Tennis News

With Simona Halep and Venus Williams out of the bottom half of the draw, opportunity is knocking. Who will take advantage? We preview the Day 4 action here.

Thursday, Day 4
Second Round

[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #3) vs. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL # 80)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Muguruza has never reached the quarterfinals at Melbourne.

Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza is now the highest-seeded player remaining in the lower half of the draw, but that doesn’t mean she’ll have a cakewalk to the second week. The Spaniard will run up against an experienced veteran with a Grand Slam pedigree on Day 4 in 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens. The Belgian has started the season on a bit of a tear, qualifying for Auckland and reaching the quarters before outlasting fellow veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets in the first round on Tuesday. Muguruza has reached the round of 16 at Melbourne in her last two appearances, but after her breakout season in 2015 the pressure will be on her to surpass those results. It’s not something she’s bothered by. “Really no expectations,” Muguruza says. “Just try to keep my tennis level of what I’ve felt the last season, and that’s it.”

Pick: Muguruza in two

[9] Karolina Pliskova (CZE # 12) vs. Julia Goerges (GER # 45)
Head-to-head: Pliskova leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Pliskova hit 13 aces in her first match of the tournament.

Is it time for Karolina Pliskova to have her Grand Slam breakthrough? The 23-year-old achieved a Top 10 ranking for seven weeks in 2015, but the Czech has never been past the third round at a major. Though she stresses patience and process in her dialog with the media, Pliskova would clearly love to get the monkey off her back in Melbourne. On Thursday she’ll square off against an in-form Julia Goerges for a spot in the third round. The German is ranked 33 spots lower than Pliskova, but the powerful, aggressive Goerges proved her mettle in 2015 by reaching the second week at two majors. She also started the season on a mission, reaching her sixth career final—and first since 2012—in Auckland.

Pick: Pliskova in three

[14] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #16) vs. Danka Kovinic (SRB# 54)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Azarenka has already won four 6-0 sets this season.

Everything seems to be falling into place for two-time Aussie Open champion Victoria Azarenka. The health is perfect. The game is flowing—and lethal. The results? Well, it’s hard to argue with the double-bagel shellacking Azarenka put on Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck on Tuesday night in Melbourne. Azarenka herself was pleased, but she was happier about the process rather than the gaudy scoreline. “I don’t think I’m looking for perfection,” she told reporters. “I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus. I like that I was very composed today from first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was, I was there on every point. So that’s what I’m very happy about today.” On Thursday Azarenka will put that fierce concentration to work against Serbia’s Danka Kovinic. Kovinic eased past Samantha Crawford in straight sets on Day 2.

Pick: Azarenka in two

[20] Ana Ivanovic (SRB #23) vs. [Q] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT # 113)
Head-to-head: Sevastova leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Two of Ivanovic’s Grand Slam losses in 2015 were to players outside of the top-100.

Ivanovic, who exited Melbourne in the first-round at the hands of qualifier Lucie Hradecka last year, is hoping to turn a favorable draw into a deep run in Melbourne. So far, so good as Ivanovic ousted world No. 459 Tammi Patterson in straight sets on Day 2 with very little difficulty. “Of course you’re going to have nerves for every match because it means so much to you,” Ivanovic said after the match. “But it’s about just trying to handle them. I did that well today.” The Serb will look to do the same on Day 4 against Anastasija Sevastova, a 25-year-old Latvian qualifier who reached a peak ranking of 36 in 2011 after making the round of 16 at the Australian Open.

Pick: Ivanovic in three

Around the Grounds: China’s Zhang Shuai will look to continue her magical ride in Melbourne when she faces France’s Alizé Cornet in the second round. Zhang, who admitted she had contemplated retirement after last year’s US Open, upset No.2-seeded Simona Halep for her first career win at a major in 15 appearances on Tuesday… No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, who saved a match point to get past Japan’s Misaki Doi on Day 2, will face Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru… 15th-seeded American Madison Keys, a semifinalist here last year, squares off with hard-hitting Yaroslava Shvedova. Shvedova won their only previous meeting when Keys retired while trailing by a set at Wimbledon in 2014.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Timea Bacsinszky’s breakout 2015 ended in tears.

