Venus, other Americans out
MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams was knocked out of the Australian Open on Monday, one of seven American women eliminated on opening day. Also gone: U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens (the 13th seed) and 10th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe.
The 6-3, 7-5 loss for Williams was her first in five career meetings with Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who lost to Serena Williams in the first round here last year.
The turning point in the match came late in the first set when play was stopped to allow the roof to be closed because of rain. After already saving five break points at 4-3, Bencic returned from an almost 30-minute suspension to win six consecutive points and the first set.
Bencic, 20, broke Williams’ serve in the final game of the match, winning the last four points. She clinched it when Williams, who had slipped on the far side of the court, couldn’t get to a ball in the open corner.
Williams lost last year’s final at Melbourne Park to younger sibling Serena, who clinched an Open era-record 23rd major but hasn’t played a Grand Slam tournament since because of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
Venus Williams’ exit followed Stephens’ 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 loss to Zhang Shuai. Stephens served for the match in the 10th game of the second set but dropped her serve. She was outplayed in the tiebreaker and in the third set.
Stephens hasn’t won a tourlevel match since her Grand Slam breakthrough triumph at the U.S. Open last year, a losing streak of eight matches.
Vandeweghe lost to Timea Babos 7-6 (4), 6-2 a year after upsetting defending champion Angelique Kerber on the way to her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Vandeweghe converted only one of 10 break points in the match and hit 28 unforced errors to 18 for her opponent. She was assessed a code violation for taking too much time to return to the court — she was eating a banana. Then she screamed an obscenity while trailing 5-1 in the second set.
Four other Americans were ousted: Sofia Kenin fell to 12thseeded Julia Goerges, who extended her winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-4, 6-4 win; No. 19 Magdalena Rybarikova beat Taylor Townsend 6-0, 7-5; Atherton’s CiCi Bellis, the WTA’s Newcomer of the Year, lost to No. 30 Kiki Bertens 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2; and Alison Riske was defeated 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 by Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko, 20, started with a 6-1, 6-4 win over 37-year-old Francesca Schiavone.
U.S. Open finalist Kevin Anderson became the first seed to lose on the men’s side. The 11th seed fell to Kyle Edmund 6-7 (4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
American Ryan Harrison was among the men advancing, beating Dudi Sela in five sets to set up a match a gainst No. 10 Pablo Carreño Busta.
Among other seeded players falling: No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova, a 2014 Australian Open finalist who lost to Kaia Kanepi, and No. 31 Ekaterina Makarova, who lost 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 to Irina-Camelia Begu.