Images from Day 2 of the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Twice former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova said she was unsurprised at bowing out of the Australian Open in the opening round on Tuesday after a difficult month Down Under.
The 2019 Australian Open finalist was ousted by Sorana Cirstea for the second successive year at Melbourne Park, the Romanian veteran easing to a 6-2, 6-2 victory on John Cain Arena.
"I don't think I have much to say," said Kvitova. "It wasn't really going my way the whole month. That's how it is. It's a sport and I just have to fight through and be better at it."
The 20th seed, who lost to Naomi Osaka in the final three years ago, entered two warm-up tournaments but ended up playing only three matches after early exits in Adelaide and Sydney.
"I didn't play a lot of matches at the beginning of this year," she added.
"I did have some health issues the whole month as well, so it was tough to practice. It wasn't really easy this beginning of the season, but the season is long, so I hope that it will turnaround."
The 31-year-old Czech opened her 2022 campaign with a stunning loss to Australian world number 221 Priscilla Hon in the first round of the Adelaide International.
She moved on to the Sydney Tennis Classic and survived a scare to get her first win of the year against Arantxa Rus before exiting the tournament in the second at the hands of Ons Jabeur.
Kvitova said she would take a few days to "see clearly" and then focus on getting as many matches as she could under her belt and hopefully kick-starting her season.
"This loss is very painful, in the first round after like a whole month," she said.
"Yeah, on one hand, I'm not surprised really how everything ended. But on the other hand, of course, when I play a match I always want to win."
Medvedev marches into second round
Daniil Medvedev launched his bid for a maiden Australian Open title on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) romp over Swiss battler Henri Laaksonen.
US Open champion Medvedev, favourite to win at Melbourne Park in the wake of Novak Djokovic's deportation, was in cruise control for two sets against world number 91 Laaksonen before being dragged into a proper dog-fight in the third set.
Finland-born Laaksonen produced scintillating tennis to keep in touch with Medvedev in the tiebreak before faltering with a pair of unforced errors that gave the Russian three match points.
Medvedev sealed the win on the first of them and will play the winner of Nick Kyrgios and Liam Broady for a place in the third round.
Wildcard Inglis knocks out US Open finalist Fernandez
US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez lost 6-4, 6-2 to local wildcard Maddison Inglis at the Australian Open on Tuesday to continue her run of first-round exits at Melbourne Park.
Fernandez had exited the hardcourt major without a win in her two previous appearances but the world number 24 would have hoped to get past the first obstacle this time around against her 133rd ranked opponent whom she beat in both prior meetings.
But Inglis seized the advantage with a break in the seventh game to take the opening set and then opened up a 4-0 lead in the second with a double break.
The 19-year-old Canadian, who accumulated 30 unforced errors, had two of her three breakpoint opportunities in the sixth game of the second set but failed to convert as Inglis stayed solid to secure victory on her third match point.
It was the first Grand Slam main draw win at the fifth attempt for the 24-year-old from Perth.
Muguruza bounces Burel to reach second round
Third seed Garbine Muguruza struggled to close out the contest but reached the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over feisty young Frenchwoman Clara Burel on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
Burel showed plenty of fight and managed to break Muguruza in the opening set but her own serve was brittle and 12 double faults dug a hole she was always going to struggle to get out of.
The experienced Spaniard, a losing finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, came into the net to great effect to go a set and a break up but was broken again when serving for the match.
The former Wimbledon and French Open champion broke Burel for a fifth time in the next game to get the job done and move onto to a contest with another Frenchwoman, Alize Cornet.
Swiatek hands Dart Bagel en route to victory
Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start to cruise into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over British qualifier Harriet Dart. The seventh seed takes on Rebecca Peterson in the second round.
Earlier, 2020 quarter-finalist Anett Kontaveit beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-3.
Stosur rallies to beat Anderson
Former US Open champion Sam Stosur began her 20th and final Australian Open singles campaign with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 win over Robin Anderson. Stosur is set to finish her singles career after the Grand Slam but will continue to play doubles in 2022.
"Man, that was incredible," said Stosur. "That's a match I'm going to remember forever, probably one of the best singles matches I've played in a long time. To do it today, at home... it wasn't going to be the last. Happy to have another one."