Sydney: Defending champion Johanna Konta suffered a reversal of last year’s final when she was bundled out in the first round of the Sydney International tennis tournament by Agnieszka Radwanska, here Tuesday. In another match, Angelique Kerber stunned second seed Venus Williams in a three-set affair.
The Pole had been overpowered in 82 minutes by the Briton in the final last year, but repaid the favour on Ken Rosewall Arena at the Olympic Tennis Centre as she raced to a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Neither player was able to dominate with their service games in the first set, with Konta’s second serve barely a factor as she won just two of her 11 second serve points and Radwanska converted three of her five break opportunities.
Konta again had trouble holding serve in the second set but showed signs of a fightback when she broke while trailing 1-4 in the second, but then could not push on as Radwanska sealed the victory in one hour, 49 minutes.
Meanwhile in a clash between two former World No. 1s, Germany’s Kerber came out stronger against American Venus. After falling a set behind, the German won 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. The searing heat here took a heavy toll on Venus as the match progressed and she completely faded away in the third set.
In the first two sets, both players found it difficult to hold serves. Kerber, initially was leading 5-3, but then lost serve twice in succession to lose it. In the second set, the German had a better of the break exchanges and won it to restore parity in the match. The third set saw Kerber jumping to a 5-0 lead, and even though Venus saved three match points in the seventh game, it was not enough for her to make a comeback.
Other results:
Samantha Stosur bt Caroline Witthoeft 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Barbora Strycova bt Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-1.
Agencies