After a season that saw her start at No.48, quickly climb up thanks to two titles in Acapulco and Monterrey, and make her first major semifinal at the French Open – where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in three sets – Bacsinszky suddenly found herself in the running for a spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore. Her run to the China Open final boosted her chances of qualifying, but was unable to enter a tournament that coul have given her the necessary points to qualify.

Heartbroken and frustrated, she played the Luxembourg Open to finish her season and suffered a terrible knee injury in her opening match.

“My left knee ligament was broken,” she told WTA Insider. “I couldn’t even fly to Singapore [as an alternate] or Zhuhai to attend there because my knee was so swollen. It was really tough because you’re stuck home You could go on holidays but you cannot travel. It was heavy to live through that.”

Bacsinszky couldn’t pick up a racket for seven weeks in the off-season and her movement was heavily restricted.

“It’s tough because I’m a hyperactive person and I love to do so many things. So I had to deal with that. Seven weeks is a long time.”

As with many of the top players this year, Bacsinszky’s pre-season wasn’t what she wanted. She began to practice the second week of November and was only able to ramp things up two weeks before the Brisbane International. She considered not coming to Australia at all.

“I had the option to come or not to come, or to face the fact that maybe I’m not 100% and playing Brisbane knowing anything can happen. I knew that I would probably be less trained than the other players, but I decided to come. It’s the opposite of what I did [in the fall, when I withdrew from Wuhan and Seoul].”

After making the final four at the French, Bacsinszky returned to Switzerland under a new spotlight. People recognized her on the street and her anonymity was gone. It was a tough adjustment that played with her head, leading to a disastrous North American summer. She thought it was just a hangover from her fantastic first six months of the season. It turned out to be anemia.

“In the US I lost four first rounds in a row and I was feeling so down and I didn’t know why,” Bacsinszky said. “When I came back home I was so tired and down. My doctor said we have to check your blood. We checked and my iron level was at 26 and it should be to be over 70.

“I know I have lack of iron already because of my metabolism. I was playing well and I was pushing, pushing, pushing and not really thinking about it. I was watching my diet too, so I was eating more fish this summer and less red meat. I was probably tired from the first half of the season and then this. It was a huge contrast.”

So with her injury and illness scares in the last half of 2015, why push and come down to Australia knowing that maybe, just maybe, she’s a little undercooked for the first major of the season?

“Maybe before I was like, ‘Wait wait I have to get fit,'” she explained. “This time we talked a lot and I said we’ll go. We’re gonna face it. I own the fact that I’m still not 100% and I’m missing a couple weeks of practice. It was already a big win for me because I accepted the fact that I might not be able to play 100%, but at least I knew I finished the match. I saw what I can still improve, and after Brisbane I did a huge week of physical practice in Sydney.”

Bacsinszky came into Melbourne losing her first two matches of the season. The pain was still there in Brisbane but she expects she will still feel pain in her knee for another couple of months. But with each training session and match, she says she sees improvements. Her win the first round of the Australian Open over Katarina Siniakova was a confidence booster.

“I took my time here in Australia as an investment in my physical preparation,” Bacsinszky said. “It’s a long term plan.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, Australia – World No.133 Zhang Shuai played the best tennis of her career to dismantle No.2 seed Simona Halep on Margaret Court Arena, 6-4, 6-3, in 78 minutes.

The Chinese veteran first came to prominence in 2009 when she became the lowest ranked player to defeat a reigning World No.1 – Dinara Safina at the China Open – but the 26-year-old had never won a Grand Slam match in 14 previous attempts.

Against Halep, Zhang displayed stunning form from the outset, hitting 31 winners and racing out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before breaking serve in the 10th game to take the early lead.

Though the Romanian appeared to right the ship early in the second, Zhang weathered the storm and remained aggressive to win the last five games of the match to reach the second round.

“Thank you to everyone for supporting me,” a speechless Zhang said in her on-court interview.

“I think today is the best moment.”

For the former French Open finalist, the loss marked another abrupt end to an Australian Open campaign, having lost in back-to-back quarterfinals in straight sets. It is also her earliest exit from a hardcourt major tournament since the 2013 Australian Open, where she also lost in the first round.

