| Dates: 16-29 January Venue: Melbourne Park |
| Coverage: Commentary every day from 07:00 GMT on Radio 5 Sports Extra ‘Tennis Breakfast’ live from Melbourne, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Emma Raducanu made a positive return to court after her injury scare, moving into the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-set win.
On the opening day in Melbourne, the British number one won 6-3 6-2 against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
Raducanu, 20, rolled her ankle in Auckland 11 days ago and a beaming smile after sealing victory showed her joy at coming through her first test.
British men’s number one Cameron Norrie also advanced with a straight-set win.
Norrie, seeded 11th, progressed from the first round for only the second time in five attempts after a 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 6-3 success over teenage French wildcard Luca van Assche.
The 27-year-old left-hander had a short turnaround after playing in the Auckland final on Saturday, when he lost to French veteran Richard Gasquet.
“I was pretty nervous but I managed to relax in the second set there and close out a tough game. Not my best level but I’ll build on it,” said Norrie, who earned the biggest win of his career by beating Rafael Nadal at the United Cup earlier this month.
“I enjoyed the match after that tricky first set.”
Norrie and Raducanu were the only two British players to win at Melbourne Park, with Raducanu now set to face American seventh seed Coco Gauff in round two.
Rising star Jack Draper was beaten by Spanish great Rafael Nadal, while Kyle Edmund lost 6-4 6-0 6-2 to Italian 15th seed Jannik Sinner.
Edmund, 28, reached the semi-finals in 2018 but is trying to rebuild his career after a knee injury which needed three operations before he returned to the tour last year.
Playing using a protected ranking, it was another tough draw at a Grand Slam for Edmund after he faced eventual runner-up Casper Ruud at last year’s US Open.
Harriet Dart, Britain’s only other representative in the women’s singles, lost 7-5 6-1 to Swiss 32nd seed Jil Teichmann.
Gauff, 18, is among the favourites to win the women’s singles at Melbourne Park and started with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Czech opponent Katerina Siniakova.
American third seed Jessica Pegula, Gauff’s doubles partner and another favoured by many to win her first major singles title, made an even…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at BBC Sport – Tennis…