BRILLIANT BIRRELL
COAST STAR’S FIRST-UP WIN:
GOLD Coaster Kimberly Birrell was among a raft of Aussie women who made the most of their Australian Open wildcards yesterday, racking up some of their most significant wins.
Birrell, Zoe Hives and Astra Sharma all played their way into the second round, although Sharma’s achievement came at the expense of Queenslander Priscilla Hon.
Hives defied her ranking of No.225 to upstage American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 6-2 before Birrell joined her in the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Spanish qualifier Paula Badosa Gibert.
Hives, a 22-year-old from Ballarat making her Grand Slam main draw debut, earned a crack at French 19th seed Carolina Garcia tomorrow, while Birrell will play Croatian Donna Vekic.
Hailing from the same Southport tennis centre that produced Sam Stosur and Bernard Tomic, Birrell is enjoying a breakout summer.
After winning last month’s Open wildcard playoff at Melbourne Park, the 20-year-old stunned world No.10 Daria Kasatkina at the Brisbane International before also reaching the second round last week in Sydney.
Like Hives, Birrell can look forward to a nice rankings rise following their big breakthroughs, not to mention a payday of at least $85,000.
WA qualifier Sharma outlasted Hon 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in a gruelling all-Australian affair.
“In one way it’s good, because one person’s definitely getting through,” Sharma said of the match-up. “On the other hand, you don’t really want to play your friends first round of a Slam.”
Hon needed medical assistance after the two-hourand-nine-minute encounter played in oppressive heat.