Halep, Serena, Venus, Svitolina advance to 2nd round of AO 2019

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 1 in ATA rankings Simona Halep, 27, Romania, World No 4 Naomi Osaka, 21, Japan, World No 7 Elina Svitolina, 24, Ukraine, and World No 16 Serena Williams, 37, USA, entered the 2nd round of Australian Open (AO) at Melbourne Park on January 15, 2019.

Halep beat World No 71 Kaia Kanepi, 33, Estonia, in a three-set thriller 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. Both the players served 4 Aces each in the match. Kanepi committed 5 double faults too. Halep won 5 break points to 2 by Kanepi. Halep won 4 games in a row in the match compared to 2 by Kanepi.

Osaka beat World No 80 Magda Linette, 26, Poland, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round firing 6 Aces in the match. Osaka also won 4 break points to 1 by Linette besides winning 3 games in a row.

Svitolina crushed World No 103 Viktorija Golubic, 26, Switzerland, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round firing 9 Aces in the match. She also won 5 break points to 1 by Golubic. Svitolina also won 6 games in a row in the match.

Seven time AO champion Serena Williams demolished World No 74 Tatjana Maria, 31, Germany, 6-0, 6-2 in the first round. Serena served 2 Aces in the match to 3 by Tatjana, who committed 7 double faults. Serena also won 5 break points besides winning 9 games in a row. World No 18 Garbine Muguruza, 25, Spain, and World No 8 Karolina Pliskova, 26, Czech Republic, and World No 36 Venus Williams, 38, USA, also advanced to the second round on January 15.