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

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUSTRALIAN OPEN – WINS FOR AMANDA ANISIMOVA, STAN WAWRINKA, MARIN CILIC, FABIAN MAROZSAN, JORDAN THOMPSON AND ALEKSANDR VUKIC COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 19, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) SHOTLIST TO FOLLOW 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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