The Latest: Tsonga beats Baghdatis in tough 1st-round match
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The latest from the Australian Open on Monday (all times local):
11:30 p.m.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wrapped up play on the first day of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Marcos Baghdatis in a first-round match featuring two former finalists.
No. 9-seeded Tsonga, who lost the 2008 final to Novak Djokovic, improved his record to 6-0 in tour-level meetings with No. 48-ranked Baghdatis, who lost the 2006 Australian Open final to Roger Federer.
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10:40 p.m.
Samantha Stosur's woes at her national championship continued when she was beaten 6-4, 7-6 (6) by qualifier Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Stosur has never advanced past the fourth round at the Australian Open, and has lost in the first or second round eight times in 14 appearances.
The 2011 U.S. Open champion, seeded 25th, saved two match points in the tiebreaker, but then set up another match point for Pliskova by netting a backhand.
The Czech player then served an ace to end the match in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
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8:49 p.m.
Roger Federer has advanced to the second round at Melbourne Park, setting a record just by showing up.
The No. 3-seeded Swiss star is appearing in a record 65th consecutive major, an impressive run that started at the Australian Open in 2000. Federer had little trouble Monday beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
Federer, who has won four Australian Open titles among his 17 majors, faces Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round and could face No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov in the third.
The 34-year-old Federer hasn't won a Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2012.
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8:38 p.m.
A resurgent Eugenie Bouchard continued her injury comeback with a first-round win. The 37th-ranked Bouchard beat Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a second-round matchup against No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Bouchard is playing in only her fourth tournament since sustaining a concussion when she fell in the dressing room at last year's U.S. Open.
Earlier this month the 21-year-old Canadian made it to the quarterfinals at the Shenzen Open and followed that up by reaching the final at the Hobart International.
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8:24 p.m.
Fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova has eased to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Nao Hibino in a first-round match to start the night program at Margaret Court Arena.
Sharapova, who pulled out of the Brisbane International with a left forearm injury, appeared to show no side effects from the ailment in her 73-minute win over the Japanese player.
Her only stumble came while serving for the match when she was broken by Hibino, but Sharapova broke back in the next game to clinch the match.
"I haven't played many matches in many weeks, it was great to come out here and start my season," Sharapova said.
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7:25 p.m.
Nineteen-year-old wild-card entry Noah Rubin got the biggest win of his career, upsetting 17th-seeded Benoit Paire of France 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) for his first Grand Slam victory.
The No. 328th-ranked Rubin received a wild card into the main draw as part of a reciprocal agreement between the U.S. and Australian tennis associations. The Long Island, New York, native had only played one previous Grand Slam match, a straight-sets loss to Argentina's Federico Delbonis in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open.
Paire, who made a sartorial statement by wearing one red and one black shoe, had 61 winners compared to just 22 for the American, but also 72 unforced errors.
Afterword, the Frenchman didn't have many kind words for his opponent.
"I played against a not good player, but I was very bad today so that's it, I lost," he said. "I didn't know him and after this match, I said, yes, he's not a good player."
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6:40 p.m.
Coming off the best season of his career, new dad Novak Djokovic joked that he needs to make some more babies.
"Ever since I became a father everything is going uphill on the tennis court," Djokovic said after winning his first-round match at the Australian Open on Monday.
Djokovic and his wife Jelena had a baby boy, Stefan, in October 2014. The No. 1-ranked player went on to have an outstanding 2015, winning three Grand Slams, 10 titles and finishing the season at No. 1 for the fourth time in five years.
"I undoubtedly had the best season and best year of my life in 2015," a clearly amused Djokovic told on-court interviewer Jim Courier before directing a message to his wife.
"Darling, I guess we got to make more babies. What can I say?" Djokovic said smiling, as the crowd erupted in laughter.
"I'm probably going to get criticized for what I said now, but anyway, going back to tennis, it's been a remarkable season," added Djokovic, a five-time Australian Open winner. "Hopefully, I can have another great start here in Australian Open and take it from here."
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6:29 p.m.
Former No.1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki is out of the Australian Open, losing 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
The 16th-seeded Wozniacki was up a service break in the second set. She received treatment on her right ankle during a medical time out in the third set.
It continued a downward spiral for Wozniacki at Melbourne Park, starting with a semifinal loss in 2011 and continuing with an exit at an earlier round every year since.
Putintseva, ranked 76th, said she used some reverse psychology to keep calm.
"I tried to keep my emotions inside and imagined I'm losing," she said.
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4:54 p.m.
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska has moved into the second round at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Christina McHale of the United States.
The fourth-seeded Radwanska started her 2016 season on a roll, winning the Shenzhen Open before pulling out of the Sydney Invitational last week with a left leg injury.
Radwanska did not appear to be hampered in the match against McHale, which she closed out in 80 minutes.
The match featured 11 breaks of serve - seven by Radwanska.
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4:47 p.m.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic took his first steps toward a sixth Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Chung Hyeon of South Korea at Rod Laver Arena.
