Australian Open 2015 Schedule: Replay TV Coverage, Live Stream for Day 1 Draw
Thank goodness for Southern Hemisphere summers.
While the United States is slogging through winter with little more than the NFL playoffs to provide high-stakes action to sports fans, along comes the 2015 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the year, featuring breezy, sunny outdoor action from Down Under.
Several of the top stars in both women's and men's tennis took to the hard courts at Melbourne Park on Day 1, including the likes of Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Eugenie Bouchard, among others.
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No. 4 Stanislas Wawrinka is the defending men's singles champion, but he's hardly the favorite. Nadal enjoys a favorable draw, and No. 1 Novak Djokovic is coming off a stellar run in 2014.
No matter what, there will be a new champion this year in the women's side. The 2014 winner, Li Na, announced her retirement from the sport in September. It seems like it will be No. 1 Serena Williams vs. the world in women's singles, but don't be surprised if the likes of Sharapova or Simona Halep make a winning run in a tournament that Williams bowed out from in the round of 16 last year.
Here is the replay info for anyone looking to catch up on the Day 1 action—the time differential is a doozy for some—followed by a quick recap of some of the notable results from the first day of the Aussie Open.
Replay Coverage, Live Stream Info
Replay coverage for Day 1 can be found at WatchESPN, while a live stream of the action—with options for those at home to choose different courts to view—can be found at both WatchESPN and the tournament's official website.
Notable Day 1 Results
Day 1 claimed its fair share of upset victims on the women's side, with the most notable script-flipping result being No. 5 Ana Ivanovic's loss Sunday to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
"It's really disappointing," Ivanovic said, via a report from ESPN.com. "You know, it's probably the worst thing (that) could happen."
Sports Illustrated Tennis provided some stats from her dubious display:
The loss is a true shocker for the 27-year-old Ivanovic, who was looking to build on a strong run of form in 2014. Ivanovic went 58-17 last year, including 9-4 in majors and four title wins. She reached the final in Brisbane only to lose in three sets to Sharapova.
No. 7-ranked Bouchard dominated Germany's Anna-Lena Freidsam on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-4. A semifinalist at the 2014 Australian Open, Bouchard has as good a chance as any women's tennis player of challenging Williams in this tournament.
She could very well draw extra attention in the coming days, as her path to the latter stages of the tournament has been cleared of a great deal of potential danger.
No. 9 Angelique Kerber crashed out of the tournament, losing a seesaw battle to Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 0-6, 6-1. That result, combined with the losses of No. 16 Lucie Safarova and No. 17 Carla Suarez Navarro, seemingly clears a clean path to the quarterfinals for Bouchard. However, with upsets clearly looming, she must remain in top form.
Nadal cruised to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Youzhny on Day 1. If the result was pedestrian by Nadal's standards, the outfit certainly wasn't, via BBC Sport:
The frenetic Spaniard hasn't played much in recent months due to injury, and the dominant win was a reassuring display for those who had lingering doubts about his ability to hit peak form in this tournament. Nadal is just getting warmed up, but don't be surprised if he's on a peerless run of play by the end of the Australian Open.
Murray won his first-round match Sunday against 22-year-old Yuki Bhambri in straight sets. Three-and-out might seem like the perfect start to a tournament like the Australian Open, but ESPN.com's Peter Bodo noted that Bhambri was able to frustrate Murray a bit in this one:
"Murray won the match, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3), but not before he smashed a racket in frustration after he surrendered a break that allowed Bhambri to build a 4-1 lead in the third set. However, giving up the break was not the only source of Murray's frustration. Bhambri played well -- and in a Murray-esque way, which tends to make opponents want to break rackets. Imitation is also the most irritating form of flattery.
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Federer also coasted to a straight-set victory over unheralded challenger Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Even as the Swiss Maestro inches ever closer to the end of his reign at the pinnacle of the sport, he still maintains an air of effortlessness at times, seemingly gliding past all the agony and fury that accompanies an inherently lonely, taxing sport.
It could be that a youthful mindset leads to the beautiful play, via The New York Times' Christopher Clarey:
2014 proved that things could be crowded at the top for the Big Four in men's tennis, but after just one day at the 2015 Australian Open, few would be surprised if the preeminent group of pros all found their way to the latter stages of the tournament with relative ease.
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