It was an easier opening in the men’s draw for holder Novak Djokovic as the Serbian brushed aside the challenge of South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, winning 6-3 6-2 6-4.
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Djokovic beat the 19-year-old South Korean 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 55 minutes in blistering heat on Rod Laver Arena which left him reaching for the ice vests and water.
But the world number 36 – the highest ranked non-seed – quickly settled down to hold serve with a scintillating crosscourt forehand. I have been going non-stop since the Olympics in London, and seeing that this is another Olympic year, I kind of wanted to start the year out really fresh and really go at it again as hard as I can.
It is that alleged the Tennis Integrity Unit, set up by a number of governing bodies including the International Tennis Federation and the ATP in 2008, has repeatedly failed to act on tip-offs primarily related to irregular betting patterns.
Williams cut short her 2015 season after defeat in the US Open semi-finals ended her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam, and she pulled out of this month’s Hopman Cup with an inflamed knee.
“I was not approached directly”, he said. “People are talking about names, guessing who these players are”.
Williams said she has also never seen any indication of malpractice on the women’s tour.
“The Tennis Integrity Unit and tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated”, he said.
Serena Williams says her recent knee problem wasn’t a problem as she came through a testing first round match at the Australian Open. It didn’t even get to me, the guy that was trying to talk to me, didn’t even get to me directly.
He played down the report but he also said he was targeted in 2007 to throw a first-round match at St Petersburg.
The BBC and BuzzFeed News said they had not named any players because without access to their phone, bank and computer records it was not possible to determine whether they took part in match-fixing.
The reports say the players – it doesn’t identify them or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles – were allowed to continue competing.
“From my knowledge and information about, the match fixing or anything similar, there is nothing happening on the top level, as far as I know”, he said.
Serena Williams insists she did not feel her knee injury at all during her first-round win over Camila Giorgi at the Australian Open.
Sixth-seeded Thomas Berdych advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 win over Yuki Bhambri in a straight-forward opener to his 50th consecutive major tournament. But I think physically I was really good on the court.
Wearing a canary yellow pleated skirt and matching midriff-baring shirt, displaying her pierced navel, Williams was composed but not her usual clinical self during the draining workout.
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Former No.1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki lost 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to Yulia Putintseva, continuing a downward spiral at Melbourne Park that has resulted in her exiting one round earlier each year since she reached the 2011 semifinals.
