Tennis News

After breaking through and reaching the final of the Australian Open last season, Dominika Cibulkova has been unable to match that intensity at any other stage of the season. After a disappointing year, the runner-up will return to Melbourne with the hope of being able to replicate that run through the draw this time around as well. She will begin her campaign against a tough Kirsten Flipkens, whom she has encountered on four previous occasions and has split the head to head series 2-2.

Watch the match live here: Cibulkova v Flipkens

Having dropped out of the Top 10, Dominika Cibulkova began her year in Sydney, where she defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 6-2 before facing local upstart Jarmila Gajdosova, who rallied from a set down to defeat her 1-6 6-3 6-4. It was a surprising end to Cibulkova’s attempt to garner pre-Aussie Open momentum, and she was forced to focus her efforts on training instead of match experience.

While Flipkens was at a different tournament that week, she also had a similar trajectory to Cibulkova, as she won her opening match against Johanna Larsson 7-6(1) 1-6 7-6(3) but then suffered a defeat at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1 6-7(5) 7-5. It was a short stay in Auckland for Kirsten, but still gave her time to complete her preparation for season-opening Grand Slam event.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour. Having split their previous four meetings, this will also serve as a rubber match of sorts – both to determine who takes the lead in the series, as well as who advances to the second round of the tournament. Cibulkova won their only previous Grand Slam meeting back in 2009, and their most recent meeting in Tokyo last season with relative ease. Given that, and her motivation to succeed in Melbourne and defend her points, expect Cibulkova to produce a better match than any of hers in recent memory.

Prediction: Dominika Cibulkova in Straight Sets

After waiting two weeks to begin his 2015 season, Ernests Gulbis got off to a less-than-stellar start, but will look to get back on track in the opening round of the Australian Open. The Latvian No.1 drew an interesting opening round challenge in the form of rising Australian prospect Thanasi Kokkinakis. This marks the first time that the two competitors will meet on the professional tour and will likely make for entertaining television.

Watch the match live here: Gulbis v Kokkinakis

World No. 13 and all-around oddball Ernests Gulbis took part in a surprisingly strong season in 2014 – a year that saw him compile a 41-21 win-loss record; claim two titles (Marseille, Nice); and reach the semi-final round of the French Open, where he lost to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Now, he will look to add to his accomplishments this season and potentially break into the Top 10 on the tour.

However, the Latvian failed to get things going in Auckland, and lost his opening match to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Young local prospect Thanasi Kokkinakis will look to make his country proud this year at the Australian Open and prove he is also a young gun to watch out for in 2015. He already holds a win over Julien Benneteau this season but lost in the second round of the Brisbane International to Bernard Tomic in straight sets. The world No. 147 will now look to break through with a strong showing against an unpredictable and potentially vulnerable Ernests Gulbis.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and is certainly an enthralling opening round encounter that could make for must-watch television. Both are capable of entertaining tennis and that could lead to a fun match and a potential upset.

Prediction: Ernests Gulbis in Five Sets

After a near-perfect start to her 2015 season, Maria Sharapova will look to follow up with a strong showing over her fortnight stay in Melbourne. Undefeated so far this year, the Russian superstar will begin her campaign against Petra Martic, whom she has previously faced on the WTA tour. Sharapova leads the head to head series 1-0 and will likely maintain that unbeaten record against the Croatian.

Watch the match live here: Sharapova v Martic

Sharapova was impressive in 2014; she returned from a shoulder surgery and managed to win her fifth Grand Slam title. Unrelenting as usual, she maintained that momentum at the start of 2015 with a title win in her first tournament of the season. Sharapova defeated Ana Ivanovic, arguably her biggest rival of the last year, in a grueling three-set encounter that lasted a total of 2 hours and 38 minutes. After splitting their past four matches – all their encounters of 2014 – they kept up the pace this season.

It marked Sharapova’s 34th title on the tour – a phenomenal feat. This was also her first title Down Under since she won the Australian Open in 2008 – a match where she also defeated Ivanovic to lift the title.

The Russian will begin her run in Melbourne against Petra Martic, who reached the second round in Auckland – lost to Claire Feuerstein – and then arrived at the Aussie Open and worked her way through the qualifying rounds, dropping just one set in the process.

This marks the second time that Sharapova and Martic will meet on the professional tour. Their first meet took place almost four years ago at the Miami Masters, which Sharapova won with relative ease. Although several years separate their meetings, the results should not vary too much, as Sharapova looks to be in close to peak form and motivated to regain the No. 1 ranking.

Prediction: Maria Sharapova in Straight Sets

In January 2014, 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard took the tour by storm when she ran rampant through the draw to reach the semi-final stage of just her fourth Grand Slam tournament. Although she would fall to eventual champion Li Na, a star was born and is now back to prove she was not a one-hit wonder down under. The Canadian darling will begin her 2015 campaign in Melbourne against Anna-Lena Friedsam, a player who beat her three years ago on the ITF circuit.

