Emotional Wawrinka, fellow veteran Cilic make rousing starts at Australian Open

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VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUSTRALIAN OPEN – WINS FOR AMANDA ANISIMOVA, STAN WAWRINKA, MARIN CILIC, FABIAN MAROZSAN, JORDAN THOMPSON AND ALEKSANDR VUKIC RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 19, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) AMANDA ANISIMOVA (USA /PURPLE TOP) V SIMONA WALTERT (SWITZERLAND) SECOND SET 1. FOREHAND WINNER BY AMANDA ANISIMOVA 2. ANISIMOVA SEALS MATCH WITH ACE DOWN THE MIDDLE 3. PLAYERS AT NET 4. ANISIMOVA WAVING TO CROWD STAN WAWRINKA (SWITZERLAND / BLUE SHIRT)  V LASLO DJERE (SERBIA / BLUE SHORTS) THIRD SET 5. STAN WAWRINKA FORCES ERROR FROM DJERE WITH DEEP BACKHAND SLICE 6. FOREHAND WINNER FROM WAWRINKA TO TAKE SET 7. WAWRINKA WINS MATCH AS DJERE NETS BACKHAND 8. WAWRINKA EMOTIONAL / CROWD CHEERING 9. PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS AT NET 10. WAWRINKA CELEBRATING WIN / CROWD CHEERING MARIN CILIC (CROATIA) V DANIEL ALTMAIER (GERMANY/ YELLOW SHIRT) 11. MARIN CILIC LEADS MATCH WITH DOUBLE BAGEL AGAINST DANIEL ALTMAIER  JORDAN THOMPSON (AUSTRALIA / PURPLE SHIRT ) V JUAN MANUEL CERUNDOLO (ARGENTINA /ORANGE TANK) 12. MATCH POINT – JORDAN THOMPSON SEALS MATCH WITH  UNRETURNABLE SERVE DOWN THE MIDDLE 13. THOMPSON CELEBRATING HITTING THE BALL 14. PLAYERS MEET AT NET 15. VARIOUS OF THOMPSON WAVING TO CROWD AFTER WIN ALEKSANDAR VUKIC (AUSTRALIA / WHITE BANDANA) V THIAGO AGUSTIN TIRANTE (ARGENTINA) 16. VUKIC WINS MATCH AS TIRANTE FOREHAND GOES WIDE 17. VUKIC CELEBRATING STORY: Former Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka turned the clock back to come from a set down and beat unseeded Serb Laslo Djere 5-7 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) on Monday (January 19), while Marin Cilic also flew the flag for the veterans with a more ruthless performance.  The 40-year-old Wawrinka, who claimed his three Grand Slam titles during the golden era of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, is making his final Melbourne Park appearance as a wildcard after announcing that 2026 would be his last season on tour.  He made a sluggish start but roared back to life after the opening set, sealing his first Grand Slam match victory since Wimbledon in 2024 and his first at Melbourne since 2021 to huge applause from fans at a packed Kia Arena. Wawrinka will take on either Jiri Lehecka or Arthur Gea in the second round. Former Australian Open finalist Cilic looked in prime form as he beat Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-0 6-0 7-6(3) earlier. The towering 37-year-old won the opening 12 games with minimum fuss to spark chatter of a rare Grand Slam main draw "triple bagel", which has been achieved by only five players in the professional era, the last being Sergi Bruguera in the 1993 French Open. A "triple bagel' is winning a match in three sets without dropping a game. Cilic, the 2018 runner-up at Melbourne Park, saved a break point at the start of the third set to remain on track but Altmaier suddenly clicked into gear. The German made it 1-1, and in doing so snapped a 25-game losing streak stretching back to his 6-3 6-0 defeat by Jaume Munar in the Adelaide International last week. It was a more evenly-contested match from there and Croatian Cilic had to rally from behind in the tiebreak to close out the win. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)

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