Krejcikova edges out Hontama at Australian Open

Czech Barbora Krejcikova was the only former women's Grand Slam winner playing in the day session of the Australian Open and the ninth seed was soon in trouble against Japanese wildcard Mai Hontama on Margaret Court Arena.

Hontama, playing her first main draw match at Melbourne Park, took the first set and former French Open champion Krejcikova needed plenty of sideline coaching and a medical timeout for a foot injury before progressing 2-6 6-4 6-3.

Women's eighth seed Maria Sakkari had an easier time getting past her Japanese opponent Nao Hibino 6-4 6-1 but 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova crashed out 6-3 6-4 at the hands of American Amanda Anisimova.

Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova became the youngest winner in the main draw since Coco Gauff beat Naomi Osaka in 2020 with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory over Ana Bogdan at the age of 16 years and 287 days.

Fruhvirtova will next face reigning women's champion Aryna Sabalenka or German qualifier Ella Seidel, whose first-round contest is the last match of the day on the main showcourt.

Jodie Burrage was unable to build on a good start as her Australian Open debut ended with a first-round loss to German Tamara Korpatsch.

Burrage earned her spot in the main draw for the first time with a strong year in 2023 and she played with confidence and purpose to take the opening set as the year's first grand slam made its maiden Sunday start.

But, as Korpatsch steadied, Burrage's unforced error count began to rise and it was the German who came through 2-6 6-3 6-0.