Birthday Girl Kerber Survives Witthoeft Blitz To Advance
World No.1 Angelique Kerber survived another second-set hiccup on her 29th birthday to overcome Carina Witthoeft in straight sets at the Australian Open.
World No.1 Angelique Kerber survived another second-set hiccup on her 29th birthday to overcome Carina Witthoeft in straight sets at the Australian Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova takes on Jamiee Fourlis in the second round of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Venus Williams continued her progress at the Australian Open, moving into the third round in Melbourne for the 13th time in her career after a comfortable win over Stefanie Voegele.
In contrast to her grueling first-round battle against Kateryna Kozlova, Venus never really looked under pressure against Voegele, easing through in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
“Today was a good day, a little less hot first thing in the morning, so it was good to get it in, you know, and have a win early,” Venus told press after her victory.
The Swiss qualifier, ranked No.112 in the world, looked decidedly out of her depth on Rod Laver Arena against the former No.1. A tentative start from Voegele allowed the American to open with a double break of serve and rocket to a 3-0 lead.
With the early nerves out of the way, Voegele managed to grab one of the breaks back with a crisp backhand passing shot, but she wasn’t able to wrench the advantage out of Venus’ grasp. Venus stayed aggressive to wrap up the first set with ease, and continued her form into the second, breaking twice to seal the match in barely over 80 minutes.
The No.13 seed will face either Duan Ying-Ying in the third round after the Chinese player outlasted Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.
“I don’t know anything about her,” Venus admitted. “I have never seen her play. Zero, like zero. So I’m going to have to see how it goes.
“Like, maybe get a scouting report in the warm-up when we hit the five minutes and kind of see how it feels.”
This is Venus’ 17th appearance at the Australian Open – joint-most among active players, tied with her sister Serena Williams – and with No.4 seed Simona Halep out of the tournament in a first round stunner, Venus’ side of the draw gives her ample opportunity to continue on and make a deep run.
It's #Venus into 3R singles. 1R doubles starts today with sister #Serena #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/FncGAoqXru
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2017
Jelana Jankovic takes on Julia Goerges in the second round of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Samantha Crawford in two tight sets on Wednesday evening to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
Breaks in the penultimate game of both sets proved the difference, Muguruza triumphing 7-5, 6-4 to book a meeting with Anastasija Sevastova.
Crawford, who first rose to prominence when she came through qualifying to reach the Brisbane semifinals 12 months ago, gave another good account of herself Down Under, overcoming a slow start to push the reigning French Open champion all the way.
Muguruza came out with her right thigh strapped after complaining of a sore leg during her first round, but showed few signs of sluggishness as she rattled off the first three games. Crawford began to settle into the contest and was soon back on level terms.
The pair exchanged a series of thundering baseline exchanges as the opening set reached its climax, Muguruza striking decisively with a backhand winner with Crawford serving at 5-5, 30-40. Mugurza went on to serve out the set. Muguruza held her nerve in an equally competitive second set to reach the last 32 for a fourth straight year.
“She was super-powerful and hit the ball very hard, which made it difficult,” Muguruza said. “Today, I had to concentrate and wait for my opportunity.”
“[My leg] is a little bit better. Honestly, I think the time is helping me. Hopefully now the next day is going to help me recover even more,” Muguruza said. “I definitely had a concern. But I knew I had to go out there and play with what I have. You know, I went, try to play my normal tennis, try to be focused. It was important match. Tough opponent actually. I’m very happy with this win.”
Varvara Lepchenko takes on Duan Ying-Ying in the second round of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.1 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic put together a dominant performance in their first match of 2017 to move into the second round of the Australian Open.
Despite not playing together since their heartbreaking defeat in last year’s Fed Cup final, the French duo showed no signs of rust and cruised past Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh 6-1, 6-2.
Garcia and Mladenovic have a shot at becoming co-No.1s in doubles at the end of this fortnight, and they definitely played like it as they comfortably broke twice to climb ahead to a 4-1 lead. Bencic’s backhand caught the net time and time again, giving the French duo plenty of free points.
