Shockers in Australian Open: Rublev, Tsitsipas, Azarenka and Ostapenko lead first-round surprises

The opening round of the Australian Open delivered surprises, with several seeded players eliminated in both the men's and women's draws. The women fared better, with only five seeded players out (none from the top 15), while the men saw eight seeded players eliminated, including three from the top 12.

Big names knocked out include World No. 9 Andrey Rublev, 2022 AO finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka. Changes in the men's top 10 rankings are expected, while the women's singles draw opens up for fresh contenders.

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka (21st seed) had an unfortunate first-round exit after three consecutive years reaching at least the second week of the tournament, including semifinals in 2023. The Belarusian couldn’t overcome Lucia Bronzetti (No. 76), who took the win in straight sets (6-2, 7-6) in a section of the draw that opened up following Anna Kalinskaya's withdrawal.

Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko (16th seed) is the highest-ranked player eliminated in the first round, although she wasn’t fortunate with the draw, facing former World No. 4 Belinda Bencic, who has returned to the tour after a year-long maternity break. The Swiss quickly found her form, and her ranking of No. 421 definitely doesn’t reflect her current condition.

Another tough draw was for Ekaterina Alexandrova (26th seed), who was eliminated in the opener by 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu (No. 61). In an inconsistent match on both sides, the Brit showed more courage at key moments and eliminated a tough opponent in two tiebreak sets.

Finally, 29th seed Linda Noskova was eliminated early by Clara Tauson (No. 42), who came back from a set down to confirm her good form. The 20-year-old Czech surprised last year by reaching the quarterfinals and defeating World No. 1 at the time, Iga Swiatek. However, she faced an inspired Tauson, who won the ASB Classic just a week ago and is now on a six-match winning streak.

Perhaps the most adverse case was that of Maria Sakkari (31st seed), who continues her tough run in majors, falling to Camila Osorio (No. 59). The Colombian secured her second win in four AO appearances, deepening Sakkari’s difficult present.

The men's draw began with several surprises, with eight of the 32 seeded players eliminated early in the tournament. A tough battle for the top-10 was expected towards the end, but three of the closest contenders were knocked out. Grigor Dimitrov (10th) injured himself during his match against Francesco Passaro (No. 89) and retired just after the start of the second set, while Stefanos Tsitsipas (11th) was eliminated by Alex Michelsen (No. 42) in four sets.

The highest-ranked player to be eliminated so far is the 9th seed Andrey Rublev. The first top-10 player to fall, Rublev was defeated by young star Joao Fonseca (No. 112), who delivered a remarkable performance to knock out the Russian in straight sets. Despite Rublev's courageous effort and a solid match, he was outplayed by the 18-year-old Brazilian star.

Local favorite Alexei Popyrin (25th), who was the champion at the last Canadian Open, was defeated by the irreverent Corentin Moutet (No. 66), silencing Melbourne Arena, where Popyrin was seen as one of the main hopes for a deep run in the men's draw. Another French player who caused an upset was veteran Gael Monfils (No. 37), who continues to show that despite his age, he's more than competitive and defeated compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (31st seed), one of the players expected to surprise in Melbourne this year.

South Americans Alejandro Tabilo (23rd) and Sebastian Baez (28th) also had tough starts, bowing out in the first round. Italian Flavio Cobolli's loss to Tomas Martin Etcheverry will cost him points after failing to defend his performance from the previous year.