{"id":78000,"date":"2025-01-12T12:39:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T17:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=78000"},"modified":"2025-01-12T12:52:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T17:52:38","slug":"australian-open-day-1-mens-recap-zverev-ruud-nishikori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/01\/12\/australian-open-day-1-mens-recap-zverev-ruud-nishikori\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open Day 1 Men’s Recap: Zverev cruises, Ruud, and Nishikori win Five-Set Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 1 of the men’s singles tournament at the Australian Open<\/a>\u00a0was spoiled by heavy rain, but 12 matches were completed by the day’s end. Two Top 10 players made their debuts, while no seeds lost on opening day. LWOT recaps some of the players’ overall performances and reflects on the best matches–as 14 days of the tournament remain ahead.<\/p>\n

Australian Open Men’s Day 1 Recap<\/h2>\n

Who Looked Good<\/h3>\n

Only four of the 11 completed men’s matches ended in straight sets (one ended in retirement), and arguably the easiest win of the day goes to Alexander Zverev<\/strong>,\u00a0He won 6-4 6-4 6-4 over former World No. 10 Lucas Pouille<\/strong>, firing 18 aces and not dropping serve once. It’s worth noting that at last year’s Australian Open, the German had to fight through some long opening matches, including winning a second-round slugfest against Lukas Klein<\/a>. If he can keep his early matches quick, Zverev will have a better chance to be fresh later in the second week.<\/p>\n

World No. 14\u00a0Ugo Humbert<\/strong>\u00a0was also impressive, because of his clutchness at the end of each of the three sets that he won. While he fired 28 winners to a subpar 43 unforced errors, it was encouraging to see the Frenchman step up his game with solid serving and limited errors. In what turned out to be a 7-6 (5) 7-5 6-4 win over Matteo Gigante<\/strong>, he broke serve in a 20-point plus game late in the second set to get the big momentum shift.<\/p>\n

Arthur Fils,\u00a0<\/strong>coming off a great 2024 season<\/a>, also reminded fans of how strong he can be on hard courts. After a slow start, he overcame\u00a0Otto Virtanen<\/strong> 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 6-4. He didn’t look that great until midway through the third set, but it’s always better for players to improve towards the end of each match, especially this early in a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

Finally,\u00a0Hady Habib<\/strong> of Lebanon was one of the big stars of the day, making history<\/a> as the first Lebanese player to win a Grand Slam match. He won 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6) over Yunchaokete Bu<\/strong>.\u00a0The crowd was on Habib’s side, creating a thrilling Sunday evening atmosphere on Court 13. Habib has a big forehand and strong serve that I think will improve throughout 2025.<\/p>\n

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Hady Habib does it! Two days ago Lebanon had never had a Grand Slam main draw participant, now they have a match winner!<\/p>\n

And look at what it means!<\/p>\n

He defeats Bu 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6)@wwos<\/a> \u2022 @espn<\/a> \u2022 @eurosport<\/a> \u2022 @wowowtennis<\/a> \u2022 #AusOpen<\/a> \u2022 #AO2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oFoJbKIQoE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n