Australian Open 2019: Favourite Novak Djokovic to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Headliners

Australian Open title favourite Novak Djokovic will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round after cruising to a straight-sets victory over qualifier Mitchell Krueger.

The super Serb is 6-5 to win a record seventh Australian Open title going into his last-64 clash with Tsonga, the runner-up in the 2008 final when Djokovic collected his first major title.

Djokovic is joined in the next phase by fourth seed Alex Zverev, who eased concerns over his fitness with a straight-sets demolition of Slovenian Aljaz Bedene.

Kei Nishikori looked like being the biggest casualty of day two in Melbourne when he went two sets down against Kamil Majchrzak, but the eighth seed fought back to two sets all before the Pole retired with cramp.

Serena Williams, a general 7-2 chance for the women's title, set up a round-of-64 clash with Canadian Eugenie Bouchard after taking just 49 minutes to see off Tatjana Maria.

Top seed Simona Halep went a set down against Estonian Kaia Kanepi but fought back to avoid becoming the first world number one to suffer back-to-back first-round major exits.

Shocks of the day

Jack Sock was odds-on to brush aside Aussie Alex Bolt but, despite going a set up, the American fell to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 loss against the wildcard entrant, who claimed his maiden major triumph.

Fellow wildcard Alexei Popyrin blew away veteran Mischa Zverev in straight sets to hand Australia their joint-best start to the tournament in 16 years.

His compatriot Nick Kyrgios, a quarter-finalist in Melbourne in 2015, did not fare so well in his clash with 16th seed Milos Raonic, who prevailed 6-4 7-6 6-4.

Tenth seed Daria Kasatkina's defeat to Sydney International quarter-finalist Timea Bacsinszky was arguably the shock of the day in the women's singles on day two.

Player in focus

Serbia's Filip Krajinovic dispatched one of the fiercer opponents in his section in the second round and could be worth following as the tournament progresses.

The 26-year-old has shortened slightly to 300-1 for the title after recovering from two sets down to sink Qatar Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato 4-6 0-6 6-1 7-6 6-4.

He showed composure, registering 20 aces in the triumph, and should be fancied in his round-of-64 meeting with Evgeny Donskoy.

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