Seeded players Barbora Krejcikova and Leylah Fernandez won their opening-round matches on Day 1 of the 2024 Australian Open, but No.13 seed Liudmila Samsonova lost to Amanda Anisimova.

The No.9 seed Krejcikova battled to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Japanese wild card Mai Hontama on Margaret Court Arena. Krejcikova, the 2021 Roland Garros champion, needed exactly two-and-a-half hours to subdue Hontama on Sunday.

Krejcikova, who has won two women's doubles titles and three mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open, needed all of her experience to get past 24-year-old Hontama, who was playing in only her second career Grand Slam main draw. Hontama was unfazed as she reeled off five games in a row to claim the one-set lead.

However, Krejcikova weathered a topsy-turvy second set, where seven of the 10 games went against serve, to level the match. The Czech dropped serve in the opening game of the third set but charged back.

Krejcikova won 53 percent of Hontama's first-service points in the third set on her way to the comeback win. The former World No.2 is now a perfect 5-0 in Australian Open first-round matches throughout her career.

"I'm really happy with the way how I was able to turn around the second set, with the way how I switched my game," Krejcikova said in press. "I think the second set was maybe the key, and then I feel in the third, definitely the break at 4-3 was the key to get the win." 

In the second round, Krejcikova will face Germany's Tamara Korpatsch for the first time. Korpatsch defeated Jodie Burrage in three sets on Sunday.

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Earlier in the day, No.32 seed Fernandez of Canada defeated Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek 7-6(5), 6-2 in a clash between left-handers on John Cain Arena.

They battled for 1 hour and 33 minutes before 21-year-old Fernandez got the better of 17-year-old Bejlek. Fernandez was forced to the bitter end of the first set before squeaking out the tiebreak, then broke Bejlek three times in the second set.

Fernandez, who won her third career singles title at the end of last season in Hong Kong, had 27 winners to Bejlek's 17. The Canadian moves into the second round in Melbourne for the second straight year, as she seeks her first trip to the Australian Open third round.

"It was a good match," Fernandez told the press. "It wasn't a perfect match, but I'm just glad that I was able to fight through some of the tough moments that I encountered in the first set and just kept fighting. When I had my chance to close it out in the breaker, I was just happy that I was able to execute it."

Fernandez will next face Alycia Parks of the United States, in their first meeting. Parks beat qualifier Daria Snigur in three sets on Sunday.

On Kia Arena, former Top 25 player Anisimova pulled off an upset by toppling 13th-seeded Samsonova 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 24 minutes. The 2019 Roland Garros semifinalist improves to 2-0 over Samsonova in their head-to-head.

Anisimova was off tour for seven months last year before returning to action two weeks ago in Auckland, where she reached the second round. Now, in just the second event of her comeback, Anisimova has notched the 17th Top 20 win of her career.

"Of course, I'm happy with the win, but I expect a lot out of myself," Anisimova said. "Win or lose, I don't think it would really matter to me. If I lost, then I would just go back to training.

"I'm just here for the journey right now and seeing how much I can progress. I think I would take it with whatever outcome I would get. But I am happy with the wins, and I really hope that I can build on from it."

The American had to battle back from a break down in both sets, including a 4-1 deficit in the second set. Anisimova methodically pulled herself back into contention, reeling off five games in succession to clinch the victory.

Anisimova, who reached the Australian Open Round of 16 in 2019 and 2022, had one more winner and 13 fewer unforced errors than Samsonova in the big-hitting tilt.