Watch the match live here: Bouchard v Friedsam

The world No. 7 is at an interesting stage of her career; she is on the verge of a breakthrough to the upper echelon, having been to the Wimbledon final in 2014, yet has been through a turbulent second half of the season, and has since parted ways with her longtime coach Nick Saviano. Given the significant changes in her camp, Bouchard will now look to get back on track with a new team backing her, which could lead to some impressive results.

World No. 98 Anna-Lena Friedsam lost her only match of the season so far when she failed to maintain her lead over Natalia Vikhlyantseva in Shenzhen. She lost the match 2-6 6-3 6-3, but will look to rebound against a player with a bulls eye on her back.

While this is technically the first time that Bouchard and Friedsam will cross paths on this sort of stage, they did meet previously at an ITF event in Maribor, where the German rallied from a set down to defeat Bouchard 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. However, it has been three years since then and much has changed in both women’s’ respective trajectories. Bouchard has shot to stardom and proved to be a future star in her own right. Following her strong start to the season, expect the Canadian to kick off her season in strong fashion.

Prediction: Eugenie Bouchard in Straight Sets

For just the second time in their respective careers, Grigor Dimitrov and Dustin Brown will cross paths on the professional tour to determine who will advance to the following stage of the tournament. This time, however, they are playing for higher stakes, as the winner will advance to the second round of the Australian Open. As for now, Dimitrov leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

Watch the match live here: Dimitrov v Brown

After finishing just outside the Top 10 in 2014, Grigor Dimitrov began his year at the Brisbane International, where he defeated Jeremy Chardy and Martin Klizan to reach the final four at the event. It was there, however, that he encountered 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and was downed 6-2, 6-2 with relative ease. He will now look to get back on track with a strong showing over the fortnight in Brisbane.

World No. 89 Dustin Brown began his year at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he reached the quarter-final stage of the event following wins over Paolo Lorenzi and Jan-Lennard Struff. Afterwards, he lost to eventual champion David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 to end his title aspirations.

This marks just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour. Dimitrov leads the series 1-0 with a win back in 2012 at the Gstaad event on clay. This will be a tricky encounter for the Bulgarian star, as Brown has a habit of pulling off unforeseen upsets, even if his surface of choice is grass. Given the circumstances, Dimitrov should escape this match relatively scratch-free.

Prediction: Grigor Dimitrov in Straight Sets

Several years ago, British No. 1 Heather Watson became the first player of her nationality to win a WTA title since 1988 – a 24-year span – when she was crowned champion in Osaka. On Saturday afternoon, she repeated that feat when she won the International-level WTA event, Hobart International.

Watson waltzed through the draw without dropping a single set, including the final, where she defeated Madison Brengle in straight sets to lift the title. She also beat Sloane Stephens, Roberta Vinci and Alison Riske to earn the crown.

“I’m obviously very happy,” Watson said. “It was tough conditions again today, very windy. And I knew Madison would be tough – we know each other very well on and off the court, and we practice a lot in Florida. I knew it would be a tough one today. And it really was my toughest match of the week.

“I was happy I stayed mentally strong and managed to get ahead and hold my nerve at the end.”

In the doubles final, Johanna Larsson and Kiki Bertens defeated Vitalia Diatchenko and Monica Niculescu 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the tournament earlier in the day. It was Bertens’ first WTA doubles title, and Larsson’s third.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLguLmuHOC4

The Heineken Open in Auckland suffered from a plague of injuries and early seed exits, all of which led to qualifier Jiri Vesely lifting his first career title on Saturday afternoon at the tournament. The Czech youngster defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2 to become the first player of his nationality to lift the title in 19 years.

The 21-year-old defeated both Ernests Gulbis and Kevin Anderson en route to his title win and is the latest in a string of title winners born in the 1990s

“It feels amazing to be part of the ATP champions,” said Vesely. “It’s not something that everyone is [able] to achieve, so I’m very grateful for that.

“It’s a great start for me… I can really see that it’s possible to play with the best guys and I think that’s something very important for me for the future.”

Vesely deserved his win, as he even lead the tournament stats in aces, as well as service points, according to the ATP World Tour.

“When you get broken by someone who’s serving like this, you feel like it’s slipping away,” said Mannarino. “I was trying to deal with my own game and it was really tough today. I didn’t have the same feeling that I had during the week. I didn’t feel the ball the same way. Unfortunately it happened in the final.”

The doubles title went to veterans Leander Paes and Raven Klaasen, who won their first team title on Saturday against Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea. The pairing won the match 7-6(1), 6-4.

“It’s been a good start to the year,” Paes said. “It just goes to show that when you persevere and work hard together, we’re very potent as a team.”