While you were sleeping: Day 2

A mere shell of the player who spent 26 weeks atop the WTA rankings, Dinara Safina lost 6-0, 6-0 to Kim Clijsters on Tuesday. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Tuesday’s weather: Cloudy and cool with sunny breaks. High of 70.

What Happened?

• Clijsters embarrasses Safina on center court. In 2009, Dinara Safina advanced to the Australian Open final before falling to Serena Williams. Two years later, she’s going home without having won a single game. In Tuesday’s first-round clash with Kim Clijsters, Safina became the first former No. 1 player to lose 6-0, 6-0 at a Grand Slam in Open Era history. The 24-year-old Russian, who advanced to the fourth round here in 2010, will drop out of the Top 100.

• Top seeds on cruise control. No. 1 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Robin Soderling, No. 5 Andy Murray and No. 7 David Ferrer advanced on the men’s side, with No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, No. 5 Sam Stosur and No. 7 Jelena Jankovic among the women’s winners.

• Tsonga digs deep for victory. France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a runner-up here in 2008, rallied from two sets down for a 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Philipp Petzschner of Germany. The 25-year-old Tsonga improved to 5-0 lifetime in five-set matches.

• Del Potro makes winning return. 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who played just three matches in 2010 while plummeting to No. 258 in the rankings, won 7-6(13), 6-4, 6-4 over Israel’s Dudi Sela. “It’s nice to be here with these players and playing in a Grand Slam,” Del Potro remarked afterward. “I met with all the players, especially the top 10 players. They supported me when I was very bad. So now I say thank you.”

Oz Clicks

An Australian exercise scientist wants young tennis players to take up opera training to make their grunts even louder and more effective … Kevin Mitchell of The Guardian reignites the equal prize money debate … World Tennis Magazine on the curious case of Donald Young, the one-time Next Big Thing who bowed to Marin Cilic on Tuesday … Novak Djokovic takes the preemptive approach with feuding fans.

Photo of the Day

Vera Zvonareva reacts during her first-round match with Sybille Bammer on Tuesday (from SI.com’s Best Shots from Day 2 at the Australian Open).

Go Figure

22 … Number of consecutive matches won by Rafael Nadal at Grand Slam events after Tuesday’s victory over Marcos Daniel. (Watch the highlights here.)

5-0 … Career record of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five-set matches after his win over Philipp Petzschner, matching Butch Buchholz’s Australian Open record.

6 … Number of career double bagels recorded by Kim Clijsters in major tournaments, trailing only Chris Evert (nine), Steffi Graf (seven) and Margaret Court (seven).

Must-See Video

Two points away from beating Kimiko Date-Krumm on Tuesday, Agnieszka Radwanska entire racket head snapped free during a backhand return.

What’s Happening Today

Tennis Channel’s live coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET, with ESPN2 picking it up from 9 p.m. through 8 a.m.

No. 8 Andy Roddick is second on Laver against Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn (approximately 9 p.m. ET, the first match on ESPN2). No. 4 Venus Williams follows that match against Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic.

No. 2 Roger Federer faces a potentially dangerous floater in France’s Gilles Simon in the last match on Laver. (Simon is 2-0 lifetime against Federer.) Catch it early Wednesday morning on the East Coast.

Other top seeds in action include No. 3 Novak Djokovic, No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 14 Maria Sharapova and No. 17 Justine Henin.

The complete order of play for Day 3 can be found here.

They Said It

“I didn’t know how to win a point. There was nothing I could do to hurt her. I’m scratching my head thinking what the hell I am doing. I couldn’t find the answer. Embarrassing.”
–Dinara Safina, still looking for clues after a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Kim Clijsters