Returning Hewitt wins doubles opener at Estoril

2nd-seeded Petra Kvitova makes 2nd round of Prague Open

ESTORIL, Portugal, May 1, (AFP): Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt combined perfectly with teenage talent Alex de Minaur on Tuesday as the one-off doubles pairing knocked the second seeds out in the opening round at the Estoril Open.

The ad-hoc Australian combination overwhelmed South African Raven Klaasen and New Zealand’s Michael Venus, with the seeds exiting 6-4, 6-4 in 66 minutes on the clay.

Venus won the doubles title here a year ago alongside Ryan Harrison, with whom he also claimed the 2017 French Open title. But two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt, 37, made a winning start to the week alongside his 19-year-old partner.

In Prague, second-seeded Petra Kvitova eased past fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova 6-1, 6-3 Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Prague

Hewitt

Open.

The 10th-ranked Kvitova, who is playing the Prague Open for the first time, will next face unseeded Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva.

Third-seeded Daria Kasatkina was eliminated 7-6 (6), 6-3 by Italian Jasmine Paolini while fifth-seeded Czech Barbora Strycova lost to another Italian, Camila Giorgi, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. Sixth-seeded Shuai Zhang of China made the second round after a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.

Seventh-seeded Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania also advanced with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia while ninth-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus was upset by Czech Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Antonia Lottner of Germany and Czech Denisa Allertova also progressed. American Bernarda Pera was knocked out by Romania’s qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Kang Wi Hun of North Korea eyes the ball as he returns to Eric Jouti of Brazil during their Group B match Brazil vs North Korea at the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2018 at Halmstad Arena in Halmstad, Sweden on May 1. (AFP)