Novak Djokovic served a reminder of why he’s the greatest Australian Open champion in history as he demolished France’s Jeremy Chardy in round one on Monday. The eight-time winner’s 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win showed that normal service had resumed at Rod Laver Arena after the year’s first Grand Slam was delayed three weeks over the coronavirus.
In arguably the match of the opening day, Denis Shapovalov outlasted Italian teenager Jannik Sinner in five sets late in the evening. The rising stars battled out in a rollercoaster match that the Canadian won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Fellow top-ten seeds Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev were made to work hard for their wins while unseeded former Grand Slam finalists Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic were out in the first round by Pablo Carreno Busta and Grigor Dimitrov.
French 10th seed Gael Monfils became the biggest casualty on the firs day as he was stunned 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 by Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, the world No 86,…