Iga Swiatek reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the primary time final yr, having not beforehand been past the fourth spherical
| Dates: 16-29 January Venue: Melbourne Park |
| Protection: Commentary daily from 07:00 GMT on Radio 5 Sports activities Further ‘Tennis Breakfast’ dwell from Melbourne, with chosen dwell textual content commentaries and match reviews on the BBC Sport web site and app. |
World primary Iga Swiatek made a successful begin on the Australian Open as she beat German Jule Niemeier in straight units at Melbourne Park.
Three-time main winner Swiatek, who reached the semi-finals final yr, received 6-4 7-5 on Rod Laver Area.
The Polish 21-year-old will play Colombian Camila Osorio in spherical two.
There have been additionally victories for third seed Jessica Pegula, sixth seed Maria Sakkari and seventh seed Coco Gauff – who will meet Britain’s Emma Raducanu.
High seed Swiatek, 21, took benefit as Niemeier’s serve faltered for the primary time to edge the primary set.
The German responded with an early break of serve in set two however Swiatek averted being taken the gap, successful 4 successive video games to arrange her assembly with Osario, who beat Hungarian Panna Udvardy 6-4 6-1.
American Pegula swept apart Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-0 6-1 in 59 minutes. She’s going to play Aliaksandra Sasnovich subsequent following the Belarusian’s 7-5 6-2 win over 15-year-old Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova.
Sakkari progressed with a 6-1 6-4 win in opposition to China’s Yue Yuan and strikes on to face 18-year-old Russian qualifier Diana Shnaider.
In the meantime, Gauff defeated Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4 to arrange an intriguing second-round assembly with Raducanu, who made a optimistic return to courtroom after her harm scare in a 6-3 6-2 win in opposition to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
Within the battle between the one two former champions within the girls’s draw, Belarusian two-time winner Victoria Azarenka, whose final triumph in Melbourne got here 10 years in the past, beat 2020 winner Sofia Kenin of the US 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
Final yr’s American runner-up Danielle Collins, seeded thirteenth, wanted three units to defeat Russian Anna Kalinskaya, ultimately successful 7-5 5-7 6-4.
In the meantime, Wimbledon champion and twenty second seed Elena Rybakina mentioned she “did not get the profit which Grand Slam champions usually get” after being scheduled on an out of doors courtroom for her first-round match.
“However I do not actually care and I simply need to compete, I need to win. Irrespective of which courtroom I play on, it is nice to be right here,” she mentioned after beating Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-5 6-3 on courtroom 13.
Rybakina missed out on an opportunity to interrupt into the world’s high 10 when she defeated Ons Jabeur in final summer season’s Wimbledon ultimate after the ATP and WTA stripped the Grand Slam of rating factors following the organisers’ choice to ban Russian and Belarusian gamers.
Elsewhere, 2019 finalist Petra Kvitova received 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in opposition to Belgian Alison van Uytvanck, whereas fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova beat 16-year-old compatriot Sara Bejlek 6-3 6-1.
Canada’s 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu beat Czech twenty fifth seed Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-4, and Latvia’s 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4 6-2.