There were a couple of significant upsets on the men’s side in the first day of the Australian Open, but the Top 10 seeds all made it through with relative ease, with Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Alexander Bublik all safely into the second round. Among seeded players, only #22 Flavio Cobolli was eliminated on Day 1.
Australian Open Men’s Day 1 Recap
Who looked good
Alexander Bublik had a potentially very tricky first round against Jenson Brooksby, but he made surprisingly easy work of it, winning in routine straight sets while not really every looking in danger. He seems to really be turning into a consistent top level player and can certainly go far in this tournament if he manages to keep up this level and focus.
Carlos Alcaraz started his campaign with a routine straight-set win against Adam Walton, as expected, while seemingly barely getting out of second gear. The Spaniard has never made it past the quarterfinals in Melbourne (and he won all the other Slams multiple times) but this might finally be the year where he competes for the title and the career Slam.
Frances Tiafoe will be looking to bounce back this year after a disappointing 2025 and he got off to a very solid start here in Australia, beating Jason Kubler without many problems and playing solid tennis throughout.
Who looked bad
As the only seed to get eliminated, and by a qualifier in Arthur Fery no less, Flavio Cobolli clearly stands out here, even if he looked far from 100% physically. It was far from an ideal start to a season where he’s hoping to break through to the next level.
Sebastian Korda will also be looking for a bounce back season, but things haven’t started well for him at all. He had a manageable draw to make the third round here, but he lost a five setter against a qualifier in Michael Zheng while playing very far from his best. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to improve and get back to his best soon.
Match of the Day
The most exciting match of the day was the almost four hour battle between Cameron Norrie and Benjamin Bonzi (who is no stranger to first round Slam epics after his match with Daniil Medvedev at the most recent US Open). It featured long rallies, constant momentum swings and it remained unpredictable until the very end, with Norrie’s superior fitness perhaps making the difference in his favor in the end.
Main Photo Credit: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