Zhang will next play Hobart International champion Alizé Cornet; the Frenchwoman has dropped just six games in her last three matches – including a 6-1, 6-2 win over Eugenie Bouchard in the final of Hobart – and was equally ruthless to open her Australian Open against Bojana Jovanovski, winning, 6-1, 6-0.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, didn’t drop a single game in the first match of her quest for a third title at the Happy Slam on Tuesday.

The No.14-seeded Azarenka was absolutely ruthless against Alison Van Uytvanck in the feature night match on Rod Laver Arena, rolling past the Belgian up-and-comer in just 53 minutes, 6-0, 6-0.

“I’m pretty happy – I don’t think I’m looking for perfection, I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus,” Azarenka told reporters afterwards. “I like that I was very composed today from the first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was in the match, I was there on every point.

“So that’s what I’m very happy about today.”

The former World No.1 was asked whether she was sticking to the dab – the American Football-inspired post-match celebration she debuted during her run to the Brisbane title – this fortnight.

“For now, yeah,” she said, after which she was asked whether it was for luck.

“I just like doing it,” Azarenka replied. “I don’t believe in luck – I believe in hard work.”

Azarenka has gotten off to a perfect start to the 2016 season, not dropping a set en route to her first WTA title in almost two and a half years at the Brisbane International a few weeks ago – losing just 17 games in five matches, in fact – and she’s now 6-0 on the year after her first win in Melbourne.

Not all of the favorites flourished, though, with five more seeds going out, most notably No.2 seed Simona Halep, who was stunned by Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-3 (read more here) and No.8 seed Venus Williams, who succumbed to British No.1 Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-2 (read more here).

Johanna Larsson beat No.29 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-2, Varvara Lepchenko beat No.31 seed Lesia Tsurenko, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, and Barbora Strycova outdid No.32 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 6-4.

Most of the seeds in action moved through, though, including No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who out-hit Anett Kontaveit, 6-0, 6-4, and No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, who won a thriller against Misaki Doi, saving a match point down 6-5 in the second set tie-break to survive, 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3.

Other winners on Tuesday included No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova, No.11 seed Timea Bacsinszky, No.15 seed Madison Keys, No.18 seed Elina Svitolina, No.19 seed Jelena Jankovic, No.20 seed Ana Ivanovic (read about her win here), No.21 seed Ekaterina Makarova and No.30 seed Sabine Lisicki.

Shuai Zhang has an emotional victory over Halep #AusOpen https://t.co/tXDpUXlw3n

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia – Day 2 at the Australian Open was highlighted by the early exits of No.2 seed Simona Halep and No.8 seed Venus Williams, clearing the way for a surprise semifinalist to come through.

– Victoria Azarenka makes a statement: The No.14 seed picked up where she left off in at the Brisbane International and is remained undefeated for the season after double-bageling Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round. This was beyond domination. This was near perfection. The two played 72 points. Azarenka won 53 of them. Van Uytvanck won 19.

“I don’t think I’m looking for perfection,” Azarenka said. “I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus. I like that I was very composed today, from first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was, I was there on every point. So that’s what I’m very happy about today.” She’ll play Danka Kovinic in the second round.

– Zhang Shuai finally gets her major win: The Chinese qualifier came into Melbourne 0-14 in Grand Slam main draw matches and she got the toughest draw of any qualifier in No.2 seed Simona Halep. Yet somehow, Zhang made it look easy. She raced to a 4-0 lead and never looked back, winning 6-4, 6-3, to pull off the biggest upset of the first round. Read more about Zhang’s near-retirement, and what this win means to her here.

– Halep suffers a mental drain: The Romanian just couldn’t get the pieces together in time for Melbourne. After injury and illness derailed her training, it always felt like Halep was playing catch-up as the season began. She was noticeably more upbeat after today’s loss than she has been here in Melbourne the last two years, where she lost in the quarterfinals. Halep admitted it was hard to come into the tournament confident.

“I can say that I am a little bit down mentally because I was very sick at home,” she said. “Then I came here with Achilles again. So it’s tough to be positive, 100%, and try everything. But I did. I think I did everything I could today. It was all I could do today. So I am okay, but disappointed, of course.”

