Australian Open: Hungry Krejcikova survives Hontama challenge to reach second round

No 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova was up against the ropes early but advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by defeating Japanese wildcard Mai Hontama 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Sunday night.

“Definitely it was a really difficult match,” Krejcikova said. “I felt that Mai she was playing really well and I was struggling, but I believed that I could come back and that I could level up.”

“I’m really happy with the way how I was able to turn around the second set, with the way how I switched my game.” the Czech told the press after her win. “I think the second set was maybe the key, and then I feel in the third definitely the break at 4-3 was the key to get the win.”

Krejcikova, has reached the second week in each of her last two appearances at Melbourne Park, but the 2021 Roland-Garros champion had to grind to avoid falling out of a Slam in the first round for the third time in her last four appearances.

Australian Open debutante Hontama hit 28 winners against 27 for Krejcikova.

Krejcikova broke open the match by winning the last three games to improve to 10-4 lifetime at the Australian Open and said she is feeling hungry for more success in 2024.

“I feel good. I feel very hungry. I really want to be there. I really want to fight. I really want to get the wins, and I really want to get back on track and perform well and get some good matches,” the former French Open champion said “I believe I’m on a good way, and the plan is to just keep going and just keep trying to get better every day.

Krejcikova, ranked No 10, will face the winner of the match between German Tamara Korpatsch and Jodie Burrage next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Rebecca Marino vs. Jessica Pegula
• Aleksandra Krunic vs. Clara Burel
• Renata Zarazua vs. Martina Trevisan
• Lin Zhu vs. Oceane Dodin
• Yafan Wang vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Emma Raducanu vs. Shelby Rogers
• Katie Boulter vs. Yue Yuan
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Ashlyn Krueger
• Peyton Stearns vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Sloane Stephens vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Anna Blinkova
• Elena Rybakina vs. Karolina Pliskova
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Lulu Sun
• Emma Navarro vs. Xiyu Wang
• Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka
• Greet Minnen vs. Clara Tauson
• Petra Martic vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Kimberly Birrell
• Danielle Collins vs. Angelique Kerber
• Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin
• Caroline Garcia vs. Naomi Osaka
• Ons Jabeur vs. Yulia Starodubtseva
• Taylor Townsend vs. Paula Badosa
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Bernarda Pera
• Linda Fruhvirtova vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Katie Volynets
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Arantxa Rus
• Viktorija Golubic vs. Veronika Kudermetova
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Anastasia Zakharova
• Magdalena Frech vs. Daria Saville
• Mayar Sherif vs. Elise Mertens
• Jaqueline Cristian vs. Katerina Siniakova
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Donna Vekic
• Rebeka Masarova vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
• Marta Kostyuk vs. Claire Liu
• Diana Shnaider vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Tatjana Maria vs. Camila Osorio
• Fiona Ferro vs. Mccartney Kessler
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Laura Siegemund
• Kaja Juvan vs. Anastasia Potapova
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Coco Gauff
• Nadia Podoroska vs. Tamara Zidansek
• Storm Hunter vs. Sara Errani
• Dayana Yastremska vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Yanina Wickmayer vs. Varvara Gracheva
• Kayla Day vs. Viktoriya Tomova
• Elina Svitolina vs. Taylah Preston
• Linda Noskova vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Ella Seidel vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Magda Linette vs. Caroline Wozniacki
• Caroline Dolehide vs. Leolia Jeanjean
• Maria Sakkari vs. Nao Hibino
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Diane Parry vs. Xinyu Wang
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Alina Korneeva
• Ana Bogdan vs. Brenda Fruhvirtova: sunday
• Alize Cornet vs. Maria Timofeeva: sunday
• Alycia Parks vs. Daria Snigur: sunday
• Tamara Korpatsch vs. Jodie Burrage: sunday
• Zhuoxuan Bai vs. Elina Avanesyan: sunday
• Lesia Tsurenko (28) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Kamilla Rakhimova beat Emina Bektas: 6-4, 6-4
• Leylah Fernandez (32) beat Sara Bejlek (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-2