Adelaide
World number nine Daria Kasatkina advanced to the second round of the Adelaide International on Monday, but Paris Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic crashed out to her third straight defeat of the season.
Russian Kasatkina, finalist in the last two editions of the Australian Open preparation, beat Australian Olivia Gadecki five times to advance 6-2, 6-3.
“I think Adelaide is the tournament I have played the most in my career,” said the 27-year-old, who made six WTA finals last year and won two titles.
“It’s the start of the season, I’m happy to be back.
“My tactic today was to turn around, win as many points as possible and play aggressively when I had the chance.”
The match featured four breaks of serve in the first five games as third seed Kasatkina returned to center court at Memorial Drive.
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She will next face Emerson Jones, last year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon junior runner-up, a wildcard who scored an impressive 6-4, 6-0 victory over China’s Wang Xinyu.
FILE PHOTO: Donna Vekic reacts after losing a point against Coco Gauff during their United Cup tennis match in Perth, Australia, Tuesday December 31, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
FILE PHOTO: Donna Vekic reacts after losing a point against Coco Gauff during their United Cup tennis match in Perth, Australia, Tuesday December 31, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
Croatian Vekic, semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year, saw her preparation for the Australian Open go from bad to worse with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
The world number 19 was also beaten in two group matches in Perth during the United Cup.
The victory propelled Putintseva into a second-round clash against either American fourth seed Danielle Collins or Tunisian wildcard Ons Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist.
“Today I played very well, I was focused throughout the match,” Putintseva said.
“We’ve played so much and we know each other’s games well. There are no secrets in the field.
In other matches, US Open 2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez was eliminated by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
The first Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday in Melbourne.