“When I played here two years before, and last year I lost in the quarters because I was blocked, I couldn’t manage the situation, the emotions. But today was different. Today I think I was okay. Was only about the game. I played not my best tennis. I played too short. I played too soft. She could do everything with the ball.

“It’s okay. I don’t want to make this match like dramatic. It happened. You know, everyone can lose. Everyone can win. I know that. I have just to take it like it is and go ahead.”

– Konta-mania strikes again: Johanna Konta came into the Australian Open winless but she found her 2015 form quickly, playing a strong match to oust No.8 seed Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-2.

– Venus Williams to drop out of the Top 10: With her first round exit, Venus will drop out of the Top 10 after the Australian Open. She is currently entered into the Taiwan Open, which starts on February 6th. As she did at the 2015 French Open, Venus declined to appear for a press conference after her loss. Under ITF rules she could be fined up to $20,000.

– Misaki Doi’s Slam breakthrough will have to wait: Over the last year, Doi has become one of my favorite players to watch. Her forehand has turned into a real weapon as she’s added a more aggressive stance to her game. Against No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, Doi had match point and at 6-5 in the second set tie-break only to miss a makeable forehand return; Kerber escaped with a 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 win. Doi lost despite hitting 59 winners — 42 off the forehand side — compared to Kerber’s 35 winners.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for Doi, who has now won the first set off Kerber, Bencic, Svitolina, and Ivanovic in her last four Slams. She lost all four matches.

– Garbiñe Muguruza makes a confident start: The Spaniard showed no signs of the foot injury that’s derailed her season so far, beating Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-4. She also caught a break when Kirsten Flipkens pulled off the win over the very dangerous Mirjana Lucic Baroni. Muguruza will play the Belgian in the next round.

– Naomi Osaka’s culture clash: Osaka followed up her strong qualifying run to win her first match at a major, in her Grand Slam debut no less, beating Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2. She was greeted in the secondary interview room by a standing room only crowd of Japanese and English-speaking reporters and jokingly pleaded to the moderator to only have questions asked in English.

“I’m trying to study Japanese but I get really nervous when I hear it,” the Osaka-born Osaka said. “It’s really fast; sometimes it sounds like they’re rapping, so then I’m just like, ‘Oh my god; I didn’t hear the first part of the question.’ Then I look like an idiot, and I don’t want to look like an idiot.” Watching the 18-year-old try to bridge her two cultural backgrounds will be very interesting.

– Opportunity knocks: With Halep and Venus’s losses, the seeds remaining in the bottom quarter: Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys, Ana Ivanovic, Ekaterina Makarova, and Sabine Lisicki. Also floating is Alizé Cornet.

– Quote of the Day: Azarenka was asked about the last time she remembers being double-bageled herself. She remembered it vividly.

“I was 11 years old. I was trying to get into Nationals for under 18, but obviously I was too young and I didn’t get in. Somebody retired and they gave me the spot. I was in school writing my essay. My dad came in and said, Hey, you got to go. I said, Where, dad?

“He said, ‘You got a spot. You can go and play.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I got excited, went to the court, got beat, I cried myself to sleep that day, and that was horrible experience.

“But, you know, I came back to practice the next day, and I don’t think that ever happened to me again. Hard work pays off.”

By The Numbers:

2: Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber each with a chance to move as high as No.2 in the WTA Rankings after the Australian Open:
-Muguruza needs SF or better
-Radwanska needs Final or better
-Kerber would need to win title
-If none of the above, then Halep will stay at No.2

4: Four Chinese women have advanced to the second round of the Australian Open – X.Han, Q.Wang, S.Zhang and S.Zheng – the most Chinese women through to the second round of a Slam since 2006 Wimbledon (Li Na, QF; Peng Shuai, 3r; Zheng Jie, 3r; Sun Tiantian, 2r).

