(Tennis news) Day 3 and 4 of Adelaide International 1 saw three top 10 players exit early as Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek are the only players left from the top 10. Barty is also playing the doubles event alongside Stormy Sanders.
Victoria Azarenka beat Paula Badosa as the Spaniard became the highest ranked player to exit the event. Azarenka played a well controlled game as she had more winners and less unforced errors than Badosa who had defeated her in the final of the Indian Wells last year. The former world number 1 did not face a break point in the second set and she took the last three games to win the match. Azarenka defeated Baodosa 6-3, 6-2.
"Honestly, it's been the most chaotic pre-season I've ever had. I was actually really nervous before the tournament, I felt really unprepared. For me to come out here and produce this type of tennis really makes me proud of the competitor I am" said Azarenka.
Barty had to toil in the court for two hours as she was up against Cori Gauff. The first set saw Gauff serving well and only gave away one breakpoint while winning 4 of them. In the second set, Barty was defending points under pressure as Gauff lost 5 of the 6 breaks which gave the lead to Barty. The world number 1 only needed to break Gauff twice as she took the second set and the last set drained the teenager’s energy. Barty defeated Gauff 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
World number 100 Kaja Juvan recorded the biggest win of her career when she defeated world number 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Juvan was 0-2 behind in the first set and was a point away from losing the set but won 2 consecutive points to take the set. Sabalenka served 7 double faults in the first set and it became worse as she went on to serve 11 more in the next set which resulted in Juvan taking 5 games on the roll for a first top 10 win in her career. Juvan defeated 7-6(8-6), 6-1.
"I really enjoyed the first set. I love when matches get tight, when it's competitive and when it's a really tight fight. I was feeling a little bit sorry at some points because I knew she's not doing the best with the serve and we all know how that feels at one point," Juvan said.
Shelby Rogers repeated her Wimbledon win against Maria Sakkari as Sakkari became the third top 10 player to exit the event. Rogers and Sakkari were having a go at each other in the first set but in the second set there was not much left as Sakkari dominated to level the score. In the final set, two breaks for Rogers made sure she was ahead of Sakkari in the final lap to reach the quarterfinals. Rogers defeated Sakkari 7-6(8-6), 2-6, 6-4.
Also read: France suffers second consecutive defeat in ATP Cup
