SNAPSHOT FROM DAY ONE OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT MELBOURNE PARK
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PLAYER OF THE DAY: Olivia Gadecki - the 20-year-old Aussie prodigy lived up to the hype with her maiden grand-slam win with a rousing 7-5 6-1 victory over teenage qualifier Polina Kudermetova.
STAT OF THE DAY: Thirteen years after his Open debut as a teenage junior world No.1, born-again Jason Kubler finally registered his maiden main-draw win at Melbourne Park with a straight-sets defeat of Argentine Sebastian Baez.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm devastated, obviously. Going in as one of the favourites, it's brutal," big home hope Nick Kyrgios after joining the Open's alarming casualty list with a knee injury.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Kyrgios's shock withdrawal adds to the lack of star power at the season-opening grand slam following the retirements of Ash Barty, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, the absence of pregnant former women's winners Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber and injuries to world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, Venus Williams and former men's finalist Marin Cilic. But titleholder Rafael Nadal led a raft of seeds safely through to the second round with a four-set victory over British dangerman Jack Draper. Women's title hopefuls Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins also advanced.