Top USA stars Venus, Stephens out in first round
MELBOURNE: Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens were upset early and the bleak opening day for Americans continued at the Australian Open with the women losing their first eight matches and two of the highest-ranked U.S. men joining them as first-round casualties.
In her first match at Rod Laver Arena since losing last year’s final to her sister, Serena, Venus Williams lost her opener to Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-5 and ensured the title won’t stay in the family.
Serena Williams hasn’t played a Grand Slam tournament since last year’s final because of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
“I don’t think I played a bad match. She just played above and beyond,” said Venus Williams, who was playing her 18th Australian Open. “I just have to give her credit for that.
“I didn’t play so bad, I wasn’t missing every shot. Just didn’t work out.”
U.S. Open champion Stephens was the first American to fall, losing 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to No. 34-ranked Zhang Shuai. She was followed by Williams and No. 10-seeded Coco Vandeweghe, a semifinalist here and at the U.S. Open last year, who was feeling sick and frustrated in 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Timea Babos.
Cici Bellis, Sofia Kenin - who lost to No. 12 Julia Goerges, now on a 15-match winning streak Alison Riske, Taylor Townsend and Jennifer Brady all lost before Nicole Gibbs beat Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-1 to end the streak of eight losses for the U.S. women.
No. 8-seeded Jack Sock, the highest ranked of the American men, lost 6-1, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 to Yuichi Sugita and his compatriot John Isner, seeded 16th, lost in four sets to Australian Matt Ebden.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov opened with routine wins, as did secondseeded Caroline Wozniacki and No. 4 Elina Svitolina on the women’s side.
FIRST LOSS
For fifth-seeded Venus, it was a first loss in five career meetings with Bencic, who lost to Serena in the first round last year.
Bencic, who was born a couple of months after the last time there was no Williams in the second round at the Australian Open (1997), hit 32 winners, had 12 unforced errors and converted five of 11 break-point chances. Williams had 26 unforced errors and 22 winners.
Bencic credited playing with Roger Federer at the Hopman Cup - where they teamed up to win for Switzerland - with helping her recent improvement. She also had a new attitude against Williams, and she had Federer’s parents in the crowd for support.
“I was thinking a lot about the last matches. For the first matches, I think I had a little bit too much respect, played a little bit careful and safe,” Bencic said. “This time I really tried to come out and hit it big.”