As the Australian Open got underway, I was expecting a few 1st round upsets as there always is in the 1st round of Grand Slams. However, I was pleasantly surprised, as only one of the 32 seeds lost in the 1st round; the in form 32nd seed Mona Barthel.
(Rank/Seed)
2/2 Sharapova steam rolled Puchkova 60 60. You'd have never known it was her 1st competitive match since the WTA Champs last autumn and that she'd struggled lately with a sore collarbone. Though her opponent didn't play all that badly, Maria overpowered her from the off and also moved very well.
4/4 Radwanska extended her winning streak to 10 matches, beating her Australian opponent Bobusic 75 60, despite her opponent serving for the set and windy conditions.
5/5 Kerber beat Svitolina 62 64, her easiest win of the year so far.
6/6 Li eased past Karatantcheva 61 63, continuing her strong 9-1 win loss record this year.
9/9 Stosur finally overcame her Australian struggles to avenge a loss in Osaka last year to Chang 76(3) 63. Though she'd never lost 6 matches in a row in her career, nor come away from the Australian swing without a win since 2002, a 6th successive loss in Australia seemed likely. However, after serving for the set at 6-5, Chang's game proved too erratic. Still, despite her win, she has a huge challenge next; her Sydney conqueror Zheng!
Elsewhere, top 20 players Bartoli, Ivanovic and Makarova moved through in straight sets, whilst Cibulkova (coming off her Sydney double bagel loss) and Goerges had to come through in 3. In addition, Venus Williams looked superb in her defeat of Voskoboeva 61 60!
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