Barty, Osaka, Serena, Kvitova & Wozniacki enter 2nd round of AO 2020

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 1 Ashleigh Barty, Australia, defending champion and World No 4 Naomi Osaka, Japan, seven-time champion  Serena Williams, 38, USA, World No 8 Petra Kvitová, Czech Republic, and 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark, advanced to the women’s singles 2nd round  of Australian Open (AO) at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on January 20, 2020.

Top seed Ashleigh Barty beat World No 120 Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine, in three-sets 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 rallying back fron one set down to advance to the 2nd round. Barty, 23, fired 10 Aces in the match to 1 by Tsurenko. She won 7 break points in the match to 3 by Ukrainian. Barty also won 7 games in a row in the match to 3 by Tsurenko.

Third seed Naomi Osaka beat World No 59 Marie Bouzkova, Czech Republic, in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 to enter the 2nd round of AO. Osaka fired 7 Aces in the match to just 1 by Bouzkova. She won 4 break points to 1 by Bouzkova. Osaka also won 5 games in a row in the match to 2 by Bouzkova.

World No 9 Serena Williams,38, crushed World No 90 Anastasia Potapova, 18, Russia, 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the 2nd round. Serena, who had recently won the Auckland Open title, won 5 break points in the match to just 1 by Potapova. The American fired 9 Aces in the match to 4 by Potapova. Serena also won 7 games in a row to 2 by Potapova.

Two-time former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic, the 7th seed, beat World No 57 Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-0 winning 6 break points to enter the 2nd round. Kvitova fired 8 Aces in the match to 1 by Siniakova. Kvitova won 12 games in a row in the match.

World No 36 Caroline Wozniacki beat World No 92 Kristie Ahn, USA, 6-1, 6-3 in first round. Wozniacki won 5 break points in the match to 1 by Ahn. Wozniacki also won 5 games in a row in the match to 2 by Ahn.

But, winner of 7 Grand Slam titles including 5 Wimbledon title Venus Williams, 39, USA, lost to World No 67 Cori Coco Gauff, 15, USA, in 1st round. Gauff beat two-time AO finalist Venus Williams, the World No 55, 7-6, 6-3 in first round. Gauff won 2 break points to 1 by Gauff. Gauff won 5 games in a row in the match to 3 by Venus, who had reached AO final in 2003 and 2017.