12: Through the completion of the first round, 12 of the 32 women’s seeds have been eliminated from the tournament, including two of the Top 8 seeds – No.2 Simona Halep and No.8 Venus Williams. Since the Grand Slams adapted the 32-seed draw at 2001 Wimbledon, the 12 seeds is the most to lose in an opening round.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

MELBOURNE, Australia – This was a win for the journeywomen. The ones who slog away on tour, always fighting for ranking points and prize money in the shadow, hoping that their day will come. Because as cruel as this sport can be – good results forgotten every Monday, nearly every week punctuated by a loss – your luck can change at any moment. For China’s Zhang Shuai, her moment finally came.

On Tuesday night, Zhang, ranked No.133, walked onto Margaret Court Arena under a cloud. The 26-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of No.30 in 2014, was 0-14 in main draw matches at the Slams. Across the net from her was the No.2 player in the world in Simona Halep, a back-to-back quarterfinalist here. And to add more stakes to the night, Zhang took the court knowing this very well could be her last appearance at a major.

Less than 80 minutes later, Zhang was in tears as she pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, beating Halep 6-4, 6-3 to earn her first win at a major.

Three months ago, Zhang was hovering just inside the Top 200. She was struggling to win matches and even qualify for tournaments, dipping back and forth between the WTA and ITF levels.

“Feeling so sad,” Zheng told reporters. “Couldn’t win one match even. Ranking from 30 drop to 200 [in] only few months, so feeling so sad.”

It was then, after the US Open, that she says she considered retirement.

“Before when I have this thinking [about retiring], everybody say, No. C’mon, you’re a great player. You can come back soon. You have to keep going.

“But I feeling sad. I didn’t know how can keep going. But when [they] say, Okay, retire, no problem [and] nobody said, No, I’m feeling no, I want come back. I want [to] try one more time, only one more time, yeah. If no good, I say, Okay, I will try last tournament Australia Open. If Australia Open not good, maybe finish tennis.

“But I never think I can win in the here, win the first round.”

To break her Grand Slam duck, Zhang played as good of a match as she’s played in years. Playing with no pressure and with the support of her coach and family, she rode the support of the crowd and took the match by the reins. Behind a firing forehand that kept Halep on the run all night, Zhang finished the match with 31 winners to 24 unforced errors.

After the match, Zhang said the bigger courts suit her. “Feels more exciting and so many people supporting me watching the match, so feeling more relax. I want to show how good I am.”

Shuai Zhang has an emotional victory over Halep #AusOpen https://t.co/tXDpUXlw3n

— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2016

“I think wasn’t my good day, but I give her a lot of credit because I think she played really well,” Halep said. “She played without fear and she hit every ball. So she had good rhythm. I think I played a little bit too short in the first set. Then she was dominating me because she felt the ball really well.”

Said Zhang: “I think the last three matches [in qualifying] help me a lot for [confidence]. Especially last round, final round, play against Virginie Razzano. Very tough match. 8-6 in the final set. So give me a lot [confidence] and feeling very good.”

You know a result resonates in the locker room when players puts down their knives and forks to celebrate:

Well done to Shuai& her coach Robert ?? they had a very difficult year last year… But hard work always pay off ?? https://t.co/YBjeI0D3sk

— Caroline Garcia (@CaroGarcia) January 19, 2016

My god!Zhang Shuai,it was so emotional?Congrats.Long wait,but such a big win worth it?…@zhangshuai121

— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) January 19, 2016

So happy for @zhangshuai121.. Hard work during tough times always pays off! Enjoy! ?

— Yanina Wickmayer (@wickytennis) January 19, 2016

In preparation for possibly playing her final Australian Open, Zhang convinced her mother and father to come along on the trip. Neither had ever traveled with her. She wanted to give them a glimpse into the life that she leads and the sport she loves.

“This is big-time for me,” Zhang said. “Because I think, Oh, maybe this is last time in Australia Open, so I wanted they coming to maybe see last match in Melbourne.

“I want [them to] come to see the last 20 years what I’m [doing]. This is my life already like 20 years. They never see. So I want [them to have the] feeling [of] what I’m [doing]. So, yeah, this is so lucky my parents coming and I win.”

For now the retirement talk is on hold. These two sets of tennis on a warm Melbourne night have reinvigorated Zhang, filing her with belief that the best is yet to come.

“I’m training hard, more hard than before,” she said. “I didn’t think in two months I can win [against] the top-two player. Feeling like dream coming true, yeah.”

