Ljubicic crashes out on day one
Ivan Ljubicic’s bid for a first Grand Slam title ended
abruptly after the No. 4 seed became the first major seeded
casualty at the 2007 Australian Open, which got underway on
Monday in Melbourne.
 It
was American Mardy Fish, ranked 42 in the world, who caused
the upset, defeating the Croat 46 76(2) 64 64 in just under
three hours. 2006 quarterfinalist Ljubicic arrived in Melbourne
with a seventh career title under his belt, having lifted
the trophy in Doha. His exit marks his second successive first
round Grand Slam loss, having fallen to Feliciano Lopez at
the 2006 US Open. Argentina’s Jose Acasuso and Agustin
Calleri, No. 27 and No. 30 seeds respectively, joined Ljubicic
in the early exits on day one.
A record day one crowd of 55,543 descended on Melbourne Park
as the top half of the men’s draw got underway. Defending
champion Roger Federer, bidding for his tenth Grand Slam title,
overcame a shaky start against Bjorn Phau to defeat the German
75 60 64 for a place in the second round. No. 11 seed Marcos
Baghdatis followed suit after defeating 2003 runner-up Rainer
Schuettler in four sets. Joining the 2006 finalists in the
second round are high seeds Mario Ancic, Novak Djokovic, Dominik
Hrbaty, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet, Tommy Robredo and Andy
Roddick. The American No. 6 seed’s opening set against
French wildcard Jo-Wilfried Tsonga produced a new record for
the longest known tiebreak at the Australian Open. Tsonga
won the 38-point tiebreak to take the first set 76(18) in
just under an hour, before Roddick pulled back to win the
next three sets and the match.
Marat Safin was faced with a tough challenge on day one in
the form of Germany’s Benjamin Becker. The 2005 champion
endured a three hour 26 minute marathon, having to come back
from two sets to one down to move into the second round. Becker
came into the spotlight at the 2006 US Open, being the player
who sent Andre Agassi into retirement when he defeated the
legendary American 75 67 64 75 in the third round.
In the women’s draw, the top seeds moved safely through
to the next round, led by No. 2 and No. 3 seeds Amelie Mauresmo
and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Two-time Australian Open champion
Serena Williams, who has returned to international competition
after an injury lay-off, demolished No. 27 seed Mara Santangelo
62 61 in just over an hour. Anabel Medina Garrigues (No. 25)
and Jie Zheng (No. 31) were the only other seeded casualties.
It has been 31 years since the home nation won the Australian
Open men’s singles title and the Australian contingent
will be out in force on day two, led by No. 19 seed Lleyton
Hewitt. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal begins his campaign for the
title against Robert Kendrick. The pair last met in the second
round at 2006 Wimbledon in a gruelling five-setter, the American
just two points from defeating Nadal.
Top seed Maria Sharapova and three-time Australian Open champion
Martina Hingis will also be in action alongside former world
No. 1 Kim Clijsters, who contests her last Australian Open
before retiring at the end of the year.
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