Australian Open exit for Venus Williams
January 15, 2018
Fifth seed and last year's finalist Venus Williams was pushed out of the Australian Open in the first round on Monday after losing to former top 10 player Belinda Bencic. The 20-year-old Swiss beat 37-year-old Williams 6-3 7-5 in just under two hours on the Rod Laver Arena.
Last year's semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe also went out, beaten 7-6(4) 6-2 by Hungary's Timea Babos.
In the men's draw, US Open finalist from last year, Kevin Anderson was beaten by Britain's Kyle Edmund in five sets 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
German wins
Germany's Julia Görges continued her winning streak to 15 matches as she beat Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-4 in their first round match in Melbourne on Monday.
The tall 29-year-old German is enjoying her longest winning streak since turning professional in 2005. She won the Kremlin Cup in Russia in October, the WTA Elite Trophy in China in November and the Auckland Open in New Zealand earlier this month taking her world ranking up to No. 12. Last year she was 57th.
It was also a good day for Mona Barthel who won her first-round match against Romania's Monica Niculescu 6-4. 7-5.
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Veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber made a surprise exit in Melbourne. The 34-year-old lost his opening match against Japan's 22-year-old Yoshihito Nishioka in five sets, 3-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-1, 2-6.
Sloane Stephens missed again
US Open champion Sloane Stephens served for the match against Zhang Shuai but dropped her serve, found herself outplayed in the tie-breaker before going down 2-6 in the third set.
Since beating Madison Keys in last year's US Open final, Stephens has lost eight matches.
But Zhang was happy to celebrate her win: "Sloane, she plays so well, won the US Open - everyone knows - she's a great player," Zhang said. "I know how hard I'm working ... coming to Australia I'm ready for every match, every player. That's why I won today."
The 20-year-old French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko enjoyed a 6-1, 6-4 win over 37-year-old Francesca Schiavone.
Federer plays down favoritism
Second seed behind Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer is resisting pressure to accept status as favorite: "I play down my chances just because I don't think a 36-year-old should be a favorite of a tournament," he said Sunday. "That's why I see things more relaxed at a later stage of my career.
"I feel like maybe somebody like a Rafa Nadal, with the year that he's had, and Novak Djokovic with the six titles he's had here, even if it's unknown how he's feeling, they could very well be the favorites, too."
Federer plays his first round match on Tuesday against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene. Djokovic, seeded 14, also starts on Tuesday, as do former world number one Maria Sharapova and top seed Simona Halep.
Nadal ruthless in return
Playing his first competitive match since knee trouble forced him to withdraw from the ATP Tour Finals in November, world number one Nadal needed just 94 minutes to clinch a triumphant return at the Rod Laver Arena.
The 31-year-old, who lost last year's final in a five-set classic with long-time rival Federer, is bidding for a second Australian Open title and is now set to meet Argentine Leonardo Mayer in the second round.