Kerber on a roll in Australia
Angelique Kerber won her first title since the 2016 U.S. Open and extended her winning streak to nine matches with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ashleigh Barty in the Sydney International final.
The 2016 Australian Open champion and former No. 1-ranked Kerber won four singles matches at the Hopman Cup at Perth last week, helping Germany reach the final against Switzerland, and followed up with five wins at Sydney.
In a momentumboosting buildup to the Australian Open, which starts Monday, Kerber had wins over Lucie Safarova, No. 2-seeded Venus Williams, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova and Camila Giorgi before beating Barty to claim her 11th career title. In other news: • Bernard Tomic’s troubles have continued into 2018 with a loss in the last round of qualifying for the Australian Open. Tomic lost 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to Lorenzo Sonego in the third round of qualifying for the main draw of the season’s first major. It will be the first time in 10 years that Tomic will miss his national championship, where he has a 17-9 winloss record.