Kvitova Out of Australian Open after 'Painful' Defeat

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has exited the Australian Open in the opening round following a difficult month in the lead-up to the first major of the season.

However, Russia's Daniil Medvedev launched his bid for a maiden Australian Open title with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) romp over Switzerland's Henri Laaksonen.

Kvitova, the 2019 Australian Open finalist, was ousted by Sorana Cirstea for the second successive year at Melbourne Park, the Romanian veteran easing to a 6-2, 6-2 victory on John Cain Arena.

"I don't think I have much to say," Kvitova told her post-match media conference.

"It wasn't really going my way the whole month. That's how it is. It's a sport and I just have to fight through and be better at it."

The 20th seed, who lost to Naomi Osaka in the final three years ago, entered two warm-up tournaments prior to the Australian Open but ended up playing only three matches after early exits in Adelaide and Sydney.

"I didn't play a lot of matches at the beginning of this year," Kvitova said.

"I did have some health issues the whole month as well, so it was tough to practice. It wasn't really easy this beginning of the season, but the season is long, so I hope that it will turnaround."

The 31-year-old Czech opened her 2022 campaign with a stunning loss to Australian world number 221 Priscilla Hon in the first round of the Adelaide International.

She moved on to the Sydney Tennis Classic and survived a scare to get her first win of the year against Arantxa Rus before exiting the tournament in the second round at the hands of Ons Jabeur.

Kvitova said she would take a few days to "see clearly" and then focus on getting as many matches as she could under her belt and hopefully kick-starting her season.

"This loss is very painful, in the first round after like a whole month," she said.

Women's third seed Garbine Muguruza got her campaign underway with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Clara Burel.

The 2020 runner-up faces Alize Cornet in the second round after the Frenchwoman beat Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-3.

Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start to cruise into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over British qualifier Harriet Dart. The seventh seed takes on Peterson in the second round, after the Swede beat Australia's Daria Saville.

Earlier, 2020 quarter-finalist Anett Kontaveit beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-3.

Medvedev begins campaign

US Open champion Medvedev — a favourite to win at Melbourne Park in the wake of Novak Djokovic's deportation — was in cruise control mode for two sets against world number 91 Laaksonen before being dragged into a proper dog fight in the third set.

Finland-born Laaksonen produced scintillating tennis to keep in touch with Medvedev in the tiebreak before faltering with a pair of unforced errors that gave the Russian three match points.

Second seed Medvedev sealed the win on the first of them and will play the winner of Nick Kyrgios and Liam Broady for a place in the third round.

His countryman and fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who reached the quarter-finals last year, sealed a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Gianluca Mager.

Joining the Russian in the next round is Diego Schwartzman following his 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Filip Krajinovic.

Fifteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut also advanced with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 win over Stefano Travaglia.

Meanwhile, men's world number eight Casper Ruud has withdrawn from the Australian Open, just hours before his first match, after sustaining an ankle injury in practice.

"Lucky loser" Roman Safiullin replaced the Norwegian in the draw and will take on Slovak Alex Molcan.

Ruud reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park last year before retiring with an abdominal injury against Rublev.

January 19, 2022