Sakkari beaten, happy new year for Osaka

Brisbane, January 7

Japanese star Naomi Osaka came from a break down in the third set to overcome Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the first round of the WTA Brisbane International today.

Sakkari sniffed an upset when she won the second set in a tiebreak then broke Osaka’s opening service game of the third set, but the former world No. 1 dug deep and won 6-2 6-7(7) 6-3 in a two-hour opening-round clash. Osaka, the tournament’s third seed, said she was pleased with her first match of the year, after she was forced out of the WTA Finals in October with a shoulder injury.

“I’m really happy with how I served,” Naomi Said.

Sixth-seeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens also progressed in three sets, beating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4 1-6 6-3. Eighth seed Madison Keys served brilliantly in her impressive 6-3 6-2 win over Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova. Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova caused an upset when she beat former US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Samsonova, playing only her seventh main draw WTA tournament, recorded her first victory over a top-30 player with a 6-4 2-6 6-3 win. In other matches, Yulia Putinseva of Kazakhstan beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-3 3-6, 7-5 and Estonian Anett Kontaveit overpowered Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4 6-1.

Solid Serena in Round 2

Auckland: Serena Williams found her power game after a sluggish start as she overcame qualifier Camila Giorgi to open her 2020 season with a straight-sets victory at the Auckland WTA Classic today.

With an eye on the upcoming Australian Open, the 38-year-old worked her way into a blistering performance that proved too much for the 1.7 metre (5ft 6in) Italian. She described her first match since losing the US Open final in September as “solid” rather than spectacular.

“Spent a long time off from tournament play, match play, so solid is pretty good. It’s a great start to build on,” she said after sealing her 6-3 6-2 victory.

The top five seeds were all in action today and along with Williams and Anisimova, Petra Martic, defending champion Julia Goerges and Caroline Wozniacki also progressed to the second round. The 18-year-old Amanda Anisimova just needed 78 minutes to dump Kateryna Kozlova 6-3 6-4. Martic beat American Usue Arconada 5-7 6-4 6-4. Wozniacki cruised against New Zealander Paige Hourigan with a 6-1 6-0 victory in 53 minutes, while Germany’s Goerges beat Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-1 7-6(7). — AFP