Tennis superstars Rafael Nadal, Venus Williams defeated early in Australian Open
The Australian Open was rocked by a day of upsets with Spain's Rafael Nadal losing to fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco in the first round, seven years after the two met in the 2009 Australian Open and saw Nadal victorious.
The defeat is sadly no longer unfamiliar to 14-time Grand Slam winner Nadal: The New York Times reports that in his last three Grand Slam appearances, Nadal lost in the second round of Wimbledon, the third round of the United States Open, and the first round in Melbourne. The final score of Tuesday's match was 7-6, (8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
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It was not the only brutal first-round knock out of the day, either: Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champ, lost to British number one Johanna Konta, spoiling Williams' shot at winning the Australian Open at the age of 35. Second-seed Simona Halep was also eliminated in the first round, falling 6-4 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
