible. I have always had fantastic support."
This was Murray's first win at the Australian Open since defeating Sam Querrey in the third round of the 2017 tournament.
No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas didn't have nearly as much trouble in his opening-round match against Mikael Ymer. He only lost nine games across the three sets, hit six aces and won 54 percent of his break-point opportunities.
Tsitsipas will take on unranked Sebastian Baez in the second round on Wednesday. Murray has a showdown with Taro Daniel scheduled that day.
The women's bracket did see one notable upset with No. 16 Angelique Kerber falling in her first match to Kaia Kanepi in straight sets, 6-4. 6-3.
Kanepi seems to enjoy playing the role of underdog in the Australian Open. She knocked off 2020 champion Sofia Kenin in the second round last year.
Kerber didn't have an ace and committed three double-faults. She had more unforced errors (19) than winners (18). This marks her second straight year losing in the first round at the Australian Open.
Another player who had a frustrating day on the court was Stephens. The 28-year-old American came out of the gate completely flat, with Raducanu winning all six games in the opening set in just 17 minutes.
Stephens did rebound in the second set with a 6-2 to set up a decisive third set. Things immediately swung back in Raducanu's favor, as she took the first five games. Stephens was able to salvage one game in the third set, but the reigning U.S. Open champion held serve in the seventh game to put the match away.
This marks Raducanu's first appearance in the Australian Open. The 19-year-old was a surprise winner at the U.S. Open last year. There is still a long way to go, but her quest to become the first women's singles player to win consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since Naomi Osaka (2020 U.S. Open, 2021 Australian Open) continues.
