Australian Open: Muguruza and Swiatek safely through, Kvitova eliminated
Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek have confidently reached the second round at the Australian Open. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has had to bury her dream of another Grand Slam triumph.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jan 18, 2022, 04:28 am
The fans in the Rod Laver Arena got no surprise at the beginning of the second day of the tournament: Both Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek qualified for the second round without much effort. Muguruza, seeded in third place, initially prevailed against Claude Burel 6: 3 and 6: 4, on Thursday the 28-year-old is waiting for the next Frenchwoman in Alize Cornet.
Swiatek made her first appearance at this year's Australian Open even more confidently: the French Open winner of 2020 beat Harriet Dart 6: 3 and 6: 0 after a hard-fought start and a 1: 3 deficit in the first set. She now meets Rebecca Peterson, who only conceded five games to local hero Daria Saville.
On the other hand, things went better for Samantha Stosur, who postponed the end of her individual career by at least 48 hours with a 6.7 (5), 6: 3 and 6: 3 win over Robin Anderson. The Australian will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Anna Bondar in round two.
However, there was a surprise in the John Cain Arena. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost 6-2 and 6-2 to Sorana Cirstea. Sixth seeded Anett Kontaveit then had an easy time with Katerina Siniakova in a 6:2 and 6:3 win.
To the women's individual tableau
laver arena