Tears of joy for comeback girl

Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu burst into tears yesterday after a tough victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu in the Australian Open on her return from a long injury layoff.

The Canadian eighth seed saved three break points in the seventh game of the third set before prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 against Romanian Buzarnescu in two hours and two minutes.

Andreescu capped her comeback in style with a 27th winner as she wiped away tears.

"It means a lot to win. It was all worth it. I never gave up," said Andreescu, who faces Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei in the second round. "I really do believe in my capabilities"

Andreescu, 20, was set to make her comeback in the warm-up Grampians Trophy, but pulled out as a precautionary measure after spending 14 days in hard lockdown after arriving in Melbourne.

She had not played a competitive match since suffering a left knee injury at the WTA Finals in October 2019, halting her rapid rise after a stunning victory over Serena Williams in the US Open final just a month earlier.

Williams, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep enjoyed convincing wins as the tournament, delayed three weeks over the coronavirus, finally got underway in front of limited crowds.

Williams, 39, started her quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title with a 6-1, 6-1 romp past Germany's Laura Siegemund. That was after Osaka, 23, opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

World No 1 Novak Djokovic, looking for a ninth title in Melbourne, demolished France's Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-1, 6-2. "It feels great, so great to see people back in the stadium," Djokovic said. "This is the most I've seen on a tennis court in 12 months."

French Open champion Iga Swiatek, 19, beat Arantxa Rus 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round.

But Angelique Kerber, the 2016 Australian Open winner, was the first significant casualty of the women's championship when the 23rd-seeded German lost 6-0, 6-4 to 63rd-ranked American Bernarda Pera.