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Gabriel Diallo started strong, but he was no match for the third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany in the opening round of men’s singles at the Australian Open on Sunday in Melbourne.
The Montreal player won the first set in the best-of-five 7-6, but was bounced 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the next three in a match that took two hours 51 minutes.
Zverev finished with 15 aces and only one double fault. He won 84 per cent of his first serve points, and 56 per cent of his second serve points.
Diallo had 10 aces and five double faults, but only won one of two break points while Zverev won six of eight.
The German ace also won 38 per cent of his points off of returns, while Diallo only won 23 per cent.
Zverev won 18 of 19 service games, while Diallo won 12 of 18.
Zverev will play the winner of a match between Alexei Popyrin of Australia and Alexandre Muller of France.
Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., also dropped his opening match with a 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 loss to Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia.
Four other Canadians are in action Sunday: Marina Stakusic (8:10 p.m. ET) and Victoria Mboko (9:20 p.m.) who is seeded 17th on the women’s side, while No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime (7 p.m.) and Denis Shapovalov, seeded 21st, play first-round matches in the men’s tournament.
Paolini’s fast start highlights opening day
Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini got the dominant start she wanted, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour at the Rod Laver Arena.
Paolini took the first set in just 27 minutes on the main show court at Melbourne Park, giving the crowd what they wanted as the first Grand Slam of the season got underway.
Elsewhere, No. 12 Elina Svitolina defeated Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-1, and Maria Sakkari won over Leolia Jeanjean 6-4, 6-2.
In other early matches, No. 20 Flavio Cobolli became the first seeded man to lose. Arthur Fery defeated Cobolli 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-1.
Also, No. 18 seed Francisco Cerundolo beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3, and No. 32 seed Corentin Moutet defeated Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3.
The No. 1 seeds for men and women headline Sunday’s night session. Aryna Sabalenka faces Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, and Carlos Alcaraz goes against Adam Walton.
Sabalenka is after her third Australia Open title and was the runner-up to Madison Keys a year ago. She has reached the last three finals and won two.
Alcaraz has never played Aussie Open semi
Alcaraz is trying to become the youngest man to win a career Grand Slam. The 22-year-old Spaniard has won twice in the other three Grand Slams but has not been past the quarterfinals at the Australia Open.
No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner, the two-time defending Australian Open champion, has combined with Alcaraz to win the last eight Grand Slam trophies.
Venus Williams, 45, sets record in loss
It took 45 years to be in a position to set a record that has drawn so much attention. So another 14 1/2 minutes serving to keep her Australian Open hopes alive felt like no time at all for Venus Williams.
Ranked No. 576 and playing on a wild-card entry, the seven-time major winner led 4-0 in the third set Sunday before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games — getting the vital break in the extra-long, next-to-last game — for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.
“It was an amazing journey on the court today,” said Williams, who left the stadium with a smile and a wave.
By starting the first-round match, Williams became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw, surpassing the mark set by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.
“I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,” Williams said. “Right now, I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself and working to control my errors.
“Those are things, too, that come with playing extra matches … all of those things that I’m still learning. It’s kind of weird, but it’s super exciting to have played that well and to get myself in that position and come very close.”
Williams has never won the Australian Open. She made the finals in 2003 and 2017 and lost both times to her sister, Serena. She won five Wimbledon titles and two at the U.S. Open.
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