Aljaz Bedene, Britain’s number two who has switched nationality from Slovenia, lost 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7/3) to America’s Steve Johnson while qualifier Dan Evans was also beaten in straight sets, defeated 6-1 6-0 6-4 to Feliciano Lopez, the eighth seed from Spain.
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“It’s actually something that I had to add, because I was getting really frustrated losing to my hitting partner all the time”.
Williams, 35, struggled in her service games, winning 52 percent of her service points – only 53 percent of first-serve points.
Madison Keys of the United States makes a forehand return to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016.
Venus Williams’ 69th Grand Slam came to a premature halt in the first round Tuesday when she was shocked by rising British star Johanna Konta, who said the veteran’s age was “irrelevant”.
On Tuesday, Fernando Verdasco rallied from a 2-1 deficit and recovered a break in the fifth set to claim a 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win in 4 hours and 41 minutes, only his third victory in 17 matches against his fellow Spanish lefthander. I had a better understanding, better feel of what kind of ball was going to be coming off her racquet.
And it was one the world No 47 did not see coming, having lost in the first round at her two warm-up tournaments.
The Russian teenager, playing as a wildcard, upset Venus in three sets in the opening round of the Auckland Classic warm-up tournament two weeks ago.
“In terms of a decorated tennis player and the biggest champion that I’ve ever played, she definitely is the biggest and I’m very proud”.
Because of her nationality switch, Konta is unlikely to be back on the main showcourt for her second round encounter with Carina Witthoeft or Zheng Saisai.
Venus Williams has been fined $5,000 by tournament organizers for skipping a news conference after her first-round exit at the Australian Open.
The Chinese giant-killer later revealed she nearly retired previous year as her career nose-dived, but chose to try her luck at one more Grand Slam – a decision that paid dividends.
Other seeded players advancing included No. 12 Belinda Bencic, who had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Timea Babos, and No. 13 Roberta Vinci, who beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3.
“I’ve said before that I don’t judge myself on my ranking or my results, so it would be very hypocritical to start now”, she said. The victor was so emotional she was unable to manage a post-match interview, with her coach also in floods of tears.
“Whenever I step out on the court, whether it is at Wimbledon, whether it is here or in Wuhan or in Timbuktu, it really is just about enjoying where I am at that time and regardless of who I’m playing, to really knuckle down and take care of things on my end”.
“I think being down set point nearly helped me. That’s why I’ve been playing really well”, Nishikori said.
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Djokovic started his bid for a sixth Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Chung Hyeon of South Korea on Monday, hours after the BBC and Buzzfeed News published reports alleging match-fixing had gone unchecked.
