The indefatigable Stan Wawrinka continued his love affair with the Australian Open and its fans on Monday when he guaranteed himself at least one more match in Melbourne in his final season on tour.
The 40-year-old, who made his AO debut in 2006 and who won the men’s singles in 2014, battled into the second round by fighting back to beat Serbia’s Laslo Djere 5-7 6-3 6-4 7-6(4).
Wawrinka announced recently this will be his last year as a touring pro and was thrilled to give himself one more chance to play in front of his fans Down Under.
“I won because of you guys,” an emotional Wawrinka told a packed KIA Arena afterwards. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. The only reason I come back is because of the love you give me.”
Those fans will be out in force when Stan the Man is back to face one of Monday’s giantkillers, young Frenchman Arthur Gea.
The 21-year-old world No.198 produced one of a handful of shocks on Day 2 when he beat 17th seed and 2025 US Open quarterfinalist Jiri Lehecka 7-5 7-6(1) 7-5.
Other surprise results in the men’s draw saw early exits for 24th seed Arthur Rinderknech and 27th seed Brandon Nakashima.
And one of the form players from late last season, Canadian seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, was sadly forced to retire early in the fourth set against Portuguese No.1 Nuno Borges because of a leg injury.
Just two seeded players departed the women’s draw – world No.15 Emma Navarro, who lost in three sets to Polish former semifinalist Magda Linette, and AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, the 27th seed who comfortably finished second-best against fellow American Peyton Stearns.
The women’s top seeds all advanced in straight sets, although six-time major champion Iga Swiatek had to recover from 3-5 in the first set before scrambling past China’s qualifier Yuan Yue 7-6(5) 6-3.
Third seed Coco Gauff cruised against Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2 6-3, last year’s Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova beat Swiss Simona Walter 6-3 6-2 and No.6 seed Jessica Pegula dropped only three games against Anastasia Zakharova in a strong day for the top-ranked American women.
Recent Adelaide champ Mirra Andreeva had to fight back to get the better of Croatia’s Donna Vekic 4-6 6-3 6-0 to set up a second-round meeting with Greek Maria Sakkari, while young Canadian Victoria Mboko impressed on her Melbourne Park debut to beat Aussie Emerson Jones 6-4 6-1.
It was a good day too for the biggest names in the men’s draw, with 10-time AO champion Novak Djokovic looking sharp to beat Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-2 6-2 for his 100th win at the Australian major.
It is also a mind-boggling 398th Grand Slam match victory for the Serb, who is searching for a 25th major singles title this fortnight.
“It’s a nice feeling to be a centurion,” the 38-year-old joked afterwards.
Home hope Alex de Minaur, the No.6 seed this year, will be desperate to go beyond the last eight at one of the four Grand Slams for the first time in his career, and he looked solid as he beat lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald early in the day 6-2 6-2 6-3.
Three-time AO runner-up and recent Brisbane champion Daniil Medvedev began his campaign with a straight-sets win over Dutchman Jesper de Jong, and there were comfortable victories too for Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and former semifinalist Tommy Paul.
A special shoutout should go to Spain’s Jaume Munar, who saved match point at 2-5 in the fourth set before hitting back to win in five against Czechia’s Dalibor Svrcina.