Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez and France’s Elsa Jacquemot pulled off upsets as the Australian Open got underway on Sunday in Melbourne.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus avoided any hint of a first-round upset, handling France’s Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1. Sabalenka won 79% (23 of 29) of her first serve points and was 4 of 10 on break-point opportunities. Her 20-year-old opponent, ranked No. 118 in the world, was 1 of 4 on break points.
Sabalenka, 27, had a big edge in winners (23-9), though one more unforced error (20-19).
A two-time winner of the Open, Sabalanka was denied a three-peat last season by American Madison Keys, who beat Sabalenka in three sets in the final. Keys does not begin her tournament until Tuesday.
Sonmez knocked off No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Sonmez, a 23-year-old ranked No. 112 in the world, rallied from down 3-0 in the deciding set to beat her Russian opponent.
Alexandrova had more aces (10-4) as well as double faults (7-5). She converted 7 of 14 on break-point opportunities, while Sonmez was 8 of 17 in the match lasting two hours, 37 minutes.
Each player had difficulty holding leads, as Alexandrova was up 5-2 in the first set, and Sonmez was ahead 3-1 in the second set. In the third set, Sonmez won six of the final seven games after converting her fourth match point.
Sonmez became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at the Australian Open after becoming the second to reach the main draw. Cagla Buyukakcay lost in the first round in 2017 in her only main-draw appearance.
Ruse swept 26th-seeded Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-4, 7-5.
After failing to convert three break points in the third game of the opening set, Ruse got it done on her next opportunity, breaking Yastremska to take a 3-2 lead. After giving service right back the next game, Ruse broke Yastremska again for a 5-4 lead before holding serve to put the set away.
Ruse nearly suffered a devastating collapse the following set, however, jumping out to leads of 4-0 and 5-1 before blowing four match points, getting broken twice, and facing Yastremska’s serve with the match at 5-5. But the 28-year-old Ruse, ranked 79th in the world, held serve then broke the 27th-ranked Yastremska one last time to win the match.
Neither player dominated with her serve, with Ruse collecting the match’s only ace and the two combining for 11 double faults.
Jacquemot ousted No. 20 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) in the first triple-tiebreak match at the Australian Open in the Open Era. Jacquemot, ranked No. 60, won the match lasting three hours and 31 minutes for her first career win over a top-20 opponent.
Kostyuk undermined her 67 winners with 68 unforced errors. Jacquemot had 37 winners and 48 unforced errors.
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, ranked No. 7 in the world and the highest-seeded player in action in Sunday’s early play, had little trouble with Russian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, winning 6-1, 6-2. Twelfth-seeded and 12th-ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine swept Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-1.
Other early Sunday winners included American Caty McNally, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume, and Australian Talia Gibson, who beat Russian Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3 in front of her home crowd.
–Field Level Media
