Andrey Rublev beats Thiem in 1st round at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andrey Rublev beat wild-card entry Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Australian Open. Thiem was a runner-up at the Australian Open in 2020 and the U.S. Open winner the same year. He missed much of 2021 due to injuries but has recovered from outside the top 350 last year to a place just inside the top 100. He was given a wild-card entry by tournament organizers. Grigor Dimitrov, a semifinalist in Melbourne in 2017, beat Aslan Karatsev in three sets.  No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka maintained her unbeaten start to the year with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Tereza Martincova. Caroline Garcia kicked off her quest for a first Grand Slam singles title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Katherine Sebov, a qualifier from Canada.