Djokovic won the Australian Open last year - he's a 5-0 in finals at Melbourne Park - lost the French Open final to Stan Wawrinka, then won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to cap an outstanding year.
On Monday afternoon in temperatures of 34 Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) Djokovic became annoyed with himself and his play at times, including three double-faults. He backhanded his racket to the ground in the seventh game of the second set after missing a shot that could have given him set point.
He went on to clinch the second set in the next game and later wrapped up the match in 1 hour, 55 minutes.
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3:12 p.m.
Sixth-seeded Thomas Berdych advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 win over Yuki Bhambri in a straight-forward opener to his 50th consecutive major tournament. Bhambri was playing his first tour-level match since the last Australian Open.
The 30-year-old Berdych served 13 aces and had only one double-fault, and advanced beyond the first round for the 11th straight year at Melbourne Park. He reached the semifinals last year before losing to four-time finalist Andy Murray, his best run at the season's first Grand Slam tournament.
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2:51 p.m.
Sloane Stephens lost 10 straight games before losing her first-round match at the Australian Open to Chinese qualifier Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-3.
The No. 24-seeded Stephens was up 3-1 in the first set and then lost 10 games in a row to the Chinese player, who is ranked 102nd.
Stephens won her second career title in Auckland earlier this month but then withdrew from the Hobart International due to a viral illness.
Stephens reached the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2013.
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2:32p.m.
Defending champion Serena Williams has won her first-round match, beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-4, 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena.
Williams, who just missed a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 when she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals, was helped by 12 double-faults by the Italian player, including on break point in the 11th game of the second set to give Williams a 6-5 lead.
The 21-time major champion held her service at love in the next game, including two aces and a service winner, to close out the match in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Williams appeared to show no soreness from recent inflammation in her left knee.
"It wasn't quick, so that actually worked to my advantage as well," Williams said. "I think I was able to stay in it and stay calm today and I think that's what matters most."
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1:05 p.m.
Kei Nishikori has become the first of the seeded men's players to advance to the second round of the Australian Open.
The seventh-seeded Nishikori, who reached the quarterfinals last year, beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 without facing a break point Monday.
Nishikori struggled with a series of injuries last year, but said he was feeling sharp after his first match in Melbourne.
"It's great to finish in three sets, especially against Philipp. He's always tough to play," Nishikori said. "The body is feeling pretty good. I had a good preparation."
Kohlschreiber, ranked No. 34, was the highest ranked of the men's players who were unseeded at the tournament.
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12:45 p.m.
ATP chairman Chris Kermode and the Tennis Integrity Unit have rejected news reports that match-fixing has gone unchecked in the sport.
In reports published on the morning the Australian Open began, the BBC and BuzzFeed News said secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis. The report said that in the last decade 16 players - all at some stage ranked in the top 50 - have been repeatedly flagged to the integrity unit.
The reports say the players - it doesn't identify them or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles - were allowed to continue competing.
At a news conference at Melbourne Park on Monday, Kermode said officials "absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match-fixing has been suppressed for any reason, or isn't being investigated."
Nigel Willerton, head of the Tennis Integrity Unit which was formed in 2008 as a joint initiative of the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA and the Grand Slam Board, says "it would be unprofessional for me to comment on if any players here are being monitored."
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12:22 p.m.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has the distinction of winning the first completed match at the 2016 Australian Open, avenging a loss to Luksika Kumkhum from two years ago.
Kvitova beat the Thai qualifier 6-3, 6-1. In 2014, Kumkhum beat Kvitova in three sets to send the-then sixth-ranked player out of the tournament.
Serving to stay in the match Monday, Kumkhum saved two match points before double-faulting in the breezy conditions on Rod Laver Arena to hand Kvitova the match in 70 minutes.
Kvitova won her Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014. Her best performance at the Australian Open is a semifinal berth in 2012.
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11:12 a.m.
Under sunny skies and a temperature of 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has begun play in her first-round match against Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, the first match on the center court at the Australian Open.
Over on Hisense Arena, 2014 U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan is playing Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
Later matches on Rod Laver Arena involve the defending champions Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic. Williams, who just missed a calendar year Grand Slam last year by losing in the semifinals at the U.S. Open, plays Camila Giorgi of Italy, followed by Djokovic's match against Chung Hyeon of South Korea.
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10:55 a.m.
An International Tennis Federation spokesman at the Australian Open says the Tennis Integrity Unit plans to issue a statement on Monday in reaction to reports over match-fixing in the sport.
The BBC and BuzzFeed News says secret files exposed evidence of widespread suspected match-fixing at the top level of world tennis. The report said that in the last decade, 16 players who have been ranked in the top 50 have been repeatedly flagged to the integrity unit.
The reports say the players - it doesn't identify the players or say whether they were involved in singles or doubles - were allowed to continue competing.
The Tennis Integrity Unit was formed in 2008 as a joint initiative of the ITF, the ATP, the WTA and the Grand Slam Board.