Kerber, Wozniacki, Sharapova, Stephens, Kvitova enter 2nd round of AO 2019

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Patna : World No 2 in WTA rankings Angelique Kerber, 30, Germany, World No 3 and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, 28, Denmark, World No 5 Sloane Stephens, 25, USA, World No 6 Petra Kvitová, 28, Czech Republic, World No 15 Ashleigh Barty, 22, Australia, and World No 30 and 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, 31, Russia, advanced to the second round of women’s section of Australian Open (AO) 2019 at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on January 14, 2019.

Wozniacki, the 3rd seed, beat World No 52 Alison Van Uytvanck, 24, Belgium, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round on the first day of the tournament. Wozniacki served 4 Aces in gthe match to 7 by Uytvanck, who committed 2 double faults. Wozniacki won 2 break points in the match besides winning 3 games in a row.

Winner of three Grand Slam singles titles Kerber, the 2nd seed, beat World No 92 Polona Hercog, 27, Slovenia, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. Hercog served 3 Aces in the match to 1 by Kerber. Hercog committed 4 double faults to 5 by Kerber. But, Kerber won 4 break points to none by Hercog. Kerber also won 5 games in a row.

Former US Open champion Stephens beat World No 93 Taylor Townsend, 22, USA, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. Townsend though served 3 Aces in the match to none by Stephens. Stephens, however, won 5 break points to 2 by Townsend. Stephens also won 6 games in a row to 2 by Townsend.

Two times former Wimbledon champion Kvitová beat World No 51 Magdalena Rybarikova, 30, Slovak Republic, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round. Kvitová fired 8 Aces in the match to 1 by Rybarikova. But, Kvitová also committed 4 double faults to 1 by her rival. Kvitová won 5 break points to 2 by Rybarikova.

Barty beat World No 67 Luksika Kumkhum, 25, Thailand, 6-2, 6-2 to enter the second round. barty served 4 Aces in the match to 1 by Kumkhum, who committed 4 double faults. Barty won 6 break points to 2 by Kumkhum. Barty won 7 games in a row in the match to 2 by Kumkhum.

Sharapova inflicted a double bagel to World No 131 Harriet Dart, 22, Great Britain, in gthe first round. Sharapova beat Dart 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. Sharapova, however, also committed 7 double faults to 3 by Dart. Sharapova won 6 break points bdsides winning 12 games in a row.

World No 43 Maria Sakkari, 23, Greece, upset World No 22 and 2017 French Open Champion Jelena Ostapenko, 21, Latvia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round. Sakkari fired 11 Aces in the match to 4 by Ostapenko. Ostapenko committed 8 double faults to 3 by Sakkari. Sakkari won 5 break points to 2 by Ostapenko. She also won 5 games in a row to 3 by her opponent.

World No 31 Aliaksandra Sasnovic, 24, Belarus, beat World No 50 Kirsten Flipkens, 33, Belgium, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round. Sasnovic served 4 Aces in the match besides winning 5 break points.

World No 9 Kiki Bertens, 27, Netherlands, beat World No 46 Alison Riske, 28, USA, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round firing 10 Aces in the match besides winning 3 break points. Bertens also won 4 games in a row in the match.