Canada's Fernandez wins opening match at Australian Open in straight sets
Defending champion Novak Djokovic fends off Dino Prizmic in 4 hours
It wasn't vintage Leylah Fernandez, but the 21-year-old from Laval, Que., found a way to grind out a victory on Saturday in her opening singles match at the 15-day Australian Open in Melbourne.
Fernandez needed a tiebreaker to win the first set 7-6 (5) in an hour against 17-year-old qualifier Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic, then won the second 6-2 in 31 minutes to advance.
Fernandez finished with two aces, two double faults, one tiebreak victory and 18 unforced errors.
Bejlek had no aces, one double fault and 12 unforced errors.
WATCH l Fernandez advances to 2nd round in Melbourne:
Fernandez was good on 71 per cent of her first serves and won 33 points on the first serve. She won eight service games and four return games.
"It wasn't a perfect match, but I'm just glad that I was able to fight through some of the tough moments that I encountered in the first set and just kept fighting," said Fernandez, who had a first-round loss at last year's U.S. Open.
Fernandez will next play American Alycia Parks, who defeated qualifier Daria Snigur of Ukraine 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Rebecca Marino of Vancouver will play fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula in her opening match on Tuesday.
The men's draw includes fellow Canadians Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic.
Shapovalov will face Jakub Menšík of the Czech Republic on Sunday, while Raonic will take on 10th-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur before Auger-Aliassime plays Austria's Dominic Thiem on Monday.
Defending champ Djokovic advances
Until he took on defending champion Novak Djokovic at Rod Laver Arena on opening Sunday in Australia, Dino Prizmic had never played a Grand Slam match.
The 18-year-old Croatian qualifier, who was born seven months after Djokovic made his Grand Slam debut in 2005, made it last as long as he could, unsettling the 24-time major winner at times before Djokovic finished off the match 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic made his Grand Slam debut at Melbourne Park in 2005 and has developed a record at the Australian Open that no man can match, with 10 titles here among his unprecedented career haul.
The first set played out just about as expected. From there, it became quite a ride.
Prizmic took the second set off Djokovic and went up a break in the third, stunning a capacity crowd, before the world's No. 1-ranked player broke back and took the set.
Prizmic didn't give up when he trailed 4-0 in the fourth, either, saving a breakpoint before getting a service break back. He saved three match points at 5-3 down and made Djokovic serve it out. He then saved a further two match points before it ended in four hours and one minute.
"He deserved every applause, every credit he got tonight," Djokovic said. "Amazing performance for someone that is 18 years old and never had the experience of playing on a big stage. Kudos to him."
Wozniacki moves on in her 1st Aussie Open since becoming a mom
Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the second round in her first Australian Open since becoming a mom when 20th-seeded Magda Linette retired in the second set of their Sunday night match.
Wozniacki was leading 6-2, 2-0 on Margaret Court Arena when Linette, a 2023 semifinalist, was treated by the trainer and decided she could not continue.
Wozniacki won the 2018 Australian Open for her breakthrough major title. She retired in 2020 and had two children before returning to the tour last year in time for the U.S. Open.
She will next play Maria Timofeeva, a 20-year-old qualifier who had a 6-2, 6-4 win over Alize Cornet, ending the French veteran's record 68th consecutive Grand Slam event.
Jannik Sinner tops Botic van de Zandschulp
Jannik Sinner picked up where he left off in 2023 by easing past Botic van de Zandschulp into the second round of the Australian Open.
The clean-hitting Italian fourth seed, the hottest player on the men's tour at the back end of last season with victories over Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, was quickly back in his groove on Rod Laver Arena.
Although far from perfect, he broke his Dutch opponent to open the contest and grabbed another break to serve for the second set before securing his place in the second round 6-4 7-5 6-3 after 2 1/2 hours on court.
"It's my first match of the season and it means a lot to get a win," said Sinner, who was cheered on by the "Carota Boys," a band of fans dressed as carrots.
"It's a tournament where I would like to play as good as possible ... hopefully I can show more as I go along. The first match is never easy, I think I can be happy."
Aryna Sabalenka was scheduled to start her title defence against Ella Seidel in the last match of the day on the main show court.
Andre Agassi, who won the last of his four Australian titles in 2003, joined Evonne Goolagong Cawley to carry the trophies into the tennis complex before play began on the first of the tournament's three Sundays.
Tournament organizers are honouring Goolagong Cawley on the 50th anniversary of the first of her four Australian Open titles in 1974. She also won Wimbledon twice and the French Open once.
With files from CBC Sports, Reuters' Nick Mulvenney, The Associated Press' Simon Cambers
