Wildcards Gibson, McCabe lead Aussie charge at the Open
Darren Walton and Callum Godde |

Exciting young wildcards Talia Gibson and James McCabe have broken through for their maiden wins at a grand slam on a banner day for the home hopes at the Australian Open.
Gibson responded to the vocal crowd support to recover from a set and a service break down to upset Turkey’s higher-ranked Zeynep Sonmez 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 and become the first local through to the second round at Melbourne Park.
Shooting for the lines, Gibson opened up after scraping through the second-set tiebreaker and was rewarded for her courage with the most significant win of her fledgling career.
“The Aussie crowds are always so amazing. You’re always able to get so much energy from them wherever you are,” the 20-year-old Gibson said.
“That definitely played a huge part in helping me today. It’s super exciting.”
The world No.150 will pocket a minimum $200,000 for setting up a shot at Spanish 11th seed Paula Badosa on Wednesday.
McCabe also wowed a legion of fervent fans on Court 6 – including rugby league and union dual international Sonny Bill Williams – with a rousing 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory over Spanish wildcard Martin Landaluce.
The Filipino-born 21-year-old couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he signed autographs and posed for selfies following his watershed win.
His reward, as well as a financial windfall, is a meeting with unseeded American Alex Michelsen, who dumped world No.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas from the tournament.
Fellow wildcard Tristan Schoolkate joined the party, downing Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-4 in his Open main-draw debut.
Veterans James Duckworth and Alja Tomljanovic also progressed.
Duckworth thumped Swiss Dominic Stricker 6-2 6-4 6-2 to book a date with Spaniard Roberto Carbelles Baena, while Tomljanovic notched a fighting three-set win over exciting young American Ashlyn Krueger.
Also playing on a wildcard after falling out of the world’s top 100 while battling a knee injury for much of the past two years, Tomljanovic prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-4 after a two-hour, 22-minute slugfest on Margaret Court Arena.
The three-time grand slam quarter-finalist next faces 12th seed Dianna Schnaider on Wednesday, needing to upset the Russian to make the last 32 at Melbourne Park for the first time in 10 attempts.

World No.27 Jordan Thompson endured a few late jitters before closing out German Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 4-6 6-3, in his first grand slam appearance as a seed.
Donning green and gold attire, the 30-year-old from Sydney slammed down 18 aces and 36 winners to win through to the second round in Melbourne for a fifth time.
Thompson, who has plenty of five-set heartbreakers on his CV, faltered when serving for the match in the fourth set at 5-1, but composed himself to kill off the contest.
“I was a bit worried too, I thought it was going to get away from me,” he said after the match.
“It was a typically Thommo match.”
He came into the tournament under an injury cloud, citing foot pain when retiring in his Brisbane International quarter-final with defending champion Grigor Dimitrov.
Thompson said it hadn’t been the best preparation and he felt the weight of expectations as a first-time seed following a breakout season in 2024.
“It’s tough enough being an Aussie at the Australian Open (and there is) a little bit more pressure this year,” he said.
Gibson, McCabe, Duckworth, Tomljanovic, Thompson and Schoolkate were among a dozen Australians scheduled for action on day two, having already fared batter than day-one casualties Daria Saville, Adam Walton, Omar Jasika and Li Tu.
Nick Kyrgios makes his long-awaited grand slam comeback against Brit Jacob Fearnley in one of the feature night matches on Monday.
Kyrgios’s doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, along with Chris O’Connell, Aleksandar Vukic, Maya Joint and Destanee Aiava also open their campaigns on Monday
AAP