MELBOURNE: Filipino Canadian Leylah Fernandez bucked a slow start to beat Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-2 to advance to the second round of the 2024 Australian Open on Sunday.
Fernandez, who represents Canada, will face American Alycia Parks who defeated qualifier Daria Snigur of Ukraine 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner fired up his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title with a hard-fought straight-sets victory over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the men’s division.
It sparked expectations that it is only a matter of time before he wins a major and he came through a tough encounter at Melbourne Park to open his 2024 account, beating the 59th-ranked Dutchman 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.
“My first match of the season and it means a lot to start off with a win,” said Sinner, who reached his first Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year.
“The tournament is one where I would like to play as good as possible and hopefully I can show some more in the next round.
“Physically I feel good in good shape, the first round is never easy so I can be happy with today.”
It was Sinner’s first competitive match of the year after he opted against a warm-up tournament but he showed few signs of rust, breaking Van de Zandschulp’s opening service game and powering through the first set in 46 minutes.
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