World No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova yesterday battled back to beat two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and join Barbora Krejcikova in the second round of the Adelaide International II.
Kudermetova, who had a stunning season last year in which she claimed almost 40 match wins, triumphed 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
“Of course I’m really happy about this win because it means a lot against Vika,” said Russia’s Kudermetova, 25, ahead of next week’s Australian Open.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“She’s a two-time Grand Slam champion so for me it’s really important to play against that [level of] player and beat them. With every win I have a little bit more confidence,” she said.
A resurgent Krejcikova, who was ranked as high as second in the world last year, won two titles and 10 of her last 11 singles matches to end last year on a roll.
She brought that form to Adelaide, beating last year’s finalist Alison Riske-Amritraj of the US 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) to start her season.
The 2021 French Open champion, now ranked 21, won the last four games of the opening set and secured the match in straight sets after seeing a match point slip by at 6-2, 5-4. The Czech player’s reward is a clash with fifth seed Daria Kasatkina.
American Amanda Anisimova, semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019 and Wimbledon quarter-finalist last season, won her first tour-level match since August, overcoming error-strewn Russian Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 6-3.
China’s Zheng Qinwen set up a second-round contest with two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over American Shelby Rogers.
In Women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Yang Zhaoxuan of China were knocked out of the round of 16 by Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.
The Czech duo beat Chan and Yang 7-5, 7-5 in 1 hour, 24 minutes.
Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was in action in the opening round of the Hobart International, and looked in good touch as she beat China’s Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-2.
The 24-year-old won her first WTA title in Hobart in 2019 and returned to Australia the following year to claim a Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.
It was a bad day for two other former Hobart champions with French third seed Alize Cornet crashing out in a 6-4 6-2 loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto and 2017 and 2018 champion Elise Mertens losing 6-4 6-4 to qualifier Maryna Zanevska.
Also in Hobart, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Alexa Guarachi of Chile crashed out of the round of 16, losing their women’s doubles match 6-4, 7-5 to Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine and Kimberley Zimmerman of Belgium.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with Reuters
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