HALEP, MUGURUZA EASE THROUGH; KVITOVA, FERNANDEZ SUFFER UPSETS

Former World No.1 Simona Halep got her 2022 Australian Open campaign off to a victorious start, as Romanian gritted past Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-4, 6-3 in their first-round battle.

In their sole prior meeting, Halep had defeated Frech with the loss of only two games on the clay courts of Prague in 2020. The two-time Grand Slam champion has now improved to 6-0 on the season thus far, having won her 23rd career WTA singles title at Melbourne Summer Set 1 two weeks ago.

Halep is seeking her first Australian Open title, which would go with her 2018 Roland Garros and 2019 Wimbledon crowns.

Another Romanian claimed a big win on Tuesday, as Sorana Cirstea bundled 2019 runner-up Petra Kvitova out of the Australian Open for the second straight year. Cirstea notched a 6-2, 6-2 first-round victory over the former World No.2 at John Cain Arena.

Aussie hope Maddison Inglis also captured an upset win as she shocked 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 6-4, 6-2. Inglis took an hour and 23 minutes to stun the No.23 seed and claim her first main-draw victory at a Grand Slam event.

Elsewhere, Garbine Muguruza got off to a winning start on the Australian Open’s main court in 2022 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over France’s Clara Burel.

Playing her first-ever match on Rod Laver Arena, British qualifier Harriet Dart started brightly against No.7 seed Iga Swiatek by winning three of the first four games.

From 3-1 down, though, the Pole rolled. Swiatek won the last 11 games in a 6-3, 6-0 victory to win her opening match Down Under for the fourth year in a row.