Heading into the 2015 Australian Open, one could not help but wonder if this would be yet another tournament in which we could possibly see another first-time Slam winner on the men’s side of the draw.
In all honesty, it is hard to think of another major in which so many of the games top players have had questions surrounding them coming into such a high profile event. Top seed Novak Djokovic has just recently recovered from a three week bout of the flu. Rafa Nadal comes into this year’s event having played a grand total of seven competitive matches since being bounced from Wimbledon by Nick Kyrgios in the Round of Sixteen.
Andy Murray is hoping to bounce back after suffering through what was a rather difficult campaign, both on and off the court. While Stan Wawrinka looked fantastic in winning this very event in 2014, he was nowhere near the same player for the remainder of the year.
US Open champ Marin Cilic is not even in Australia due to a shoulder injury. Tomas Berdych continues to be nothing more than a non-factor at the game’s premier events. While the duo of Kei Nishkori and Milos Raonic appear as though they could be ready to take that next step, neither one is being looked upon as a serious favorite Down Under.
Meaning outside of Roger Federer, who is the oldest of the bunch and by a fairly wide margin, no seed inside the top eight came to Melbourne as a supposed lock to reach the final weekend. Expected yes, but not the lock they once were. With that said, all eight had little trouble in advancing to the second round while perennial underachievers Ernests Gulbis and Fabio Fognini have already been sent packing.
There is no question that Nadal is the one guy fans across the world were most interested in seeing return to the court and to his credit, the fourteen-time grand slam winner looked pretty darn good in bouncing Mikhail Youzhny in three relatively comfortable sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. While nowhere near the force he has shown to be in the past, all things considered, there was nothing but positives to take away from the No. 3 seed’s performance.
"Very positive result for me. Always before the first match you always have the doubts, especially in this situation I'm arriving here. Never easy, but it was an important match for me. Every match is very important for me today. Was a comfortable victory that give me some confidence".
His return of serve and overall game improved as match moved along and as expected, the Spaniard’s court coverage was at its usual elite level. That said, the lack of depth on his ground strokes continues to be a concern but again, it was good first step and one that will certainly allow the player to believe he is headed in the right direction.
While Nadal was trying to once again familiarize himself with playing matches that actually mattered, Federer barley broke a sweat in getting past Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Same goes for Djokovic and his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Aljaz Bedene, as the top two seeds quite literally cruised into the second round with little to no opposition. Neither one was at their best but the occasion did not call for them to bring their "A" game to the table.
Whereas Murray was forced to work a little more than anyone had anticipated against Yuki Bhambri, in three highly entertaining sets of tennis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3). It was much of the same for the Canadian No. 1, who was pushed to a pair of tiebreakers by Illya Marchenko but never looked to be in anything other than complete control in winning 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3.
"I thought it was a tricky match. He played very close to the baseline on that court. Even when I was hitting good returns, he was changing the direction of the ball very quickly and coming to the net, said Murray, He played well up at the net. He had good hands, solid volleys and made it tough".
Of all the opening round matches, Nishikori had arguably the toughest draw of all in facing a former top ten player in Nicolas Almagro but it had little to no effect on the 2014 US Open finalist. While Almagro did manage to force his way into a second set tiebreaker, in the end it was a rather routine 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-2 victory for the No. 5 seed. but the quality of his opponent did not go unnoticed.
"Obviously was really tough, tough first match. He could be seeded player, and I know he was injured, but it still was a tough match".
