AUSTRALIAN OPEN

MATCH OF THE DAY:  [CR1] Serena Williams (USA) vs. [CR35] Camila Giorgi (ITA)

It was not Williams’ best performance; however, considering that she has not played much since the US Open and has an injured knee, she will take the 6-4, 7-5 win.  Nevertheless, she will have to sharpen up her game quickly if she wants to defend her title.  She looks heavier, which combined with the sore knee, did not help her movement.  Giorgi put up a valiant effort, but once again, Williams’ serve came to her rescue when she desperately needed it.  Serving to go up 5-1 in the first, she stumbled, it could have been costly; yet, Williams has a way of finding that next gear.  The second set was a bit more competitive from Giorgi and Williams lost the rhythm on her ground strokes a bit.  She went for too many outright winners, which may indicate that her knee is really a concern. She ended the match very positively though, closing it out very emphatically with crisp service aces.

EARLY CASUALTIES AMONGST THE SEEDS:

[16] Caroline Wozniacki lost to Yulia Putintseva….6-1, 6-7(3), 4-6

[17] Sara Errani  lost to Margarita Gasparyan….6-1, 5-7, 1-6

[17] Benoit Paire lost to Noah Rubin…. 6-7(4), 6-7(6), 6-7(5)

[22] Andrea Petkovic lost to Elizaveta Kulichkova….5-7, 4-6

[22] Ivo Karlovic  lost to Federico Delbonis….6-7(4), 4-6, 1-2 RET

[24] Sloane Stephens lost to Qiang Wang….3-6, 3-6

[25] Samantha Stosur lost to Kristyna Pliskova…..4-6, 6-7(6)

[26] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost to Lauren Davis….6-1, 3-6, 4-6

[27] Anna Karolina Schmiedlova lost to Daria Kasatkina….3-6, 3-6

AMERICAN WINNERS:

Austin Krajicek def. Di Wu 6-4, 6-1, 6-3

Nicole Gibbs def. Klara Koukalova 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

Irina Falconi def. Anna Tatishvili 6-4, 3-6, 8-6. Unfortunately one American had to lose.

Denis Kudla def. Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-1, RET

Noah Rubin upset Benoit Paire in three thrilling tiebreak sets.

Lauren Davis fought back after dropping the first set.