The Australian Open has already witnessed plenty of drama before the first day of action has concluded.
Arguably producing the biggest Australian Open shock early on was Arthur Fery, with the British qualifier knocking out 20th seed Flavio Cobolli.
There was a similar shock on the WTA Tour, with fellow qualifier Zeynep Sonmez edging past 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Unfortunately there has also been an early casualty, as former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to injury.
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Lucky loser Taylor Townsend exits Australian Open
Vondrousova’s withdrawal handed a lifeline to Taylor Townsend, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
The American had initially been involved in Australian Open qualifying, but lost out to home favorite Storm Hunter.
However, Townsend has failed to take advantage of her lucky loser status by losing in round one to Hailey Baptiste.
In an intriguing battle between the two American WTA players, Baptiste defeated Townsend 6-3, 6-7(3-7), 6-3.
The former, who is also playing doubles in Melbourne, will now meet either Hunter or Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the second round.
Taylor Townsend eyes back-to-back Australian Open doubles success
Importantly, Townsend does have another chance at Australian Open success, and it arrives in her strongest format.
She is playing doubles with Katerina Siniakova in Melbourne, with the top seeds starting out against Anna Siskova and Magali Kempen.
That doubles pairing has already enjoyed superb success on the biggest stage, with Townsend and Siniakova boasting two Grand Slam titles.
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They emerged victorious at Wimbledon in 2024, and are the Australian Open defending champions after their success this time last year.
The pair also lost the 2025 US Open final, while Townsend has lost two other Grand Slam doubles finals and two mixed doubles finals.
While she is renowned for her doubles efforts, the American enjoyed a superb singles run on home soil at the 2025 US Open.
She knocked out Jelena Ostapenko and Mirra Andreeva before falling in the fourth to fellow doubles icon Barbora Krejcikova.
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