Melbourne is known for its unpredictable wind and it blew both ways for Australian tennis fans on Tuesday. Torturous late-night losses suffered by Daria Kasatkina and Kimberly Birrell came about 12 hours after Maya Joint’s straight-sets defeat, ending the Australian Open ambitions of the three highest-ranked local female players.
As the sun comes up on Wednesday morning, however, the country will have six women in the second round, the most at a grand slam since eight progressed at Melbourne Park in 1992. The last to secure their berth was the qualifier Maddison Inglis, who defeated Birrell 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9), 6-4 in an all-Australian clash that lasted three hours and finished after midnight.
