Germany’s Angelique Kerber yesterday overcame the loss of the first set on a day of extreme heat in Sydney as she maintained her buildup to next week’s Australian Open.
The fourth seed, one of the few members of the women’s world top 10 not to be hit by injury in the lead-up to the year’s first Grand Slam, came from a set down to oust Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 in the Apia International Sydney’s first round.
Kerber, who lost to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in Saturday’s Brisbane International final, is looking for more matches to hone her form leading into the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Photo: AFP
“I had a lot of matches last week, but that was actually also my plan to come to Australia, to have a lot of matches, and also to play a few more matches here,” Kerber said.
“I don’t know how far I can get. I’m healthy. I have no pain anywhere. I will just try to recover and see how I feel tomorrow, but my body feels good,” she added.
Kerber struggled with the intense heat early in her match, dropping the opening set without winning a game, but she battled on.
“It’s good to have a match like this under my belt,” Kerber said.
“It’s always hot in Australia. I think it was a good match to prepare for Melbourne,” she added.
With temperatures hitting 37oC, the WTA’s extreme heat policy came into force, allowing Kerber and Svitolina to take a 10-minute break before the third and deciding set.
Australia’s Samantha Stosur fought back from a set and a service break down to overcome defeat Italy’s Roberta Vinci 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Among other first-round winners yesterday were Italy’s world No. 19 Sara Errani, over Spanish seventh seed Carla Suarez 6-3, 6-3, and Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, who eased past Slovenia’s Polona Hercog 6-4, 6-3.
In the first round of the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia were ousted by the third seeds, despite a spirited second-set fightback.
French duo Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic eventually advanced to the quarter-finals in the super tiebreak after a 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 10-6 battle, which lasted just short of 1 hour, 30 minutes.
In the men’s draw, Italian fifth seed Andreas Seppi eliminated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in three sets, but Seppi’s compatriot Simone Bolelli went out to US qualifier Alexander Sarkissian 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
In the evening match, experienced Spaniard Tommy Robredo was too strong for Australia’s John Millman 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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