U.S. women stumble at Australian Open
Eleven of 13 ousted so far in first round
MELBOURNE, Australia — U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was first to go, followed quickly by last year’s Australian Open runner-up, Venus Williams.
Coco Vandeweghe went out next as things really started to go crazy for the U.S. women, who eventually lost nine out of 10 first-round matches on a bleak opening day of the Australian Open.
Four months after American women filled all four semifinal spots at the U.S. Open — for the first time in 36 years — three of them are out of contention at the next Grand Slam.
Monday’s major letdown was compounded when eighth-seeded Jack Sock and No. 16 John Isner joined the procession of U.S. first-round losers.
In her first match at Rod Laver Arena since a vintage run in 2017 ended in a championship loss to sister Serena, Venus Williams lost her opener to Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-5 to ensure the title won’t stay in the family.
Serena Williams hasn’t played a Grand Slam tournament since winning her 23rd major in Australia last year because of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
Fifth-seeded Venus was considered a serious contender in her 77th major to break a Grand Slam title drought dating back to 2008.
Stephens was the first American to falter, losing 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to No. 34-ranked Zhang Shuai to extend her losing streak since the U.S. Open to eight matches.
“Tennis is definitely a roller coaster,” said the 13th-seeded Stephens, who was broken while serving for the match in the second set. “But I have learned to just not panic. It will be OK.”
It wasn’t OK for the 10th-seeded Vandeweghe, a semifinalist in Melbourne and at the U.S. Open last year, who was feeling sick and frustrated in a 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Timea Babos.
She yelled an obscenity late in the second set, and then got a time violation for waiting too long for a banana to be brought to the court between sets, earning a point penalty.
“I was just trying to wait for what Iaskedfortocomeandthechair umpire deemed that it wasn’t a good enough reason,” she said.
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.
Irina Falconi lost 6-1, 6-1 to No. 23-seeded Daria Gavrilova in the night match, making it 1 for 9.
Sock, the highest ranked of the American men, lost 6-1, 7-6 (4),
5-7, 6-3 to Yuichi Sugita, while Isner lost to Australian journeyman Matt Ebden and qualifier Kevin King lost to No. 15 Jo-wilfried Tsonga.
Ryan Harrison beat Dudi Sela in a sometimes heated five-setter in front of a partisan crowd and qualifier Mackenzie Mcdonald also bucked the trend for the Americans.
The first half of Day 2 wasn’t much better for the U.S., with Madison Brengle falling 6-3, 6-1 to No. 9 Johanna Konta, Kristie Haerim losing to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-5, and Christina Mchale going out with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Bernarda Pera overcame a food allergy incident to beat Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-2 to give the American women one win in Tuesday’s early play.
In early Tuesday play on the men’s, American Sam Querrey advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.