Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Grand Slam champions abound on Day 3 of the Australian Open, with two of 2016’s three major winners – World No.1 Angelique Kerber and French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza – hoping to advance into the third round in Melbourne. We preview all the day’s matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Wednesday, Second Round

[13] Venus Williams (USA #17) vs Stefanie Voegele (SUI #112)
Head-to-head: Venus leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Voegele won her first Grand Slam main draw match since the 2015 Australian Open on Monday (d. Kurumi Nara)

The former World No.1 was given all she could handle in a tough first round against Kateryna Kozlova, and was feeling confident after knocking out her younger opponent in straight sets.

“Girl, I don’t know,” she joked with Sam Smith during the on-court interview. “I know how to play tennis.”

She certainly proved that after holding off the Ukrainian youngster, and will try to show more of that level against Voegele, a former World No.42 who is inching closer towards the Top 100 after over two years in the wildnerness.

Venus and Voegele will open play on Rod Laver Arena, and the American will likely look to keep rallies short as the heat could possibly become a factor should the match run long.

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs Carina Witthoeft (GER #89)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Kerber is trying to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career.

Angelique Kerber enjoyed a strong finish to the first match in her Australian Open title defense on Monday, edging past Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

“I was trying just to going for it in the third set, just trying to play my game,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I think that was the key for the match today.”

In the second round she takes on countrywoman Carina Witthoeft, whom she played twice at Wimbledon in the last two years. Their most recent encounter featured a first-set tie-break, the only set in which Witthoeft won more than one game.

Either way, Kerber won’t be taking too much into their next match.

“It’s the second round. I’m not looking too much about my opponents. I think she played a good match here. I know her very well; I think it will be a good match.

“But for me it’s important to go out there playing my match again, not thinking too much about my opponent.”

[7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7) vs Samantha Crawford (USA #162)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Muguruza shook off injury concerns in her first-round win against Marina Erakovic

The reigning French Open champion may not be at 100%, but has nonetheless channeled those niggling injuries into a glowing start to 2017, reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International and sweeping aside Marina Erakovic in her first match in Melbourne.

“I was happy to win the first set, and then I just felt a little bit uncomfortable,” she said of her state of mind on Margaret Court Arena. “I just thought, take some precaution because of what happened in Brisbane. I took a medical timeout and became a little bit unfocused on the court. It took me a couple of games to get into the match again.”

Once she did, she didn’t let go, winning the final five games of the match, and blamed typical first-round jitters on compounding her physical concerns.

“I think this match was definitely more mental in certain situations, so I’m pretty pleased. I had to really forget about that and try to bring the best I had there.”

Muguruza next faces young American Samantha Crawford, who burst onto the scene last year when she herself reached the semifinals in Brisbane. Her own injuries have stunted her progress since, but the 2012 US Open junior champion is a clean ballstriker when playing her best.

Around the grounds…
No.11 seed Elina Svitolina opens play on Margaret Court Arena against Julia Boserup, followed by No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova’s second round match against Aussie qualifier Jaimee Fourlis.

Women’s doubles also gets underway on Wednesday, with top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic taking on Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh. Venus and Serena also debut as the No.15, and all four women in the hunt for No.1 are in action, including Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Elena Vesnina, with partners Lucie Safarova and Ekaterina Makarova, respectively.

Seed exodus: And on Day 4, the seeds began to fall en masse. Eight of the Top 10 women remain in the draw but French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza bowed out to Jana Cepelova in straight sets and No.7 seed Belinda Bencic was forced to retire with a left wrist injury to Julia Boserup. Bencic said she began to feel pain in her wrist a few days ago.

The seeds to fall on Thursday included Karolina Pliskova, Johanna Konta, Sam Stosur, Elina Svitolina, Sara Errani, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic, and Andrea Petkovic.

Venus Williams’ rallying cry for equality: When Thursday’s order of play came out on Wednesday night, social media was a’Twitter with the sight of five-time Wimbledon champion and No.8 seed Venus Williams on Court 18. Don’t let the number fool you. Court 18 is arguably the No.5 court at the All England Club. But was it disrespectful to put such a great champion there instead of one of the bigger show courts?

The question was put to Venus after her three-set win over Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari, and she made it clear that she’s not about special treatment. She’s about equality.

“I wasn’t unhappy to play on Court 18,” Venus said. “I just want equality for men’s and women’s matches. That’s what I’m unhappy about. I have no problem where I play. I’ll play on the practice courts if I need to. I have no problem with that.”

