MELBOURNE: Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka launched their Australian Open title bids with straight-sets wins but there was no fairytale for 45-year-old Venus Williams on Sunday.

On a hot Melbourne day in which a ball girl fainted, last year’s men’s beaten finalist Alexander Zverev dropped a set before easing into the second round.

World number one Alcaraz joined him, the Spaniard beating 81st-ranked home player Adam Walton 6-3, 7-6(7/2), 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Alcaraz, who is desperate to win the Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam of all four majors, plays Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann next.

“I think this kind of level and the difficulties in the first round is pretty good for me,” said Alcaraz, who was pushed all the way in the second set.

“But overall just happy. I’m pleased about the level that I played today,” added Alcaraz, who was playing his first competitive match for nine weeks.

“I just stayed at home,” the 22-year-old said of his long break.

“I used to practise the whole morning [and] I took almost every afternoon off to do whatever I wanted — stay with family or friends, play board games and chilling at home. It’s a better way to recharge the batteries, staying at home with the people you love.”

Alcaraz has won the US Open, Wimbledon and French Open, but Melbourne is the one Grand Slam missing from his impressive resume.

The furthest he has gone at the opening major of the year is the quarter-finals and he has made it clear that dethroning rival Jannik Sinner as champion is his main aim for 2026.

If he does so, the 22-year-old would surpass compatriot Rafael Nadal to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.

Earlier, in steamy conditions approaching highs of 30 degrees centigrade, Zverev threatened to implode in losing the first set to Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.

But the 28-year-old German recovered to win 6-7(1/7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and next meets Australian Alexei Popyrin or Alexandre Muller of France.

Asked how he reset from his first-set wobble, the third seed said: “I was thinking it can’t get worse than that.”

British qualifier Arthur Fery scored the first big upset by taking down 20th seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 7-6(7/1), 6-4, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th major title, begins his title assault on Monday, as does three-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev.

Organisers said that a record 100,000 people came through the gates, although there were complaints about long queues in the heat.

Underlining how fierce it was on court, a ball girl collapsed during the match between Zeynep Sonmez and Ekaterina Alexan­drova, with both players rushing to help her.

But the heat didn’t bothered the world no 1 as Sabalenka began her bid for a third Australian Open title in four years.

The Belarusian had a patchy start before coming good in the second set.

Sabalenka, stunned by Madison Keys in the 2025 final, ultimately had too much power, guile and quality for French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.

But the top seed took time to find her touch, making a series of unforced errors before taming the spirited 20-year-old 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

“It’s the first match, right? You’re always kind of trying to figure out where you are,” said the women’s top seed. “I didn’t really know much about her. I was just struggling to find the rhythm of her shots. I’m happy that I could manage and I could get this win in straight sets.”

Sabalenka said she had felt added pressure with tennis legends Roger Federer and Rod Laver court-side.

“I hope you guys enjoyed watching me play, I hope you enjoyed it even a little bit,” she said in her on-court interview, addressing the duo.

Sabalenka faces Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan next.

Title rivals Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff play on Monday.

Also safely through was seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini as she outclassed Belar­usian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasn­o­vich 6-1, 6-2.

Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian 12th seed, eased past Cristina Bucsa of Spain 6-4, 6-1.

But seeded fellow Ukrainians Dayana Yastremska and Marta Kostyuk were dumped out early, as was the American great Williams.

The seven-time major champion was the oldest woman to play in the history of the Australian Open.

She showed glimpses of what once made her world number one, but ultimately fell after an epic battle with an opponent more than 20 years her junior.

Olga Danilovic of Serbia outlasted the veteran 6-7(5/7), 6-3, 6-4 over a gruelling 2hrs 17mins.

“It was such a great game, such a great moment. The energy from the crowd was amazing. That lifted me up so much,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, with extra security deployed at the tournament following the mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach last month, the patience of fans was earlier tested as they lined up in long, snaking queues to the Melbourne Park gates under a hot sun.

Organisers delivered an unwelcome surprise by halting sales of the popular “ground pass” tickets within an hour of the first shot being hit, citing intense demand.

The move disappointed hundreds of fans who had queued for long periods expecting to buy the cheaper walk-up tickets which allow access to the minor courts.

“We tried to buy a ground pass and they just told us it was only tickets that were A$229 ($153) per person,” Melbourne resident Susan Walsh told Reuters. “Didn’t want to spend that much money… so, a bit disappointed.”

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2026