Australian Open 2012: Most Shocking Results from Week 1

This year's Australian Open has been, by and large, a boring event. That is not to say that the matches haven't been good, but there has not been that one signature upset in which  everything gets thrown out of whack. 

That's not to say that there have not been a lot of memorable results from the first week of action Down Under. In fact, there have been plenty of matches that make you do a double-take just to be sure you saw the result correctly. 

Here are the most surprising results of the first week at the Australian Open. 

Ekaterina Makarova defeated No. 12 Serena Williams In Fourth Round

Why not start with the most recent upset?

Williams entered the Australian Open battling an ankle injury, so it was unclear how well she would be able to perform. After three straight match victories in which she did not drop a set, the momentum was building for her to win another tournament. 

She ran into the buzz saw known as Ekaterina Makarova, who dominated Williams in straight sets, sending her home wondering what went wrong. 

The loss wasn't as big a shock as the way she lost. She couldn't do anything in this match, as evidenced by her seven double faults and 37 unforced errors. 

Vania King defeated No. 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Second Round

King entered this event ranked No. 65 in the world and had a career record of 149-153, so the fact that she was able to win one match was a feat unto itself. 

Then something funny happened in the second round: King managed to hone all of her skills and capitalize on 61 unforced errors from Pavlyuchenkova to steal a victory in three sets. 

King would go on to lose in her next match, but she provided the fans with one of the best moments of the event when she burst into song following her victory over Pavlyuchenkova.

Mikhail Kukushkin defeated No. 14 Gael Monfils in Third Round

This was one of the best matches of the first week of the tournament, with Kukushkin winning the first two sets and Monfils responding by taking the third and fourth sets before Kukushkin got his rhythm back in the fifth set to win. 

What made the upset so memorable is Kukushkin is currently ranked 92nd in the world and had never made it past the second round in a Grand Slam tournament.

Going up against Monfils did not inspire a lot of confidence that his moderate success in the early going of the event would last, but he pulled through somehow, someway. 

This match took its toll on Kukushkin, who was forced to withdraw in his next match with Andy Murray due to a hip flexor. 

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