Australian Open: Medvedev lays down early marker as women’s seeds sail through

But there was defeat at the first hurdle for 19-year-old US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, the 23rd seed going down 6-4, 6-2 to Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis, to the delight of the home crowd.

After Sunday’s deportation of men’s defending champion and top seed Djokovic, the first Grand Slam of the year is now in full swing on day two and eager to move on from the visa saga.

Russia’s Medvedev, the second seed and favourite to lift his second major, made light work of 91st-ranked Henri Laaksonen on Rod Laver Arena, dismantling the Swiss 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

With Djokovic out of the picture and Roger Federer not in Melbourne because of injury, the draw has opened up for the 25-year-old Medvedev and Spanish great Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, who is chasing a men’s record 21st Slam title, set the tone on Monday with a straight-sets romp but Medvedev was no less emphatic in dismissing Laaksonen.

“I like to play here, I like hardcourts and I want to do better than I did last year,” said Medvedev, runner-up last year to Djokovic in Melbourne.

Medvedev, who conquered Djokovic in the US Open final in September to win his maiden Grand Slam crown, has cut a confident figure and said in the build-up that he feared nobody.

There was disappointment for Casper Ruud of Norway, the eighth seed, who pulled out with an ankle injury before playing a shot.

In the women’s draw, Spanish world number three Muguruza, a finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, eased past 77th-ranked Frenchwoman Clara Burel 6-3, 6-4.

She admitted she came into their encounter with no knowledge of Burel’s game.

“Well, it felt very good. I didn’t know really who I was facing. We’ve never played before,” said Muguruza, a previous Slam winner at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

There was also little trouble for Kontaveit, despite some early nerves, and Swiatek, but Romania’s Halep was far from comfortable.

Halep laboured into round two 6-4, 6-3 after an error-strewn clash with Poland’s Magdalena Frech which saw 11 service breaks.

“I found it so difficult today, I was unsure if I could play good tennis,” said Halep, recently back from injury and chasing a third major crown.

“But in the end I won and that makes me very happy. Hopefully this week I can play better and better.”

Selected results

(seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

First Round

Marin Cilic (27), Croatia, def. Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

Diego Schwartzman (13), Argentina, def. Filip Krajinovic, Serbia, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Roberto Bautista Agut (15), Spain, def. Stefano Travaglia, Italy, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

Andrey Rublev (5), Russia, def. Gianluca Mager, Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Richard Gasquet, France, def. Ugo Humbert (29), France, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Grigor Dimitrov (26), Bulgaria, def. Jiri Lehecka, Czech Republic, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Jannik Sinner (11), Italy, def. Joao Sousa, Portugal, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1.

Daniil Medvedev (2), Russia, def. Henri Laaksonen, Switzerland, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Women’s Singles

First Round

Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Petra Kvitova (20), Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2.

Alize Cornet, France, def. Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-3.

Garbine Muguruza (3), Spain, def. Clara Burel, France, 6-3, 6-4.

Elise Mertens (19), Belgium, def. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, 6-4, 7-5.

Sam Stosur, Australia, def. Robin Anderson, United States, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Anett Kontaveit (6), Estonia, def. Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-3.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (10), Russia, def. Anna Bondar, Hungary, 6-2, 6-1.

Simona Halep (14), Romania, def. Magdalena Frech, Poland, 6-4, 6-3.

Elena Rybakina (12), Kazakhstan, def. Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Zhang Shuai, China, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 6-3, 6-4.