Confident Yastremska, Kalinina's exit, and the success of the Kichenok sisters: highlights from the Australian Open match day.
The first Ukrainian to step onto the court was Diana Yastremska, who faced the Egyptian player Mayar Sherif. The two tennis players had never met before, and the 24-year-old from Odesa immediately showcased why she was considered the favorite in this match.
Yastremska won five consecutive games in the first set, two of which were on her opponent's serve. By the time Sherif managed to win her first point, the score was already 5:1 in favor of the Ukrainian, who confidently converted her set point, losing only one rally in the following game.
Mayar Sherif started the second set better, recovering from Yastremska's break point. The world number 65 managed to take a game, but the Ukrainian was determined and, after successfully serving, she still managed to win the game where the Egyptian was serving despite having four break points against her.
1Next, we witnessed a series of serves, some of which were "clean," while at times Yastremska only secured her point on her 15th serve. Ultimately, due to the advantage the Odesa player gained at the start of the set, she was able to bring the match to a match point, which she confidently converted.
The final score on the board was 6:1 and 6:4, as Diana Yastremska advances to the second round, where she will face one of the tournament’s surprises, the 30-year-old Montenegrin Danka Kovinic (1289), who defeated the world number 44, Lulu Sun from New Zealand.
Next up was the finalist of last year's Australian Open women's doubles Lyudmila Kichenok. However, the 32-year-old from Dnipro is now partnering not with Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, but with Taiwanese representative Chan Hao-Ching. In the first round of AO-2025, they faced the neutral Russian Anastasia Potapova and Serbian Olga Danilovic.
Overall, the match was very close; in the first set, the players exchanged points, but at a score of 5:5, Kichenok and Chan lost their serve and were unable to secure a game against their opponents, resulting in a narrow loss of 7:5.
However, this defeat and the lost first serve in the second set did not impact the morale of the Ukrainian-Taiwanese pair. Trailing 2:0, Kichenok and her partner managed to win three consecutive games, bringing the score to a victorious 6:4 in the second set.
3The third set also began with a game won by the Russian-Serbian duo. Throughout the first half of the decisive set, Kichenok and Chan were playing catch-up, but they initially won their opponent's serve while trailing 3:2, and then completed their success by winning three games in a row, two of which were on Potapova's and Danilovic's serves.
5:7, 6:4, and 6:4, Lyudmila Kichenok and Chan Hao-Ching overcame the first round of the competition and will meet the winner of the match between Linda Noskova (Czech Republic)/Heather Watson (Great Britain) – Diane Parry (France)/Harriet Dart (Great Britain).
Much more confidently, Lyudmila's sister, Nadia Kichenok, secured her victory, teaming up with Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who had previously won a close match against another Ukrainian, Yulia Starodubtseva, in the first round of the singles at the Australian Open.
The Ukrainian-Canadian duo faced the local pair of Tahlia Gibson and Maya Joint. The Australians tried to resist at the start of the first set, but after leading 3:2, they lost four games in a row, marking a winning set for Kichenok and Fernandez.
4The second set had a slightly different scenario, where Gibson and Joint attempted to keep up, but their efforts were insufficient, resulting in two lost serves and again only three games won. The Australian tennis players were unable to delight their home crowd with either a victory or a thrilling contest – 6:3, 6:3.
In the second round, Kichenok and Fernandez will face the winner of the match between Jacqueline Cristian (Romania)/Camila Rosatello (Italy) – Cristina Buksha (Spain)/Yana Sizikova (-). It is worth noting that Buksha is a bronze medalist from the 2024 Olympic Games in doubles, having won the third-place match alongside Sara Sorribes Tormo against the Czech representatives Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova.
The last Ukrainian to take the court in Melbourne was Angelina Kalinina, who faced former world number two Ons Jabeur (39) from Tunisia. Prior to this match, the 27-year-old native of Nova Kakhovka had played Jabeur twice and lost both times.
Starting quite confidently, Kalinina secured a win on her opponent's serve. However, she gave away a break point to her opponent in the next game. The Ukrainian tried to impose a fight, but the experienced Tunisian was superior on serve (immediately 3 aces in the first set) and also converted her break points more effectively (75% compared to 40% in the first set). The Ukrainian managed to win a game on her serve just once throughout the first set – 6:3.
Kalinina started the second set very well, taking three games in a row, and it seemed that she was ready to make a comeback, but Jabeur recovered and did not lose another rally after that. Six consecutive points for the Tunisian representative led to a final victory with a score of 6:3, 6:3.
After two days of matches, six Ukrainian tennis players competing in singles, we lost exactly half of our representation. The fight on the courts of Melbourne will continue for Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, and last year's Australian Open semifinalist Diana Yastremska.
Performances at the Australian Open, aside from Angelina Kalinina, have also ended for Darya Snihur and Yulia Starodubtseva.