Misc Tennis

Barbora Krejcikova, Beatriz Haddad Maia ousted in Adelaide 1st round

Barbora Krejcikova, Beatriz Haddad Maia ousted in Adelaide 1st round

ADELAIDE, Australia — Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and Beatriz Haddad Maia lost their first-round matches Monday at the Adelaide International.

Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya beat 2021 Roland Garros winner and No. 4-seeded Krejcikova 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Kalinskaya had three match points on Krejcikova’s serve when leading 6-5 in the deciding set and converted the third for the win.

Former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova breezed through qualifying and beat fifth-seeded Haddad Maia 6-3, 6-4.

The joint WTA-ATP tournament is the biggest tune-up event this week for the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday at Melbourne Park.

In another first-round Adelaide result, Ana Bogdan beat Katie Boulter, who represented Britain at last week’s United Cup tournament, 6-3, 6-4.

Elena Rybakina, who won Sunday’s Brisbane International, and Jessica Pegula are the top women’s seeds. Neither played Monday.

Tommy Paul is the top-seeded player in the ATP portion of the tournament. In a first-round result Monday, Jack Draper beat fifth-seeded Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-3.

MERTENS ADVANCES AT HOBART

At the Hobart International WTA tournament, top-seeded Elise Mertens, who won the tournament in 2017 and 2018, beat 2022 Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3.

“(Collins is) definitely a tough opponent in the first round. She can definitely strike the ball very hard,” Mertens said. “The weather was in my advantage, a little bit more wind.”

The Belgian player next faces Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, who beat fellow qualifier Camila Osorio 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – TENNIS…