Saville secures second-round spot at Brisbane International | 1 January, 2024 | All News | News and Features | News and Events

Daria Saville has made a confident start to her Brisbane International women’s singles campaign, dismissing Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the opening round.

The Aussie wildcard did not lose a service game in her 6-0 6-4 victory at Pat Rafter Arena this evening.

“It was really exciting to be back here playing in Brisbane,” Saville said. “I’ve got a lot of Queenslanders in my team actually. My coach (Jay Gooding) is a Queenslander.”

This is 29-year-old Saville’s first WTA main-draw win on Australian soil since February 2021.

“I’m really happy with the start and I’ve got doubles tomorrow, so another match,” Saville said.

“I’m just excited to be competing again.”

Saville continues to show promising signs in her return from a knee injury which sidelined her for six months during 2023.

Speaking to media earlier this week, the world No.209 declared she is determined to charge back up the WTA Tour singles rankings.

“I really want to come back inside top 20. That was my best ranking,” Saville said. “I think one of my other goals for this year is to become the No.1 Aussie.”

Her immediate focus, however, is now on a second-round meeting with world No.28 Anastasia Potapova, as well as doubles with close friend Daria Kasatkina.

Earlier today, Max Purcell put up a impressive fight against world No.8 Holger Rune in their first-round men’s singles clash.

The 25-year-old from Sydney made an almost flawless start to the match, winning 12 of the first 13 points. However, his top-seeded opponent eventually gained the upper hand to close out a 4-6 6-4 6-2 victory.

Inclement weather in Brisbane today meant no matches were completed on the outside courts at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

This means 13 Australians are scheduled to compete across a jam-packed day three schedule tomorrow.