When the calendar turns to a new year, tennis fans anxiously await the beginning of a new season for the sport. The first major is always the Australian Open, taking place over the last two weeks in January in Melbourne. Competition started on January 15, but a handful of America’s best hopes will already have to look forward to the next slam.
Serena Williams withdrew before the tournament even started, and number five seed Venus Williams was knocked out in straight sets in the first round by Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. This will be the first time since 1997 that a Williams sister isn’t playing in the second round of a major.
American Sloane Stephens also lost her first round match. The number 13 seed was serving for the match in the second set, but ultimately fell to Shuai Zhang of China. Number 10 seed CoCo Vandeweghe also lost her shot at this year’s Aussie Open title. In a strange turn of events, Vandeweghe was hit with a code violation for taking too long to eat a banana. Seriously.
Venus Williams, Stephens and Vandeweghe were all semi finalists at the US Open just four months ago. The fourth semi finalist, Madison Keys, was one of the four Americans to win her first round match in Melbourne.
On the men’s side, number 16 seed John Isner and number eight seed Jack Sock lost, both in four sets. Only six American men remain in the draw. Number 13 seed Sam Querrey is likely the U.S.’s best hope to make a deep run in the tournament. He breezed through his first round match in straight sets against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
All in all, 21 (!) Americans were knocked out of the first round, leaving just 10 remaining. Good luck watching the matches though- thanks to the tournament being in Australia match times tend to be in the middle of the night. Get those cups of coffee ready!
