Eye on bigger goals, Nadal readies for Brisbane debut
THE 30YEAROLD SPANIARD IS PLAYING IN BRISBANE FOR THE FIRST TIME, REPLACING ROGER FEDERER AS THE TOURNAMENT’S MALE DRAW CARD
BRISBANE: Rafael Nadal cuddled a koala on the banks of the river, something that has become a customary photo opportunity for celebrity players on debut at the Brisbane International.
The 14-time major winner has altered his preparation for the Australian Open, hoping a change of venues for the warm-up tournaments will bring a change of luck at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament after a shocking firstround exit in 2016.
Nadal kicked off his season with a win in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on New Year’s Eve, then headed directly to Australia.
“I played well in Abu Dhabi ... I played three good matches, and that’s important for me,” Nadal said Monday after the brief meetand-greet with a local politician and a native marsupial. “I really hope the good matches I played in Abu Dhabi helps me for here.”
The 30-year-old Spaniard is playing in Brisbane for the first time, replacing Roger Federer as the tournament’s male draw card. He has a tricky opener against Alexandr Dolgopolov and, if he gets through that, a potential quarterfinal against top-seeded Milos Raonic, the defending champion. BEIJING : Top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland scraped a hardfought 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5 victory against lower-ranked Ying-Ying Duan at the WTA Shenzhen Open on Monday to advance to the second round.
Radwanska, ranked third in the world, took nearly two and a half hours to overcome a stiff challenge from her 103rd-ranked Chinese opponent, winning fewer of her first service points but slamming down seven aces to Duan’s four.
The Pole saved three match points in the third set on her way to claiming victory.
Second seed Simona Halep of Romania triumphed in a threeset thriller 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, formerly the world’s top-ranked female player.
Halep bounced back after a second-set loss to win a place in the second round against Katerina Siniakova, who defeated hometown favourite Shuai Peng 6-3, 7-5.
Third seed Johanna Konta of Britain made a strong start to the tournament with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 performance over Caga Buyukakcay, taking less than an hour to defeat her Turkish opponent. BRISBANE: French Open champion Garbine Muguruza finished off a first-round match for the first time at the Brisbane International, and extended Sam Stosur’s unhappy run in the process with a 7-5, 6-7 (2), 7-5 win on Monday. The fourth-seeded Muguruza saved three set points in the first and rallied from a break down in the third to finish off in 2 hours, 45 minutes on a humid afternoon. AUCKLAND: Rain disrupted the first day of the WTA Auckland Classic on Monday with only two matches completed, delaying the start of top-seed Serena Williams’s campaign.
Williams was forced to wait for nearly three hours for her first-round match against Pauline Parmentier of France and other night matches were postponed because of persistent rain