Canada’s Shapovalov swept aside by teen qualifier at Australian Open

Denis Shapovalov’s return to competitive tennis didn’t go as planned Sunday night as the 24-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was bounced from the Australian Open in straight sets.

Eighteen-year-old qualifier Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic defeated the Canadian 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 in a match that took two hours 20 minutes to play.

On Monday, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the second round, outlasting Dominic Thiem of Austria in five sets (6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 5-7, 6-3).

Shapovalov, working his way back from a knee injury, had played only one match since July 9, but declared himself fit and ready to compete in Melbourne.

Mensik finished with 12 aces, including three in a row in the final game of the third set. He had four double faults, 22 unforced errors, was good on 63 per cent of his first serves, and won three return games and 17 serve games.

Shapovalov had 12 aces, seven double faults, 50 unforced errors, was good on 77 per cent of his first serves, he won 13 service games and no games while returning.

Mensik will next play the winner of the match between qualifier Omar Jasika of Australia and ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

Fellow Canadian Milos Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., lost in a walkover to Australian Alex de Minaur.

Raonic won the first set 7-6 (6), before de Minaur bounced back to take the second 6-3.

The Aussie was leading 2-0 in the third when Raonic was forced to retire with an injury.

Raonic, a former World No. 3, was playing his 10th tour-level match since returning from a nearly two-year injury layoff.

“I hope Milos has a speedy recovery,” said De Minaur. “It’s not great to see him like this, and he deserves to be healthy and playing the incredible tennis that he has done for so many years. So hopefully he is back in no time.

Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal is facing Dominic Thiem of Austria in his first match on Monday.

Osaka loses in return to tennis

Naomi Osaka returned to Grand Slam tennis after maternity leave in the same way she left it with a first-round loss after going down 6-4 7-6(2) to Caroline Garcia.

Taking on the experienced French 16th seed was always going to be a big challenge for the twice Australian Open champion, who returned to tournament tennis only two weeks ago after 15 months out.

The power that took Osaka to four Grand Slam titles before she took time off to have daughter Shai was still there but it was always going to take the 26-year-old time to rediscover her accuracy in clutch moments.

Garcia said she had a huge amount of respect for Osaka and was sure it would not be long before the Japanese former world number one was back at the top of the game.

“She has had an amazing career, she has been away for 15 months and been through a lot,” the 30-year-old said.

“I hope she can enjoy her tennis. She has done a lot for tennis in the past few years. Six months after giving birth and she’s playing amazing, so we have to watch out.”

A double fault gave Garcia, an aggressive baseliner like Osaka, the first break point of the match in the fifth game and the former world number four converted it to edge ahead.

Osaka had a sniff of a break back at deuce in the eighth game but dumped a routine backhand into the net and Garcia held with back-to-back aces before going on to take the set.

The twice U.S. Open champion won her first three service games of the second set to love, but Garcia was serving so well that Osaka was unable to build any pressure.

Osaka had beaten Garcia 6-2 6-3 on the way to her 2021 triumph at Melbourne Park but this was a much tighter contest with the second set decided in a tiebreak.

Still hitting the mark with her first serves, Garcia raced to a big lead and clinched the win on her first match point when Osaka found the net with another backhand.

It was Osaka’s earliest exit in eight visits to the Australian Open and her third successive loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam after she fell at the first hurdle at the French and U.S. Opens in 2022.

Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 and 2022 finalist at Melbourne Park and at last year’s U.S. Open, also advanced when his opponent retired from their match.

Medvedev had dropped the first set but was leading 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 when the 22-year-old Terence Atmane quit because of cramps.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s Australian final to Novak Djokovic, advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over Zizou Bergs. Five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and said it might be the last time he contests the season’s first major.

Gauff starts off strong

Coco Gauff began her quest for back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at the Australian Open on Monday in Melbourne.

The 19-year-old American, who won her first major at the U.S. Open in September, wrapped up victory in exactly one hour.

“I was a little nervous the first set,” fourth-seeded Gauff said. “I think I did well returning, then I found my serve toward the end [of the set]. When I was nervous at 3-3, I told myself: `I feel good, I look good, so just have fun’. That was able to relax me a little bit’.”

Seventh-seeded Vondrousova missed the Adelaide tune-up event with a hip injury and struggled on serve throughout, hitting seven double faults as she was well-beaten by the world No. 93-ranked player.

In other early play, 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina, advanced to the second round, beating Taylah Preston, a wild-card entry from Australia, 6-2, 6-2.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka later makes her much-anticipated comeback to Grand Slam tennis after the birth of her daughter. The Japanese player takes on Caroline Garcia of France in the first round in the last match on Rod Laver Arena.

WATCH l Canada’s Fernandez advances to 2nd round in Melbourne: