OK well this is a bit of a late start to my first post on the first grand slam of the tennis season, the Australian open, which sees the top players in the world compete to win the year's first major title. So let's start with the ladies first and see what went on with them during the first six days of play, which is quite alot to summarise so I will try and cut it down a fair bit to cover things without going overboard. So here we go....
Right to start with on Day 1 we had Simona Halep, last year's French open finalist, make short work of her first opponent, Karin Knapp as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to cruise into round 2. Maria Sharapova also got off to a strong as she beat the Croatian player, Petra Martic with a rather routine 6-4, 6-1 victory which saw Maria signal her intent to make a strong impression in the draw. But on day 1 we also had a couple of big upsets with the biggest being Ana Ivanovic who was stunned by the Czeck player, Lucie Hradecka who pulled off an unlikely victory as she fought back from a set down to beat the former Melbourne finalist in three sets, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. And the other was also Angelique Kerber who was upset by the Romanian player Irinia-Camelia Beguin three sets 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to suffer her earliest exit in a slam for quite a while. Other notable seeds that tumbled on day 1 also included Sabine Lisicki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lucie Safarova.
So now we get onto Day 2 which started with home favourite and former US Open champion, Sam Stosur take on Monica Niculescu for a place in the 2nd round and despite some inevitable early match jitters and having suffered a few 1st round exits in Melbourne, Sam came through in straight sets in 6-4, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki also made a good start against the American player, Taylor Townsend who she also beat with a straight set victory in 7-6, 6-2. Serena Williams also made her start against Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium, despite an edgy start from the World No.1, she went on to take break and take the 1st set and raced through the 2nd handing out what must be a very long line in bagel sets to her opponent as she sped to a 6-4, 6-0 win. Victoria Azarenka, who was the former two champion in Melbourne made her return to the courts after being laid off for most of last year with a foot injury, which saw her ranking plummet into the top 50. However Vika had no trouble getting past Sloane Stephens as she dismissed the American in 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kivtova made a good start also as she beat Richel Hogenkamp with an easy 6-1, 6-4 scoreline and last of all Venus Williams got things going with her first round victory over the Spaniard, Maria Teresa Torro Flor, dropping just four games, Venus went through in 6-2, 6-2.
Moving onto day 3 which saw the round 2 matches get under way, things kicked off with Ekaterina Makarova, who has faired pretty well down under as she has been a two time quarter finalist and here she got off to a fine start by beating Roberta Vinci in 6-2, 6-4. Maria Sharapova on the other hand had to endure an almighty battle as she fought against Alexandra Panova, who after losing the first set went on to level the match in the 2nd and Panova went a break 4-1 up in the 3rd set and looked sure to end Maria's campaign early. But Maria fought back in only the way she can as she battled back on serve to 5-5 and went on to break Panova to close out the match with a very hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win. Simona Halep however had no problems whatsoever in getting past her 2nd round opponent Jamila Gajdosova dropping four games with a 6-2, 6-2, Halep is looking every inch a future major champion at this point and she still remains a favourite to lift the title. Sara Errani made her way into the 3rd round aswell after defeating the Spanish player, Silvia Soler Espinosa 7-6, 6-3. And lastly Eugenie Bouchard, who was a semi finalist last year, won her match easily as she took out Kiki Bertens dropping three games with a 6-0, 6-3 result.
Onto day 4 we go we had Agneiszka Radwanska begin play as she faced the Swedish player, Johanna Larsson who she thrashed with a 6-0, 6-1 scoreline. Radwanska recently recruited Martina Navatrilova as her coach and she will be hoping she can benefit from her experience to try and win her first major, but whether or not she will remains to be seen. Serena Williams took on an old foe in Vera Zvonareva who's career has been plagued with injuries over the last few years and despite a close first set, the Russian proved to be no match for Serena who raced to the finishing line handing out yet another bagel set (she likes doing that obviously!) and moving into round 3 with a 7-5, 6-0 scoreline. Venus Williams also easily moved through to the 3rd round after beating her fellow American, Lauren Davis in 6-2, 6-3, which shows the former finalist is in fine form after winning her first title of the year in Auckland. Victoria Azarenka also pulled off a big win as she proved she was back for real after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets with a stunning 6-4, 6-2 victory to show she has put herself in the running as a potential favourite to winning the title again. Sam Stosur however suffered an upset also as she lost to the American, Coco Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-4. And lastly Dominika Cibulkova came through after beating Tsvetana Pironkova by dropping only two games, 6-2, 6-0 and Petra Kvitova also took out the German player, Mona Barthel in 6-2, 6-4.
Now we move to day 5 with the start of the 3rd round matches, which kicked off with the German, Julia Goerges defeating Ana Ivanovic's conqueror, Lucie Hradecka in a tight straight set match winning 7-6, 7-5. Eugenie Bouchard continued her self assured form also as she beat the dangerous Caroline Garcia in a lopsided match, after a tight first set, Bouchard dismissed Garcia with a bagel in the 2nd to win the match 7-5, 6-0. Maria Sharapova after her almighty scare in the 2nd round restored parity as she drubbed her 3rd round opponent Zarina Diyas with a 6-1, 6-1 scoreline. Ekaterina Makarova continued her smooth progress as she beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last 16. Simona Halep on the other hand had a tougher time of it as she played the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who she defeated in a tight match winning 6-4, 7-5. And last of all Yanina Wickmayer showed her fine form in Melbourne as she defeated Sara Errani in a tough three setter, rallying from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
And last but not least is day 6 which saw the 3rd round action continue with Agnieszka Radwanska continuing to prove she is a threat after she beat the American, Vervara Lepchenko with a straight set 6-0, 7-5 result. Serena Williams faced her first test of the tournament as she faced the rising talent, Elina Svitolina and she had to come from a set down to beat, but Serena finished strong as she won the match with yet another bagel set for her opponent to reach the last 16 with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win. Venus Williams also proved she is still a vital player after she beat the dangerous Camila Ciorgi, also from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 to reach her first 4th round of a grand slam since Wimbledon 2011 to show that old sis still has got it too. Victoria Azarenka, the former champion continued her strong form too after she defeated the temperamental but much improved player, Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (now there is a name!) with a straight set 6-4, 6-4 score. Garbine Muguruza, who made a name for herself last year at the French open as the women who took down Serena Williams there, also progressed into the last 16 with a three set win over Timea Bacsinszky in 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. And last of all one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far came from Maidson Keys, the American player, who stunned Petra Kvitova in a tense match which saw both players trade breaks of serve but eventually it was Keys who saw it out and won in 6-4, 7-5 and reached the 4th round of a grand slam for the first time in her short career.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies matches so far and I will be back soon with another update for them, but for now I will head over to the men's matches....
Back soon!
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