Tennis News

HOBART, Australia – Defending champion Heather Watson dropped just three games against Brazil’s Teliana Pereira to win, 6-3, 6-0, in the first round of the Hobart International.

A tight opening set saw the two exchange three service breaks, but Pereira’s inability to capitalize on nine of 10 break point opportunities paled in comparison to Watson’s perfect conversion rate. The Brit flew through the second set, losing just 12 points to seal up her opening round victory in just over an hour.

“I was very happy with how I played today,” she said in her post-match press conference. “At the beginning of the match, it was very competitive, and it was close because she was playing very well. That game at 2-2 to hold serve was crucial because after that I kind of went away with the match.”

Watson has good memories in Hobart, having won the tournament last year without dropping a set and with wins over three seeded players – Sloane Stephens, Roberta Vinci, and Alison Riske – before defeating Madison Brengle in the final.

“I like to see my picture on the walls!” Watson said of being the defending champion, but noted it’s not always easy coming back as the one to beat. 

“I remember when I won Osaka in 2012, and I came back in 2013 I wasn’t in great form, and I was so nervous to defend all of those points; it was my first tournament defense. I didn’t deal with it well at all and I just couldn’t wait for the tournament to be over.

“This time around, I’m the total opposite. I’m really happy to be back here. As soon as I hit the first day, I was playing well. I don’t know what it is; I really like it here. I think today showed that I am enjoying the court and playing well.”

Watson will next play No.4 seed Monica Niculescu, who defeated American Christina McHale in two tight sets, 7-5, 7-5.

Earlier in the day, Eugenie Bouchard turned around an unfavorable head-to-head to dismantle Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-2, 6-1, winning in 57 minutes on Monday.

“It’s nice to get a win against her, finally!” Bouchard said after the match. “She’s a great player and I was really aware of when she was coming to net, that she’s an amazing doubles player, so I was trying to pass her.”

The Canadian had never beaten Mattek-Sands in either of their prior two encounters, but one would never know in Hobart, breaking serve six times and losing just eight points behind her first serve.

“I was feeling really solid out there. I just wanted to try to keep moving my feet – the ball can move all over the place, and that could be a bit tricky.”

Bouchard will next play No.8 seed Alison Van Uytvanck, who beat Carina Witthoeft, 6-2, 7-6(5) in her first round match.

Dominika Cibulkova was also solid in Hobart; the Slovak outgutted an in-form Johanna Konta in a topsy-turvy two-set match, 7-6(6), 7-5, to progress into the second round.

“I knew it was going to be a tough first round and I’m happy I handled it the way I did,” she told press after her win.

“I had a really good start, 5-1, and she started to be more aggressive. There were some points I got frustrated in the tiebreak – I was 1-6 down – but I came back. Today, I was really tough mentally; even when I made some mistakes I still stayed in the match.”

The big hitting former Australian Open finalist echoed Bouchard’s sentiments about the sort of windy conditions that could have derailed her big game.

“I was expecting the wind; I’ve been practicing here for three days and every day, it’s been windy. I was just focusing on the game and the things I had to do.”

Cibulkova next plays local wildcard Kimberly Birrell, who unexpectedly overcame Danka Kovinic, 6-4, 6-3.

Elsewhere around the grounds, No.9 seed Mona Barthel eased past Misaki Doi, 6-4, 6-4, to set up a second round encounter with qualifier Naomi Osaka; the 2015 WTA Rising Stars Invitational champion won a thilling three-setter over Jarmila Wolfe, 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 6-4. Lucky loser Veronica Cepede Royg lost in qualifying, but is into the second round in Hobart with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Laura Pous-Tió; she next plays No.7 seed Alizé Cornet, who won on Sunday.

Brengle, seeded No.5, was runner-up in Hobart last year, but an upper respiratory illness forced her to retire against qualifier Kiki Bertens; the Dutchwoman next plays Annika Beck, who defeated Kurumi Nara in straight sets. The only other seed to go out was No.6 seed Barbora Strycova, who fell in straight sets to Johanna Larsson, who’ll next face Margarita Gasparyan for a place in the quarterfinals. Finally, ASB Classic quarterfinalist Nao Hibino won a closely-contested opening set before running away with the match against lucky loser Pauline Parmentier, 7-6(1), 6-1; the Japanese youngster will next have the opportunity to upset No.2 seed Camila Giorgi in the second round.

