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Muguruza labours into Aussie Open Round 2

Melbourne - Garbine Muguruza wore heavy strapping on her injured right thigh as she laboured to a 6-4, 6-3 victory against wildcard Jessika Ponchet in the Australian Open first round on Tuesday.

The world number three took an hour and 24 minutes to quell the virtually unknown 21-year-old French world number 256.

Muguruza said before her match she was hoping to be "pain-free" to begin her Australian Open campaign, but her mobility was hampered and she looked anything but fully fit against Ponchet.

A quarter-finalist in Melbourne last year, Spain's Muguruza dropped her first service game but from there battled back to take the first set in 43 minutes.

"It wasn't easy. I didn't know anything about her," said Muguruza of her opponent who was making her first main draw appearance in a WTA event, let alone a Grand Slam.

"She's super talented. Serves and volleys, so I had to stay very concentrated."

The Wimbledon champion had a problematic start to the year, pulling out of the Sydney International to protect her right thigh.

Only a week earlier she had retired from the Brisbane International with severe cramps.

Her bad luck almost continued when she clutched her left knee as her shoe stuck awkwardly in the court at 2-2, 30-30 in the second set, bringing gasps from the Margaret Court Arena crowd.

But she recovered to outlast Ponchet in a game that went to a marathon six deuces and take a break of serve and then broke again to seal the win. 

Muguruza, seeded three, next faces Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei who prevailed in a see-saw match against China's Zhu Lin 0-6, 6-0, 8-6.

The two-time Grand Slam winner is in the same half of the draw as world number one Simona Halep and is projected to face another Frenchwoman, number eight seed Caroline Garcia, in the quarters.

Collated results from the Australian Open on Tuesday:

Men's singles

1st round

Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Vaclav Safranek (CZE) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

Adrian Mannarino (FRA x26) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP x20) 6-1, 7-5, 7-5

Maximilian Marterer (GER) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 6-0, 6-3, 6-4

Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, 6-1

Sam Querrey (USA x13) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

Nicolas Kicker (ARG) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3

Lukas Lacko (SVK) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x22) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)

Stan Wawrinka (SUI x9) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2)

Albert Ramos (ESP x21) bt Jared Donaldson (USA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Peter Gojowczyk (GER) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

Alexander Zverev (GER x4) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5

David Goffin (BEL x7) bt Matthias Bachinger (GER) 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5

Novak Djokovic (SRB x14) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Kwon Soon-woo (KOR) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Denis Kudla (USA) bt Steve Johnson (USA) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2

Tennys Sandgren (USA) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2

Fabio Fognini (ITA x25) bt Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5

Gael Monfils (FRA) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4

Tim Smyczek (USA) bt Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3, 6-7 (14/16), 6-3, 6-3

Chung Hyeon (KOR) bt Mischa Zverev (GER x32) 6-2, 4-1 ret

Richard Gasquet (FRA x29) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 6-1, 6-4, 7-5

Daniil Medvedev (RUS) bt Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/8), 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-0, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-4

Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Peter Polansky (CAN) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4

Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Tomas Berdych (CZE x19) bt Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1

Dominic Thiem (AUT x5) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Juan Martin Del Potro (ARGx12) bt Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Women's singles

1st round

Johanna Konta (GBR x9) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-3, 6-1

Bernarda Pera (USA) bt Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-2, 6-2

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE x20) bt Kristie Ahn (USA) 6-1, 7-5

Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) bt Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 6-1, 6-2

Lucie Safarova (CZE x29) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 7-5, 6-3

Karolina Pliskova (CZE x6) bt Veronica Cepede (PAR) 6-3, 6-4

Angelique Kerber (GER x21) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 6-0, 6-4

Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 7-5, 6-4

Caroline Garcia (FRA x8) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 7-5, 6-3

Elena Vesnina (RUS x16) bt Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-3, 6-4

Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 6-1, 6-4

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-3, 6-2

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

Sorana Cirstea (ROM) bt Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) bt Lizette Cabrera (AUS) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4

Donna Vekic (CRO) bt Nao Hibino (JPN) 7-5, 6-3

Madison Keys (USA x17) bt Qiang Wang (CHN) 6-1, 7-5

Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Destanee Aiava (AUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1

Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO x28) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-2

Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x14) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Naomi Osaka (JPN) bt Kristina Kucova (SVK) 7-5, 6-2

Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-4, 6-3

Lauren Davis (USA) bt Jana Cepelova (SVK) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-1

Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x27) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8

Hsieh Su-wei (TPE) bt Zhu Lin (CHN) 0-6, 6-0, 8-6

Ana Bogdan (ROM) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA x11) 6-3, 6-2

Garbine Muguruza (ESP x3) bt Jessika Ponchet (FRA) 6-4, 6-3

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x26) bt Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 7-5, 7-6 (8/6)

Ashleigh Barty (AUS x18) bt Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4

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