Australian News Today

Aussie nightmare as local hopes tumble on day one

Aussie nightmare as local hopes tumble on day one

Aussie hopes were hit with bad weather and bad results on day one of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

All four local players who took to the court on Sunday lost their matches to be bundled out of their home grand slam.

Li Tu, Daria Saville, Osama Jasika, and Adam Walton are all out of the Open.

READ MORE: The ‘obsession’ driving Djokovic towards unthinkable

READ MORE: Player hires influencer as shock ‘last minute’ AO coach

READ MORE: Aussie quick makes ‘tough call’ amid injury battle

Wildcard Tu fought bravely against No.24 seed Jiri Lehecka but fell in four sets, as did Osaka against Hugo Gaston despite the Frenchman battling a raucous Court 3 crowd that was heavily in favour of the Aussie.

Walton was well on top of Quentin Halys, taking the first two sets 6-4.

Daria Saville reacts during her loss.  Getty

But he then fell to an epic comeback from his opponent who took the next three sets 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-5 to clinch the match and knock Walton out.

Saville, in the Open thanks to a wildcard, dominated to win her first set 6-1 against Anna Blinkova but also lost a thriller in three sets.

Watch the Australian Open live & free on the 9Network & 9Now. Stan Sport is the only place to watch every match ad-free, live & on demand with centre court in 4K.

Their match went for two and a half hours and finished past midnight.

The Aussie only won three from 15 possible break points. Blinkova won three from eight.

There are plenty of Aussie hopes still alive in round one.

Ajla Tomljanovic kicks things off on Margaret Court Arena at 11.30am (AEDT) on Monday against Ashlyn Krueger, and she’s followed by Jordan Thompson taking on Dominik Koepfer.

Talia Gibson, James Duckworth, and Destanee Aiava are all on Court 3, while Thanasi Kokkinakis is followed by Christopher O’Connell on Kia Arena.

Teen star Maya Joint takes on Jessica Pegula on John Cain Arena from 5pm, and they are followed by Nick Kyrgios facing Jacob Fearnley.

Aussie wildcards James McCabe and Tristan Schoolkate are joined on the outside courts by Aleksander Vukic.