Top-ranked Iga Swiatek yesterday survived an early test of her Australian Open title hopes when she beat former champion Sofia Kenin 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the first round.
Kenin, the winner in 2020, served for the first set at 5-4, but could not close it out and Swiatek took it in the tiebreaker.
The No. 1 seed then broke Kenin in the fifth game of the second set and held on to clinch victory.
Photo: Reuters
“Really happy,” said Swiatek, who hit 30 winners. “It wasn’t easy to find my rhythm. I felt a little bit off and Sofia did everything to keep it that way, huge respect to her. I managed to get my level up in the second set.”
The Polish player is trying to win her fifth Grand Slam title and her first in Melbourne.
She faces another tough match in the second round against 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins, who beat 2016 champion Angelique Kerber 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
“A tough little bracket that we have,” Collins said of the first two rounds. “I was like: ’Wow, I get really great draws now.’ But if you’re trying to win a Grand Slam, you kind of have to beat everyone.”
Kerber was one of three past Australian champions making their returns to Melbourne Park for the first time as mothers. She joined four-time major winner Naomi Osaka as a first-round exit. Caroline Wozniacki, the 2018 winner, reached the second round.
Victoria Azarenka, the winner in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013, won a hard-hitting contest with Camila Giorgi of Italy, advancing 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
“Right into the tournament, right, playing against Camila, we know how dangerous she can be,” said Azarenka, who is the 18th seed. “I feel like I didn’t play my best tennis today, but I am happy I was able to find my way around.”
Earlier, Sloane Stephens picked up her first win at the Australian Open since 2019 when she beat wild-card entry Olivia Gadecki 6-3, 6-1.
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