Tennis players are, by definition, intense individuals. Driven by a single desire at the start of each week, small victories are, at best, swiftly savored in the face of an ever-shifting goal post. Throw in external stressors and self-doubt and indeed, only the strong survive.

Ten days into 2016 and some of that doubt has already begun to surface among the game’s best, a caution that has kept them from completely committing to the very tournaments meant to ready them for the major glory they seek.

Two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Tamira Paszek has had to overcome much adversity, yet remains among the few standing strong to start the season. Once a fixture in the Top 30, Paszek took six months off from the end of 2014 to heal an adductor injury, one that was wreaking havoc on an already injury-addled career.

She refused to return until she was fully fit, starting slowly by playing Challenger tournaments once she was.

“I feel very grateful and I’m very thankful for being healthy again,” she told WTA Insider as she prepared for Australian Open qualifying. “Once you’ve experienced such a low and such a struggle, you start appreciating and enjoying everything a lot more. I’m just trying to be in the moment, have fun out there, and do my best every day that I can.”

Reuniting with former coach Andrei Pavel – a former Top 15 player himself – after playing her home tournament in Linz, Paszek added Iulia Moldovan as her full-time physio in September, and established relationships with two training facilities in her home town of Dornbirn – the Olympic Center and Tennis CAMPUS – all in the hopes of maintaining the physicality needed to unlock her potential and powerful ground game.

“I think I really found my base now. With Andrei, I have a great coach. He helps me a lot, and kind of leaves me my own instincts on the court, which I’ve always loved to deal with by myself.

“I spent the off-season at home in Austria, which was really nice, and had a great fitness preparation the first couple of weeks at the Olympic Centre back home. Last year was all about having the rehab done and starting from zero. Now I was actually starting from a fit base, so I think that’s a really big part of why things are running smoothly at the moment.”

A run to the semifinals of an autumn $100K Challenger as a qualifier set the stage for an even bigger result just one week ago in Auckland, an event where she first made the final four back in 2008, at just 17 years old.

“I’ve loved the tournament since I was a very young player. I think the tournament director does an amazing job at making a great tournament, bringing out all the best players. Auckland is a beautiful city as well; they’re really lovely people there. So I think the whole combination of everything attracts the players a lot.”

Paszek fought through qualifying once more to find a pair of former major champions in Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova – along with 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens – waiting for her in the main draw. Edging out Schiavone and cruising past Kuznetsova, the true test came against Flipkens, who forced her to face the self-doubt that kept her from closing out their quarterfinal encounter in straight sets, and overwhelm the Belgian with definitive intensity in the decider.

“I really had to work for those matches. We had long rallies and tough points; there were a few really tough battles out there, but that’s rewarding after a tough pre-season, knowing you’re healthy and that you’re ready to compete against top players.”

The semifinal finish puts Paszek in position to reach the Top 100 for the first time in nearly three years, but the Austrian will have to make it through another three rounds of qualifying in order to play the first major tournament of the season.

“The good part about playing qualies is that you get a lot of matches, and you get a good rhythm, which is especially important at the beginning of the year. I’ve always been the type of person that tries to see the positive aspect of things, so I’m really looking forward to it.

“We arrived in Melbourne on Sunday, so we had a good day off, recovering from all the tough matches in Auckland. It has been pretty good, a lot of workouts, getting ‘back to the business’ and we’ve had good practices, playing a lot of points and I had a good fitness session yesterday, so I’m getting ready for Thursday.”

After a short winter spent in the Dornbirn mountains, Paszek has one more hill to climb in Melbourne, where she will need every ounce of strength earned over the off-season – and her signature intensity – to take her to the summit of her 2016 goals by returning to the Top 50.

“I’m trying to keep my expectations as low as possible, but I’m ready, I’m happy, and I’m playing well, so anything can happen.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.