Australian Open 2015: Twitter Reacts to Day 2 Bracket Results, Scores, Winners
Day 2 at the Australian Open featured several top players in both the men's and women's draws. While all of the marquee names in action managed to advance to the second round, the results certainly weren't straight chalk Down Under.
Although the likes of Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka won with relative ease, many seeded players were ousted before they could even think about making a run at a Grand Slam title.
With Day 2 of the Aussie Open officially in the books, here is a look at the notable results in both men's and women's singles as well as a breakdown of the biggest storylines emanating from Melbourne Park.
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Day 2 Men's Singles Results
| No. 1 Novak Djokovic | Aljaz Bedine | 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 |
| No. 4 Stanislas Wawrinka | Marsel Ilhan | 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 |
| No. 5 Kei Nishikori | Nicolas Almagro | 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 |
| No. 8 Milos Raonic | Illya Marchenko | 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 |
| No. 9 David Ferrer | Thomaz Bellucci | 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 |
| No. 12 Feliciano Lopez | Denis Kudla | 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 |
| No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut | Dominic Thiem | 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 |
| Alejandro Gonzalez | No. 16 Fabio Fognini | 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 |
| No. 17 Gael Monfils | Lucas Pouille | 6-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 |
| No. 18 Gilles Simon | Robin Haase | 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 |
| No. 19 John Isner | Jimmy Wang | 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Paolo Lorenzi | No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov | 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Benjamin Becker | No. 25 Julien Benneteau | 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 |
| Matthias Bachinger | No. 27 Pablo Cuevas | 7-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
| No. 30 Santiago Giraldo | Jan Hernych | 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 |
| No. 31 Fernando Verdasco | James Ward | 2-6, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3 |
| Vasek Pospisil | Sam Querrey | 6-3, 6-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Jerzy Janowicz | Hiroki Moriya | 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 |
| Lleyton Hewitt | Ze Zhang | 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 |
| Donald Young | Tim Puetz | 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
Day 2 Women's Singles Results
| No. 1 Serena Williams | Alison Van Uytvanck | 6-0, 6-4 |
| No. 4 Petra Kvitova | Richel Hogenkamp | 6-1, 6-4 |
| No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska | Kurumi Nara | 6-3, 6-0 |
| No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki | Taylor Townsend | 7-6, 6-2 |
| No. 11 Dominika Cibulkova | Kirsten Flipkens | 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
| Camila Giorgi | No. 12 Flavia Pennetta | 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Madison Brengle | No. 13 Andrea Petkovic | 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 |
| Timea Bacsinszky | No. 15 Jelena Jankovic | 6-1, 6-4 |
| No. 18 Venus Williams | Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor | 6-2, 6-2 |
| No. 19 Alize Cornet | Shuai Zhang | 6-3, 6-2 |
| No. 20 Samantha Stosur | Monica Niculescu | 6-4, 6-1 |
| No. 24 Garbine Muguruza | Marina Erakovic | 7-5, 6-0 |
| No. 25 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova | Timea Babos | 6-4, 6-4 |
| No. 26 Elina Svitolina | Yulia Putintseva | 6-3, 7-5 |
| No. 29 Casey Dellacqua | Yvonne Meusburger | 6-4, 6-0 |
| No. 30 Varvara Lepchenko | Vitalia Diatchenko | 6-3, 6-3 |
| Victoria Azarenka | Sloane Stephens | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Nicole Gibbs | Olivia Rogowska | 6-4, 6-1 |
| Madison Keys | Lesya Tsurenko | 6-3, 7-5 |
| Coco Vandeweghe | Francesca Schiavone | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Irina Falconi | Kaia Kanepi | 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 |
| Lauren Davis | Aleksandra Krunic | 6-1, 7-5 |
Top Seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams Cruise
As the No. 1 seeds in their respective draws, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are the odds-on favorites to leave Australia as champions. They have a long way to go, but they both got off to a great start in the opening round.
Djoker took on Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene and made fairly quick work of him in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 straight-sets victory. While the score certainly looks one-sided, Nole admitted that his unheralded opponent created some issues, according to ATPWorldTour.com.
