The Latest: Ann Li knocks off 31st seed at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest from the Australian Open on Tuesday (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

Ann Li’s off to quite a start to 2021, moving into the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No. 31 seed Zhang Shuai.

Li is a 20-year-old American who is ranked 69th and competing in only her third career Grand Slam tournament.

She needed just 47 minutes to win Tuesday (Monday EST) and improve to 5-0 this season.

Li is coming off an unusual accomplishment at a tuneup tournament at Melbourne Park last week: She shared the title of the Grampians Trophy with Anett Kontaveit because organizers decided not to hold a final so as not to wear out the players right before the Australian Open.

That warmup event was created for players such as Li who had to go into a hard lockdown after potentially being exposed to COVID-19. They were not allowed out of their hotel rooms for practice — or any other reason — during a two-week quarantine upon arrival in Australia.

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11 a.m.

Sofia Kenin begins defense of her Australian Open title when she takes on Australian Maddison Inglis to begin play at Rod Laver Arena. Kenin beat Garbiñe Muguruza in the final last year in three sets for her first Grand Slam singles title. Muguruza will be in action at the same time, kicking things off at Margaret Court Arena in a match against Margarita Gasparyan.

Rafael Nadal plays the final day match at Rod Laver Arena against Laslo Djere. This is Nadal’s first chance to grab sole possession of the men’s mark for most Grand Slam singles titles. He pulled even with Roger Federer at 20 by winning the French Open in October, beating Novak Djokovic in a lopsided final. Federer is still sidelined after two knee operations and is not playing here.

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