Boulter stuns American teenager Gauff as Konta gets into a rhythm
Britain’s Johanna Konta and Katie Boulter had strong wins in Melbourne as the countdown to the Australian Open continues.
Fifth seed Konta defeated Bernarda Pera 6-2, 6-3 in 81 minutes in the second round of the Gippsland Trophy at Melbourne Park, the British No 1 crucially saving three break points on her way to victory.
Pera struggled with her serve throughout and double-faulted six times before being broken for match point, while Konta got into a rhythm early as she continues her recovery from a knee problem.
Boulter, ranked down at 371 after a lengthy spell out with a back injury in 2019 and playing at only her second WTA event in close to two years, stunned American teenager Coco Gauff 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The 24-year-old began her season the day before with a dominant victory against 107th-ranked Russian Anna Kalinskaya, but had to battle hard to defeat Gauff, the 14th-seeded 16-year-old double-faulting three times in the final game.
Meanwhile, Heather Watson said she was “not putting a lot ofpressureonmyself”aheadof the Grampians Trophy, which begins today in Melbourne. The world No 58 left hotel quarantine on Friday and told reporters she was “super excited” to begin training on actual courts but was taking a considered approach to the warm-up tournament.
“It’s obviously unusual circumstances, it will be interesting to see how my body is tomorrow, just see how it goes, but I’m not really putting a lot of pressure on myself for this next tournament,” she said.
Dan Evans, seeded eighth in the Murray Open, will begin his campaign in Melbourne in the second round today after he received a bye and will face Portugal’s Pedro Sousa.
Novak Djokovic continued his unbeaten record at the ATP
Cup but Rafael Nadal caused concern by pulling out of Spain's opening contest with a sore back.
The world No 2 had been due to feature in Spain's clash with hosts Australia at Melbourne Park. The decision appeared to be a precaution, with Nadal actively supporting his teammates from the sidelines.
And Spain coped well without the 20-time grand slam champion, wrapping up victory with two singles wins.
Pablo Carreno Busta defeated John Millman 6-2, 6-4 before Roberto Bautista Agut fought back from a set down to see off Alex De Minaur 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic won all eight singles and doubles match in the inaugural edition of the tournament - which pits national teams against each other - last year to propel Serbia to the title.
He picked up where he left off with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Canada's Denis Shapovalov
and then teamed up with Filip Krajinovic to win the deciding doubles after Milos Raonic had beaten Dusan Lajovic.
Rogerfedererhasconfirmed he will make his return to competitive tennis at the ATP 250 tournament in Doha in March after a 13-month absence following knee surgery.
The 20-time grand slam champion has not played a match since losing to Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2020 Australian Open.