Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka had no worries moving into the second round of the 2020 Australian Open and joining them there were Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki on a rain-filled opening day.
Williams, gunning for her 24th Grand Slam title, romped past Anastasia Potapova in straight sets and later said she was concerned about the quality of the air because of her past lung problems. She won 6-0, 6-3 to set up a second round meeting with Tamara Zidansek.
She said:
“I definitely was concerned, and am. That (haze) is still a concern for, I think, pretty much everyone.”
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However, there were no concerns in her win over Potapova with conditions having changed for the better as well. Later in the day, the heavens opened and rains ensured the clearing of the pollution but also stopped matches which were scheduled to be played on the outside courts.
That was not before Osaka brushed past Marie Bouzkova in her first round match as well, winning 6-2, 6-4 to move into the second round. She will now face Zheng Saisai, who was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Anna Kalinskaya in her opener.
Also advancing to the second round was Petra Kvitova who crushed Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-0 in her opener, and 13th-seeded Petra Martic, who defeated Christina McHale 6-3, 6-0. Kvitova will now take on Paula Badosa while Martic faces Julia Goerges in their respective second round matches.
2018 Australian Open winner Wozniacki wasted no time getting past Kristie Ahn in her first round match, winning 6-1, 6-3. She will now be up against the winner of the match between Dayana Yastremska and Kaja Juvan in the second round of her last tournament following which she has opted to retire from the sport.
Rain played havoc with the scheduling with few of the matches on the outside court getting suspended on day one of the competition.
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