2012 Australian Open Recap: Day One Sees Rafa Face Injury Scare
Day One of the 2012 Australian Open is in the books Down Under, with many of the top seeds advancing to the second round of the first Grand Slam of 2012. The biggest upset of the day came on the men’s side of the draw from 19-year-old hometown favorite Bernard Tomic, who rallied from two sets down to beat the number 22 seed, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the second round.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal, already coming into the start of 2012 nursing a sore shoulder, may have a new injury to add to the list as a tendon issue in his right knee nearly forced the world’s number two-ranked player to withdraw from his opening round match with American Alex Kuznetsov.
“I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee … really strange,” Nadal said. “I stood up. I felt the knee was a little bit strange. I moved the leg like this two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee.”
A quick MRI revealed no damage and Nadal heavily taped the right knee and came through with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over the American Kuznetsov.
And while the American Kuznetsov was sent packing from the men’s singles draw, it was a successful opening day for the top-ranked American Mardy Fish with his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg; the 16th-ranked John Isner was a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 winner over Australia’s Benjamin Mitchell; Donald Young struggled but eventually overcame Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk during his 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2 win; and Sam Querrey was a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 winner over France’s Kenny De Schepper.
Also on the men’s side, the number three-seeded Roger Federer was victorious in his opening round match against Russian qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. The win marked Federer’s 60th victory at the Australian Open, and he also has 60-plus wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The 11-seed, Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, struggled and dropped the opening set to France’s Adrian Mannarino, but eventually pulled off the 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win.
Click here for full results of Day One action on the Men’s side of the draw from the 2012 Australian Open.
On the women’s side of the draw, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki was a winner over Australian Anastasia Rodionova in first round play, with an easy 6-2, 6-1 straight sets win. The top-ranked Wozniacki is coming off an injured wrist she suffered during last week’s quarterfinal loss at the Sydney International to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.
“I got a bit nervous about my wrist in Sydney, but I am happy I could play full-out tonight,” Wozniacki said.
Defending women’s champion Kim Clijsters from Belgium opened her Australian Open title defense with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Portuguese qualifier Maria Joao Koehler, showing no signs of the hip spasms which forced her to withdraw from a tuneup event in Brisbane just 10 day ago.
China’s Li Na, who lost in the Australian Open finals to Clijsters last year, earned a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan. In the first featured match of the tournament, third-seeded Victoria Azarenka won 12 straight games to defeated Great Britain’s Heather Watson, 6-1, 6-0.
Other women advancing included the number 16-seed, Peng Shuai of China; the 20th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 22nd-seeded Julia Goerges; 26th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain; and Eleni Daniilidou of Greece. The number 19-seeded Flavia Pennetta, 23rd-seeded Lucie Safarova and 28th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer were among the seeds losing in first round action.
Click here for full results of Day One action on the women’s side of the draw from the 2012 Australian Open.