Yeah.

A blockbuster second-round match between Agnieszka Radwanska and Eugenie Bouchard highlights the Day 3 schedule down under, but that’s not all we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Wednesday, Day 3
Second Round

[4] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN # 37)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Radwanska has won 23 of her last 28 matches.

Is Eugenie Bouchard ready to make a play for a return back to the WTA’s elite? We’ll likely have a clearer answer to that question after Wednesday’s tussle with red-hot Agnieszka Radwanska. The Pole has been in rude form thus far in 2016, wining her first six matches without the loss of a set, but she knows she’ll be in for a tough challenge when she faces Bouchard for the second time in her career. The Canadian has already won seven matches in 2016—something it took her until May to do last year—and she played scintillating tennis in taking down Aleksandra Krunic on Day 1. This promises to be a thrilling encounter between two in-form players, and the winner should be well positioned for a run deep into the second week.

Pick: Bouchard in three

[6] Petra Kvitova (CZE # 6) vs. Daria Gavrilova (AUS # 39)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Gavrilova served for the match in the pair’s first meeting at Wuhan last year.

Petra Kvitova erased a lot of doubts about her form on Day 1 in Melbourne when she avenged her shock upset in 2014 to Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum with a routine straight-sets win. But Kvitova is in for another challenge when she squares off against the feisty Daria Gavrilova in round two. Playing under the Aussie flag for the first time at a major, the 21-year-old eased past accomplished veteran Lucie Hradecka in straight sets on Monday. Gavrilova was close to Kvitova in their first tour-level meeting, actually serving for the match, and she hopes to take that experience into Wednesday’s tilt. “I got pretty close,” she told reporters in Melbourne on Monday. “I was serving for it in China. I was up 5-3, and I think I lost in like two minutes the next four games. She hits the ball pretty hard; has a good serve. I’ll have to work very hard and run a lot.”

Pick: Kvitova in three

[5] Maria Sharapova (RUS #5) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR # 105)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Sasnovich has never played a top-10 player before.

Maria Sharapova shook the rust off in style on Monday, firing 11 aces and clocking 28 winners to down Japan’s Nao Hibino in straight sets. The Russian will face a relatively unknown quantity in Belarus’s Sasnovich on Wednesday, but Sharapova knows that if she plays to her potential her chances of advancing are good. “I try not to focus so much on the opponent or the atmosphere and just really focus on myself and try to bring the positives of a good training week, just try to execute that,” she said. Sasnovich, 21, made a run to the Seoul final as a qualifier last season, and while she’s never beaten a player inside the top 30, she’s proven to be tough on big occasions. She won 11 consecutive finals at the Challenger and Futures level between 2011 and 2014.

Pick: Sharapova in two

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Hsieh Su-Wei  (TPE # 90)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Hsieh reached the Australian’s second week as a qualifier in 2008, but has only won two matches here since.

21-time major champion Williams came out firing on Monday and quickly found that her opponent, Italy’s Camila Giorgi, was firing back. But the American, who had not competed in a tour-level match since last year’s U.S. Open, proved to be up to the challenge. She kept the hard-hitting Giorgi at bay with her lethal serve, dropping only four first-serve points and facing just one break point, and demonstrated no signs of the injury to her left knee that forced her out of Hopman Cup. Though the crafty, cerebral Hsieh isn’t much of a match on paper for the six-time Australian Open champion, at this point in Williams’ quest for major No. 22, she’s not ready to take anything for granted. “You know, everyone is here to win,” Williams said. “Everyone is here to play their hardest. Yeah, I can’t look past anyone.”

Pick: Serena in two

Around the Grounds: Belinda Bencic will look to advance to the third round in Melbourne for the first time when she meets Hungary’s Timea Babos. Babos, an elite doubles player, appears to be upping her singles game as well. She took out Great Britain’s Heather Watson in three sets on Day 1… Russian Daria Kasatkina is a player on the rise. She knocked off 27th-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Monday and has risen more ranking spots than any other player in the top-100 in the last year (from 350 to 69). Kasatkina will square off in a battle of promising 18-year-olds on Wednesday when she meets Croatia’s Ana Konjuh.