The 2021 Australian Open is currently underway and we have our first-day winners already. The event would run for 2 weeks in Melbourne, Australia. A few fans were present at Monday’s games with many others staying back due to fear of the virus. We would be looking at some of the key updates of Monday’s game.

World number one and defending champion, Novak Djokovic started his tournament right after a stunning victory over Jeremy Chardy in a game of 3 sets (6-3 6-1 6-2). Djokovic hopes to win this tournament for a record ninth time and improve his record to 18 grand slams.

Dominic Thiem, who was beaten by Djokovic at last year’s finals, also won his first round, beating Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-3. Denis Shapovalov emerged victorious in a game that spanned nearly four hours to beat Jannik Sinner 3-6 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4. Stan Wawrinka did not take too long to defeat Pedro Sousa 6-3 6-2 6-4. Alexander Zverev fought long and hard to defeat Marcos Giron 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2. Gael Monfils broke down after his loss on Monday, saying, “I lost, I have zero confidence, I played badly.”

On the women’s side, former world number one, Serena Williams put up a stunning performance to defeat German Laura Siegemund 6-1 6-1, dubbing herself “vintage Serena”. Current US Open champion also smiled after her first-round victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-2. Iga Swiatek enjoyed her first round as well as she defeated Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-3.

Simona Halep needed less than an hour to defeat Lizette Cabrera 6-2 6-1. Petra Kvitova joined the first-day winners after she defeated Greet Minnen 6-3 6-4. Bianca Andreescu made her return after being away for more than a year by beating Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-2 4-6 6-3. Angelique Kerber suffered defeat on her first day in the hands of Bernarda Pera 6-0 6-4. Kerber was one of the 72 people who had to stay put in their hotel rooms 14 days without the option to train and that may have affected her performance.