2008 Australian Open Champion Maria Sharpova strolls easily into the Next round with a straight sets win over Croatian Petra Martic 6-4,6-1.
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard stormed into the next round of the Australian Open with a straight set win over German Anna-Lenna Friedsam 6-2,6-4.
The Canadian will next meet KiKi Bertens of the Netherlands who powered her way past Australian Daria Gavrilova.
In other tennis games, Simona Halep defeated Kari Knapp 6-3,6-2,while 5th seed Ana Ivanovic,Angelique Kerber(9),Anastasia Pavlyuhenkova,Svetlana kuznetsova,Carla Suarez Navarro(17), Lucie Safarova(16), Sabine Lisicki(28),Belinda Bencic(32) were first round Casualties.
Other notable players that progressed into the next round include Ekaterina Makarova(10),Sara Errani(14),Peng Shuai(21),Karolina Pilskova(22).
In the Men’s Rafael Nadal didn’t show any sign of rustiness as he defeated Russian Veteran Mikhail Youzhny.
The 14 time major winner broke Youzhny twice in each set,hitting 37 winners and fending off the only break point serve he faced.
Swiss master Roger Federer defeated Lu Yhen Hsun of Taiwan in straight sets 6-4,6-2,7-5.
Sixth seed Andy Murray also began his quest on a high with a 6-3,6-4,7-6(3) win over Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri.
Other First round winners include Tomas Berdych,Grigor Dimitrov,Kevin Anderson and David Goffin,Philip Kohlschreiber,Jeremy Chardy,Richard Gasquet and Martin Kilzan.
TENNIS TITBITS
* Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki says her decision to run the New York marathon has revitalised her career and boosted her hopes of winning a Grand Slam title.
* Tennis “Bad Boy” Bernard Tomic has said he won’t take any alcohol until he wins a Grand slam title. Bernard who was touted as the next best thing in Australia has now lost his place to Nick Krygios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
* Australian Open defending Champion Li Na announced she was pregnant on Monday in front of the 15,000 cheering fans at the Australian Open.
TENNIS TITBITS NIGERIA,
* As part of its contributions to develop tennis in the country,the International Tennis Academy has sent four Nigerians to the Clarke Francis Academy in Dubai to learn and Develop their tricks in tennis coaching.
newfanzone 