Paula Badosa is the only Spanish in the second round of the Australian Open. Four national rackets started the tournament and only Begur’s racket remains after it defeated the Simon 6-2 and 6-4. Badosa, who a year ago showed her best level in Melbourne where she reached the semifinals against her friend Sabalenka, vindicated herself against Diyas.
It was more than due to the level of the rival due to Badosa’s own feelings that she spent almost half of last season without being able to compete weighed down by physical setbacks. In fact, she stopped playing after the WTA 1,000 in Miami with a specific presence in Beijing. Three months of absence that hindered the progress of the one who became number two in the world.
The best Spanish player took 81 minutes to solve her first match. There were reasonable doubts about his physical performance after having played three matches prior to the Australian Open, in Brisbane and Adelaide, and having suffered two defeats. The world number 25 will face Russian Oksana Selekhmetova in the second round.
Jessica Bouzas, number 40 in the WTA ranking, was eliminated (6-4 and 6-4) from the Australian Open by local tennis player Storm Hunternumber 32 in the world. Bouzas, 23, offered resistance for about an hour and a half. Hunter sealed a victory in two sets, after holding his serve with authority in the final game. By serving to win the match, the Australian barely gave up a point and closed the duel with a direct serve. Hunter’s good performance on serve was too much for the Galician. A year ago she also said goodbye to Melbourne in the first round when she lost to Argentina’s María Lourdes Carlé in three sets.
Cristina Bucsa She said goodbye on the first day against the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, twelfth seed, 6-4 and 6-1. The Cantabrian player, 28 years old and 51st in the women’s ranking, finalist in Hong Kong last year, had a good start that she could not extend against an undefeated rival so far in 2026. And the dream of Guiomar Maristany she finished against the Uzbek Polina Kudermetova 6-2 and 6-3. Barcelona leaves Australia in the “top 200” of the WTA.
In the men’s box, Alexander Davidovich He won with authority over the Australian Filip Misolic (6-2, 6-3 and 6-3) and now the American bomber Reilly Opelka awaits him. One of the best servers on the circuit beat the Norwegian Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4. The Malaga native, a semi-finalist in Adelaide last week, took one hour and 43 minutes to close his debut in the tournament and join Alcaraz as the second Spaniard with a place in the second round of the first “Grand Slam” of the season.
Misolic did not offer excessive resistance. Davidovich, now with Argentine Mariano Puerta as coach, never lost in the first round in Melbourne and last year reached the round of 16. His ceiling in a “Big” is the quarterfinals at Roland Garros 2021. Davidovich, world number 14, aims this season to sneak into the “top 10” and win the first professional title of his career.
Roberto Bautista He could not beat the Chinese Juncheng Shang, who took advantage of the Spaniard’s physical decline in the final stretch to win 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 and 6-0, in two hours and 56 minutes. The man from Castellón, who became the ninth player in the world in 2019, is now ranked 91st and at 37 years old was facing his fifteenth appearance at the Australian Open. In the last three they have not managed to pass the first round. Bautista, who did not play a match last year after the US Open, had debuted this season with a loss in Auckland.
On the second day of the tournament there was only one surprise among the seeds. Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime had to retire injured during his match against Portuguese Nuno Borges. The North American dominated 3-6, 6-4 and 6-4 at the time of abandonment. He noticed discomfort in his upper left leg and was unable to continue.
