By Mike McIntyre
Photos by Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
The draw this year is so strong on the WTA side of things at the Sydney International that many first round matches would more than suffice for a final at many events on the Tour. Monday saw first round action nearly completed and there were some noticeable results even this early into the 2018 season.
Angelique Kerber d Lucie Safarova 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 6-2
What a difference a year makes! At the start of 2017 Kerber was the No. 1 player in the WTA rankings and now she has fallen all the way back to No. 22. A coaching change to Wim Fissette could pay dividends and help restore the German's confidence in her game. She lost the opening set to Safarova but recovered to take it in three. A solid opponent like Safarova is tough early in a draw and we'll see if Kerber can use this as motivation moving forward.
Safarova is a player who is certainly capable of playing top level tennis but has her ranking currently at No. 31. She's part of the No. 2 doubles tandem in the draw alongside usual partner Barbora Strycova.
Kerber's draw doesn't get any easier as she will next face American Venus Williams who is seeded 2nd. Kerber has a narrow 4-3 lead in their career head to head although Williams won their only encounter in 2017 in straight sets in Miami.
Nobody expected Sloane Stephens to have the summer she had upon returning to the WTA Tour following a lengthy injury layoff. She tore through the lead-up to the US Open and then nabbed the first Grand Slam of her career in New York. Since then however she has failed to win a single match and that slide continued in Sydney.
Stephens struggles continued as she dropped a very lopsided match to Italy's Camila Giorgi who defeated the American 6-3, 6-0. Stephens also lost in her doubles match alongside Jelena Ostapenko who herself went down in her opening round singles match. Tough goings for the two Slam winners from 2017.
Giorgi will now advance to face Petra Kvitova who won her opener with a 6-1, ret. victory against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
The Sydney draw has plenty of players who are unseeded yet still big threats like Dominika Cibulkova who could contend for the title. The Slovakian won her match against the 8th seed Anastasija Sevastova by a decisive scoreline of 6-3, 6-1. Cibulkova is currently ranked 26th on the WTA Tour and reached the second round at this event a year ago before falling to Genie Bouchard. Her next match is against Elena Vesnina against whom she has a 4-4 head-to-head record in her career. All four of her wins against Vesnina have been on hard court, so that bodes well for her. Cibulkova only made one tour final last year, in New Haven, and at the age of 28 will be looking to prove that she still has plenty of solid tennis ahead of her.
Away from the on-court action there were several player sightings from around the grounds.
Aga Radwanska took time to sign some autographs and pose for some pictures with some young fans. She has the unenviable task of facing 4th seed Johanna Konta in her first round match Tuesday.
Scouting the action around the courts was Andrea Sestini-Hlavackova who is the No. 1 seed in doubles along side Latisha Chan.
Check back with us throughout the week for more pictures and coverage from the Sydney International. Throw us a follow on Twitter as well.
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