Aryna Sabalenka started her quest for a 3rd consecutive Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sloane Stephens on Sunday, following rain delays that disrupted the event’s opening day at Melbourne Park.
The high seed didn’t have all of it her personal manner towards the 2017 U.S. Open champion however wrapped up the win in little greater than an hour on Rod Laver Arena, one in all three courts the place play continued underneath closed roofs through the deluge.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who misplaced to Sabalenka in final 12 months’s ultimate, reached the second spherical indoors, whereas males’s sixth seed Casper Ruud and former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori dodged the moist climate to safe five-set victories.
It was one other matter on the skin courts the place play ended after lower than an hour within the morning and didn’t resume till greater than six hours later within the early night.
Eight of the 32 scheduled singles matches had been scratched and organizers shall be giving thanks for the cushion of the additional day which was first added to the event final 12 months.
One of the advantages of successful three Grand Slam titles is preferential scheduling and the roof of Rod Laver Arena was open once more to the night solar as Sabalenka took to courtroom to face American Stephens.
Five breaks of serve, 20 winners and 21 unforced errors later and the Belarusian was main the group in an impromptu dance, having secured a second-round conflict with Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
“It’s not like I played my best match, probably, but I was glad to close it out in straight sets,” the 26-year-old stated.
“I love playing here, it feels like home.”
At the beginning of the day, the roofs of the present courts had been already closed earlier than a violent thunderstorm introduced the primary rain and Zheng and Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni performed out their baseline battle uninterrupted.
Fifth seed Zheng, who didn’t play a warm-up event, struggled towards the tall Todoni within the first set, lastly breaking for 4-3 solely to be damaged again.
The 22-year-old saved a set level earlier than clinching the tiebreaker 7-3 and shortly raced to a 3-0 lead within the second whereas Todoni racked up unforced errors as she fought to remain within the contest.
“The first match is never easy and I made some stupid mistakes,” Zheng stated after wrapping up her 7-6(3) 6-1 win in a shade underneath two hours.
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Earlier, Mirra Andreeva was the primary participant to succeed in the second spherical when the 17-year-old Russian beat Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3 at John Cain Arena.
On Margaret Court Arena, Arthur Fils was the primary man into the second spherical when he got here from a set all the way down to beat unseeded Finn Otto Virtanen 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4.
“It’s pretty nice, man. First time in my life I’m playing on a good court,” the Twentieth-seeded Frenchman stated.
“To be able to play a match and to finish a match with a roof, it’s much more easy than to play, to stop with the rain.”
The different two early males’s matches had been for much longer with Norwegian Ruud advancing after a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Jaume Munar and Japan’s Nishikori prevailing 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 towards Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro.
“He deserved to win today but somehow I fought through,” stated Nishikori, who was enjoying at Melbourne Park for the primary time in 4 years after a horror run of accidents.
Men’s second seed Alexander Zverev will later tackle 2019 semifinalist Lucas Pouille.
Source: www.dailysabah.com