The opening day of the women’s singles at the Australian Open featured several fascinating matchups. Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka’s battle against 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens was among the exciting matches. But who impressed and which players struggled, and what was the best contest of day one?
Australian Open Day 1 Women’s Recap
Who Looked Good
Sabalenka started her title defense with a dominant 6-3 6-2 victory. Stephens, who had lost eight consecutive matches before facing the world No. 1 on the Rod Laver Arena, played well for long periods and will undoubtedly break her losing streak by continuing to perform near that level. However, it never came close to beating the pre-tournament favorite.
Teenage prodigy Mirra Andreeva also started strongly. Her match against the gritty and determined Marie Bouzkova could have been challenging, but she did not give the Czech a chance during a 6-3 6-3 win. Andreeva dominated with her backhand, in particular, throughout this contest played on the John Cain Arena.
Paula Badosa might have been feeling nervous before Day 1 of the Australian Open after patchy form in the warmup tournaments beforehand. The Spaniard responded impressively with a 6-3 7-6 triumph against Xinyu Wang, who beat Jessica Pegula at last year’s Wimbledon Championships. Badosa did well to come through a tight and high-quality second set.
Olympic gold medalist and last year’s Australian Open runner-up Qinwen Zheng was rusty in the opening set against Anca Todoni. The Chinese player did not play in any tournaments before the opening Grand Slam of 2025, and that showed. But she found her feet in the second set and comfortably progressed 7-6 6-1.
Donna Vekic, who lost last year’s Olympic gold medal match to Zheng, was another winner on Day 1. Diane Parry fought bravely and caused the Croatian trouble for long periods. Vekic managed to play the most critical points better in a 6-4 6-4 win.
Who Looked Bad
Bouzkova did not play terribly, but she did not entirely do herself justice against Andreeva. She prides herself on extending the rallies and making life difficult for her opponents. Last year’s Citi DC Open champion made more unforced errors than usual during the opening round.
Chloe Paquet might be disappointed with her performance against Cristina Bucsa. The Frenchwoman qualified for the Australian Open for the first time in four years but did not cause Bucsa many problems during a 2-6 3-6 loss.
Match of the Day
Clara Tauson and Linda Noskova’s hard-hitting battle was the best match on Day 1 of the women’s singles. Tauson, who won the ASB Classic during the season’s opening week after 2019 and 2021 Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka retired after the first set in the final, was 5-2 up in the first set against Noskova. However, the 20-year-old Czech reeled off five games in a row to take it 7-5.
Tauson took an early lead in the second set and did not let it slip again, winning the set 6-3 to force a decider. Both women served strongly in the third set before Tauson eventually got the only break in the ninth game. The Dane then served out an entertaining 5-7 6-3 6-4 victory.
Main photo credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
