MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) The Latest from the Australian Open on Monday (all times local):
Destanee Aiava only had to hit a ball Monday to establish the first milestone at the 2017 Australian Open, becoming the first player born in this millennium to play a main draw match at a Grand Slam event.
The 16-year-old Melbourne high school student got a wild-card entry to the season's first major. She was playing German qualifier Mona Barthel in the opening match on Show Court 2. Her match started at 11:13 a.m. local time, with Barthel on serve.
Play on the Rod Laver Arena got started with No 4-seeded Simona Halep against Shelby Rogers.
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9:45 a.m.
Let the tennis begin.
The opening Grand Slam tournament of the year gets under way Monday at Melbourne Park, with top-seeded Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber set to play their first-round matches at the Australian Open.
The sun was shining with temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) when the gates opened an hour before the scheduled start of play. The forecast high was for 31 C (88 F) rising to 37 C (99 F) on Tuesday.
First up on the main Rod Laver Arena court was Romania's Simona Halep playing Shelby Rogers of the United States. Murray was scheduled to play the last day match on Rod Laver, and Kerber, who beat Serena Williams in last year's final, was to open night play.
