The more familiar shock of falling seeds added to the ructions caused by allegations of tennis corruption as former champion Rafa Nadal and highly-fancied Simona Halep both departed in the first round of the Australian Open yesterday.
Nadal arrived at Melbourne Park with high hopes of arresting his recent grand slam decline only to depart, his optimism crushed, under a barrage of winners from fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Shortly after a dejected Nadal walked off court having tasted his first opening round loss at the Australian Open, women’s second seed Halep bid farewell while another high-profile casualty was seven-times major champion Venus Williams.
Andy Murray, the men’s second seed, and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka both impressed as the on-court action took centre stage after the allegations of match-fixing in the sport overshadowed Monday’s programme.
Nadal appeared confused at how he had managed to blow a 2-0 lead in the final set to go down 7-6 4-6 3-6 7-6 6-2 to Verdasco in a four hour 41 minute battle that had echoes of their marathon 2009 semi-final but with a reversed result.
The fifth seed, who failed to win a grand slam title last year for the first time in a decade, lost the last six games as world number 45 Verdasco unleashed a series of explosive forehands to take his place in the second round.
“He was playing amazing in the last set. If you decide everything in one set, the opponent is ready to hit all the balls at hundred per cent, then you are in trouble,” 2009 champion Nadal told reporters.
Halep gave similar reasons for her 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, who was ranked 131 places below the Romanian in the world list.
“I think it wasn’t my good day but I give her a lot of credit as she played without fear and hit every ball,” Halep, who has been struggling with an Achilles injury, told reporters.
Zhang burst into tears after winning her first grand slam singles match at the 15th attempt, later revealing that she had considered quitting the sport.
Like Nadal, Venus Williams had been hoping to carry a resurgence in form from 2015 into the New Year but she was similarly disappointed after a 6-4 6-2 defeat at the hands of British number one Johanna Konta.
Victoria Azarenka, twice an Australian Open champion, underlined her return to form and fitness, thrashing Alison Van Uytvanck 6-0 6-0 in the final match of the day.
Murray’s earlier encounter with teenager Alexander Zverev was delayed in the second game when the German suffered a nosebleed but the former Wimbledon champion’s path to the second round otherwise ran smoothly.
The Briton won 6-1 6-2 6-3 while Wawrinka, his possible semi-final foe, had an even shorter day, going through when Dmitry Tursunov retired hurt after the second set.