Venus said this wasn’t about whether she should be bumping other women off the bigger courts. The question is whether the men were ever put in a similar situation.

Q. Could you imagine a five time male champion being on an outside court?
VENUS WILLIAMS: I haven’t seen that in the scheduling yet (smiling).

“It’s not the ideal schedule for the women,” Venus continued, referring to the fact that men still hold a majority of the slots on Centre Court and No.1 Court. “We’d like to see equal amount of matches. We don’t want more, just the same amount, that’s all.

“I’m sure that the WTA supervisors have done their best to try to make the schedule equal. But also the All England Club has to have a culture where they want to have equality, as well. They need to want to pursue that. I would love to see where we don’t have to talk about this any more in the press conference.”

Venus plays her third round match against No.29 seed Daria Kasatkina on No.1 Court on Friday.

Jana Cepelova cements her big match reputation: Two years ago it was beating Serena Williams in straight sets at the Volvo Car Open en route to the biggest final of her career. Last year, here at Wimbledon, she ousted Simona Halep in the first round. And on Thursday, Jana Cepelova stunned No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round.

“I like to play against biggest stars, of course, against the champions,” Cepelova said. “And I try to keep winning against these champions player.”

The 23-year-old from Slovakia had four good wins under her belt before playing Muguruza, having come through qualifying and winning her first round match. A former Top 50 player, she is current ranked at No.124. Last year she came down with pneumonia right before the Australian Open and had to spend six days in the hospital. It took her more months to fully recover but she hopes Thursday’s win will be a springboard for a return to the Top 100.

“It’s tough because if I’m in the rankings around 120, you have small points and it’s not easy to be back,” she said. Her next challenge will be Lucie Safarova, who beat Samantha Crawford in straight sets.

Garbiñe Muguruza needs some rest: One of the biggest challenges to completing the so-called Channel Slam is the emotional balance of celebrating your win in Paris while being ready to fight in London. Muguruza did not have much of a break after Paris and that may have been her undoing on Thursday.

“Well, I think my energy was missing a little bit today,” Muguruza said. “From yesterday I felt already a little bit tired, I think is the best word. And today during the match, and after the match, I’m like, It’s a tough day today. I feel empty a little bit, and I start to be sick.

“But I think it was a little bit of combination. I think she played great, with no fear. She was trying a lot of stuff that was working. My energy was not really there. I was trying, but didn’t work at all.

“I think I will have to rest more, not keep practicing the same hard to prepare another Grand Slam because it’s very fast. I think I will have to take more careful those days where you have to rest. Even though you want to play, I don’t want to miss a day, but sometimes it’s better to rest because it’s going to make you play better. You don’t think, like, practicing 10 hours a day is going to make you play better after you don’t have energy.”

Eugenie Bouchard puts on a performance: The 2014 finalist beat No.16 seed Johanna Konta 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 to move into the third round. “I think it’s my best performance of 2016,” Bouchard said afterwards. Next up is a tough match against Dominika Cibulkova. The Canadian has never lost to Cibulkova, but both their matches went the distance, including last summer’s third round at the US Open.

Agnieszka Radwanska’s great escape: The No.3 seed avoided the rash of seeds bowing out, saving three match points to beat Ana Konjuh 6-2, 4-6, 9-7. Konjuh took an ugly spill at 7-7 in the third set after she chased down a short ball and missed, only to step on the ball and twist her right ankle. It was incredibly bad luck for Konjuh, who served for the match twice and was playing the best match of her young career.

Julia Boserup’s Grand Slam debut: The 24-year-old American is into the third round after Bencic retired. The California native, ranked No.225, is playing in her first major and she’ll play Elena Vesnina for a spot in the second week. And Boserup is keeping the Danish press busy. Her parents are Danish and she still has family in Copenhagen, and much to the delight of reporters she’s fluent in Danish. Click here for an Insider profile on Boserup.

Karolina Pliskova’s Grand Slam struggles continue: Seemingly in form after making the final of the Aegon International, the World No.17 has still yet to make the fourth round of a major.

That’s just stats: The scoreline in the Bouchard-Konta match was deceptive, especially in the first two sets. The games repeatedly went to 30 or deuce, and it was so intense that Bouchard completely lost track of things.

Q. Did it feel strange to have that many break points in the second set yet lose it 6-1?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I had a lot of break points in the second set?
Q. Eight.
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Really? Yeah. (Laughter.) Well, I didn’t know that. Thank you. Now that you tell me, yeah, that’s not an ideal statistic.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.