Noami Osaka has a tough draw in her first WTA title defense.

Amanda Anisimova in the youngest American woman to reach a Slam fourth round since Serena Williams at the 1998 French Open.

Simona Halep was six points from losing to 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin Thursday at the Australian Open.

Serena Williams and Eugenie Bouchard battle for the first time in over four years Thursday night in Melbourne.

The Williams sisters moved on at the Australian Open.

The three former champions in the women’s draw all cruised in their Rod Laver openers on Monday in Melbourne.

Last year a mere six players had a crack at leaving Australia with the No. 1 ranking. The 2019 Australian just told 2018 to hold its beer.

“I think it’s the best match she ever played against me,” Venus said. “I don’t think I did a lot wrong. But she just did everything right. Obviously that level is definitely where she’s going to want to stay during this whole tournament.”

It is the first time in the Open Era that the two top seeds have gone out before the quarterfinals at the US Open, and Wozniacki was the third Slam champion this week to lose on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium Court which is quickly becoming known as the “graveyard court.”

For the first time in US Open history an Extreme Heat Policy was implemented for men’s matches in addition to the women as temperatures neared 100 degrees at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

It was Kanepi’s second career win over a world No. 1, while it was Halep’s 12th first-round loss at a Slam.

“If anything, I have more fire in my belly,” Serena said. “It’s very hard to describe. It’s very difficult to describe. I thought after having a child I would be more relaxed. I think I’ve said this before, but I’m not. I work just as hard if not harder actually. I just feel like I take it just as serious if not more. That’s been really surprising for me.”

A whole bunch of former champions will be in action on day one at the US Open.

“It is always not so easy to change also the surface,” Kerber said of moving from grass to hard court, arguably one of the easiest transitions on tour. “I think I need a little bit more time to get used to hardcourt again, to have a lot of matches, a lot of practice sessions on hard.”

The outrageous number of opening-round seeds vs. floaters match-ups includes (16) Kyrgios vs. (WC) Wawrinka, (11) Schwartzman vs. Edmund, (6) Cilic vs. Coric, (3) Del Potro vs. Nishikori, (14) Fognini vs. Johnson (winner to meet Shapovalov), (5) Dimitrov vs. Verdasco, (10) Goffin vs. Raonic, (4) Anderson vs. Rublev, (7) Thiem vs. the fast-rising Tsitsipas, (9) Djokovic vs. Chung, and (2) Zverev vs. Ferrer…