Bencic and Konjuh finally got on the board with a strong Bencic service game, but it didn’t make a dent in the French team’s momentum and they served out the opening set with ease. Another pair of back-to-back breaks of serve gave Garcia and Mladenovic their first victory of 2017 after just 47 minutes.
Also through to the second round are the No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova. They survived a late wobble to advance 6-1, 7-5 over Nicole Gibbs and Chuang Chia-Jung.
Currently the World No.1 doubles player, Mattek-Sands is likely breathing a sigh of relief, as her and Safarova’s road to the final has cleared up considerably following the withdrawal of potential third-round opponents Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
“I was hoping to have the capacity to play both events here, but at this point I just need to be careful and just try to maintain myself,” said Venus, citing an elbow injury.
Kristyna Pliskova takes on Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Grand Slam champions abound on Day 3 of the Australian Open, with two of 2016’s three major winners – World No.1 Angelique Kerber and French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza – hoping to advance into the third round in Melbourne. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Wednesday, Second Round
[13] Venus Williams (USA #17) vs Stefanie Voegele (SUI #112)
Head-to-head: Venus leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Voegele won her first Grand Slam main draw match since the 2015 Australian Open on Monday (d. Kurumi Nara)
The former World No.1 was given all she could handle in a tough first round against Kateryna Kozlova, and was feeling confident after knocking out her younger opponent in straight sets.
“Girl, I don’t know,” she joked with Sam Smith during the on-court interview. “I know how to play tennis.”
She certainly proved that after holding off the Ukrainian youngster, and will try to show more of that level against Voegele, a former World No.42 who is inching closer towards the Top 100 after over two years in the wildnerness.
Venus and Voegele will open play on Rod Laver Arena, and the American will likely look to keep rallies short as the heat could possibly become a factor should the match run long.
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs Carina Witthoeft (GER #89)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Kerber is trying to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career.
Angelique Kerber enjoyed a strong finish to the first match in her Australian Open title defense on Monday, edging past Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“I was trying just to going for it in the third set, just trying to play my game,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I think that was the key for the match today.”
In the second round she takes on countrywoman Carina Witthoeft, whom she played twice at Wimbledon in the last two years. Their most recent encounter featured a first-set tie-break, the only set in which Witthoeft won more than one game.
Either way, Kerber won’t be taking too much into their next match.
“It’s the second round. I’m not looking too much about my opponents. I think she played a good match here. I know her very well; I think it will be a good match.
“But for me it’s important to go out there playing my match again, not thinking too much about my opponent.”
[7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7) vs Samantha Crawford (USA #162)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Muguruza shook off injury concerns in her first-round win against Marina Erakovic
The reigning French Open champion may not be at 100%, but has nonetheless channeled those niggling injuries into a glowing start to 2017, reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International and sweeping aside Marina Erakovic in her first match in Melbourne.
“I was happy to win the first set, and then I just felt a little bit uncomfortable,” she said of her state of mind on Margaret Court Arena. “I just thought, take some precaution because of what happened in Brisbane. I took a medical timeout and became a little bit unfocused on the court. It took me a couple of games to get into the match again.”
Once she did, she didn’t let go, winning the final five games of the match, and blamed typical first-round jitters on compounding her physical concerns.
“I think this match was definitely more mental in certain situations, so I’m pretty pleased. I had to really forget about that and try to bring the best I had there.”
Muguruza next faces young American Samantha Crawford, who burst onto the scene last year when she herself reached the semifinals in Brisbane. Her own injuries have stunted her progress since, but the 2012 US Open junior champion is a clean ballstriker when playing her best.
Around the grounds…
No.11 seed Elina Svitolina opens play on Margaret Court Arena against Julia Boserup, followed by No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova’s second round match against Aussie qualifier Jaimee Fourlis.
Women’s doubles also gets underway on Wednesday, with top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic taking on Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh. Venus and Serena also debut as the No.15, and all four women in the hunt for No.1 are in action, including Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Elena Vesnina, with partners Lucie Safarova and Ekaterina Makarova, respectively.
Alison Riske takes on Zhang Shuai in the second round of the Australian Open.