Australian Open 2015: Twitter Reacts to Day 1 Bracket Results, Scores, Winners

Those looking for a manic Monday on the men's side of the bracket at the Australian Open left sorely disappointed. On the women's side? The opening day brought pure chaos.

Eight of the 16 seeded ladies taking the court for their first-round match lost Monday, highlighted by fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic and ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber. A 2008 finalist in Melbourne, Ivanovic lost 6-1, 3-6, 2-6 to unseeded Lucie Hradecka, double-faulting 10 different times and committing 10 unforced errors in an ugly affair.

"I think the whole match I didn't really feel like myself out there," Ivanovic told reporters after the match. "It was really tough for me to find rhythm a little bit. In the third set really felt like she raised her level. It's really disappointing—it's probably the worst thing could happen."

Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times noted Ivanovic's upcoming drop in the WTA rankings due to the loss:

It is the second time in her career she's been ousted Down Under before getting a second match. Since making her lone finals trip, Ivanovic has made it past the quarterfinals only once.

Winner	Loser	Score
(2) Maria Sharapova	Petra Martic	6-4, 6-1
(3) Simona Halep	Karin Knapp	6-3, 6-2
Lucie Hradecka	(5) Ana Ivanovic	1-6, 6-3, 6-2
(7) Eugenie Bouchard	Anna-Lena Friedsam	6-2, 6-4
Irina Begu	(9) Angelique Kerber	6-4, 0-6, 6-1
(10) Ekaterina Makarova	An-Sophie Mestach	6-2, 6-2
(14) Sara Errani	Grace Min	6-1, 6-0
Yaroslava Shvedova	(16) Lucie Safarova	6-4, 2-6, 8-6
Carina Witthoeft	(17) Carla Suarez-Navarro	6-3, 6-1
(21) Peng Shuai	Tatjana Maria	6-4, 7-5
(22) Karolina Pliskova	Evgeniya Rodina	7-5, 6-1
Yanina Wickmayer	(23) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Caroline Garcia	(27) Svetlana Kuznetsova	6-4, 6-2
Kristina Mladenovic	(28) Sabine Lisicki	4-6, 6-4, 6-2
(31) Zarina Diyas	Urszula Radwanska	3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Julia Goerges	(32) Belinda Bencic	6-2, 6-1

Kerber, who has gone out in Round 1 three times in her eight Australian Open appearances, knows a bit about these types of struggles. Romanian Irina Begu knocked Kerber out with a 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 triumph that may spark her first impressive individual run at a major. Begu has never made it past the second round in one of the year's Grand Slam events, though she does have a quarterfinals run at the 2012 Aussie Open in doubles.

Juan Jose Vallejo of Rolling Stone noted the similarities between Kerber and Ivanovic:

The German has reached only one quarterfinal in her last 10 Grand Slam appearances. This is nonetheless her first first-round defeat since 2011 at Wimbledon. Her 2011 campaign began with a disappointment in Australia that sparked a year-long swoon, so Kerber will need to get back into the right mindset as she begins preparing for the clay-court season.

No. 16 Lucie Safarova, No. 17 Carla Suarez-Navarro, No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 27 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 28 Sabine Lisicki and No. 32 Belinda Bencic also went down on a nightmare day for the top-ranked women. The bottom half of the draw now features only half the seeds it did when the day began, making for an incredible afternoon of tennis.

Tennis writer Victoria Chiesa probably put it best:

The odds were forever in the favor for Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard, who each breezed through their opening-round matches to avoid the fate of Kerber and Ivanovic. Sports Illustrated's tennis feed noted how much the early upsets benefitted Bouchard in particular:

“I was happy to start strong,” Bouchard told reporters. “Conditions were tough; it was a bit windy and [Anna-Lena Friedsam is] a good player. I was happy to stay solid, but there are still a lot of things to improve.”

Easy wins for Bouchard and Sharapova offer a proper preview to the men's bracket, where next to nothing happened of great import. No. 11 Ernests Gulbis lost a five-set thriller to Thanasi Kokkinakis, and No. 15 Tommy Robredo was forced to retire after only five games due to injury, but the day held to form otherwise.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych each looked strong in straight-sets victories over unseeded opponents. Nadal, whom many expected to look rusty after his first-round exit in Qatar, hit 37 winners and hit only 15 unforced errors in a dominant triumph over Mikhail Youzhny. The match was so uneventful that some, including The Cauldron's Twitter feed, were more worried about his outfit:

"When that happens after a tough period of injuries you arrive here with doubts," Nadal told reporters. "This first match was tough mentally for me — (I) hope this match will give me confidence to play well next round."

For the most part, it was a rarity to even see a seeded man drop a set. Ten of the 16 matches involving a ranked player resulted in a three-set romp. Only two matches went to a deciding fifth set. No. 28 Lukas Rosol survived a staunch challenge from Frenchman Kenny De Schepper, advancing to his second Australian Open second round with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

As noted by Rothenberg, Rosol's comeback wasn't the only miracle that allowed him to advance Monday:

But the match that understandably caused the most waves in Australia was Kokkinakis' upset of Gulbis. The match took more than four hours to complete and included an epic, 84-minute battle in the final set. Kokkinakis, an 18-year-old Australian who last year captivated his country with a win over Igor Sijsling, took advantage of 18 double faults and 56 unforced errors from his ranked foe to advance. 

Pulling off break points at a 54 percent clip, Kokkinakis consistently made shots when needed. He survived four match points in the fourth set and sent his home crowd into a craze when he managed to stave off Gulbis in the nail-biting final set.

"I remember last year, I had unbelievable memories. But I will just enjoy this. It is unbelievable," Kokkinakis told Channel Seven, per ABC News. "I just trusted myself and focused on my forehand. I could not have done it without these guys: they were incredible, my coach, my parents."

ESPN's tennis feed captured Kokkinakis', umm, interesting celebration:

Adam Liaw brings up an interesting point:

For the Aussies in attendance, Kokkinakis' win gave them reason to celebrate late into the night. For the rest of the field, it was one of many events Monday that put them on notice. While the men's side was far more to the point than the women's, eight seeded players going down on one half of the bracket is enough to cause concern for anyone.

With another 32 seeds (16 men, 16 women) due to play Tuesday, odds are more upsets are in store. The second day will have a lot to live up to if it wants to compete with the first.

 

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

All results and stats are via AusOpen.com