"He did surprise me. I had a difficult time reading his serve. The courts are playing a little bit faster than they were the past two years. So if you have a big serve, know how to use it, it's a big advantage on these courts. He's a good player obviously. He reached the finals in Chennai. Qualified again here. He felt confident. He had nothing to lose. On the other hand, I managed to stay tough, overcome some kind of challenges that I faced in the beginning of the match. I played much more comfortably in the rest of the match.
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Despite the challenges Bedene posed, Djokovic was able to persevere. Tougher opponents are on the horizon, but getting this one out of the way should be huge for the Serbian star's confidence, especially since he is coming off an illness.
As for Williams, Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck was simply no match in a 6-0, 6-4 contest. Serena came out of the gates firing as evidenced by the first-set bagel. Her opponent did put up a better fight in the second, though, which Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times views as a good mix for the five-time Australian Open champ:
Expectations are certainly high for Williams as she is tied for second on the all-time Grand Slam titles list with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18. She is also just four championships behind all-time leader Steffi Graf.
Serena would obviously love to move into second all by herself, and her comments via the Australian Open's Twitter account suggest that she has the right mindset to do it:
There is certainly some strong competition in the women's draw; however, Williams can't be beaten when she is playing her very best.
It can be argued that Serena has plenty of room for improvement following her first-round match, but there is no reason to believe that she won't get better as the tournament progresses.
Several Seeded Players Ousted in Both Draws
Although there it can be argued that no true contenders fell during Day 2 of the Australian Open, the chaotic nature of the tournament was on display nonetheless with many seeded players getting eliminated in the first round.
That was especially true in the women's bracket as No. 12 Flavia Pennetta, No. 13 Andrea Petkovic and No. 15 Jelena Jankovic were all sent packing.
As pointed out by Chris Skelton of TennisViewMag.com, the first two days of the Aussie Open have produced a number of big-time upsets:
In fact, the amount of upsets that have occurred in the women's draw is a number that has been equaled only twice in the Open era, according to Infostrada Sports:
The likes of Serena, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka remain alive and are still considered to be the top contenders, but former tennis player Melanie South points out that the women's draw should present many players with a golden opportunity to make a deep run with so many seeded players going down:
Perhaps the biggest Day 2 surprise on the women's side was American Madison Brengle's 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 win over Petkovic. With that said, Brengle entered the Aussie Open coming off a finals appearance at the Hobart International.
Per the Australian Open on Twitter, though, the fact that Brengle even made it to the tournament is a minor miracle in its own right:
The upsets weren't quite as inspirational in the men's draw, but there were several. No. 16 Fabio Fognini headlined a group that also included No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov, No. 25 Julien Benneteau and No. 27 Pablo Cuevas.
Fognini was taken down by Colombia's Alejandro Gonzalez in four sets, which continued the trend of top-20 players crashing out, per the Australian Open's Twitter account:
It would have been tough players of Fognini's ilk to do damage Down Under with Djokovic, Wawrinka, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray standing in their way, but falling so early in the tournament is a major disappointment nonetheless.
American Women Enjoy Huge Day
Serena has been forced to carry the flag for American tennis almost singlehandedly in recent years, but first-round results on the women's side suggest that she may finally have company.
American women were fantastic on Day 2 as the only one to fall was Sloane Stephens, who drew the short straw by being forced to play Azarenka in the opening round. In all, American women enjoyed their best first round at the Australian Open in 16 years, according to SI Tennis:
In addition to Serena; Brengle, No. 30 Varvara Lepchenko, Nicole Gibbs, Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweghe, Irina Falconi and Lauren Davis were all victorious on Day 2.
Both Vandeweghe and Falconi had notable wins as the former crushed former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2, while the latter gutted out a three-set win over Kaia Kanepi.
No. 18 Venus Williams, who looks to be an under-the-radar contender, advanced to the second round as well. She was extremely impressive in a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Spain's Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor.
Per TennisNow, Venus has been playing spectacularly thus far in 2015:
Venus is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, but she hasn't won a major title since Wimbledon in 2008. If she continues to play at this level, though, she is primed to make some noise in Melbourne.
As for the younger and lesser-known American players who advanced on Day 2, one can only assume that at least a few of them will make a run as well.
The numbers are in favor of the United States, and that is certainly exciting for American tennis considering the lack of depth that has plagued it over the past several years.
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