SYDNEY — US Open champion Sloane Stephens’ preparations for the Australian Open hit a speed bump Monday when she was bundled out of the Sydney International first round by Italy’s Camila Giorgi.
Stephens, who has not played since the Fed Cup final in November, looked rusty against the big-hitting Giorgi and made 35 unforced errors as she lost 6-3, 6-0 to the 26-year-old in just over an hour.
World No. 13 Stephens has not won a match since beating Madison Keys in the final at Flushing Meadows in September.
Giorgi will next meet twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who went through when last year’s surprise Australian Open semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired after losing the first set 6-1.
Another former Grand Slam champion also progressed with Germany’s 2016 Melbourne Park title winner Angelique Kerber saving two match points to outlast Lucie Safarova 6-7(3), 7-6(8) 6-2.
Kerber’s victory sends her into a second-round clash with multiple Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.
Slovakian dynamo Dominika Cibulkova also reached the last 16 with a quickfire 6-3, 6-1 demolition of eighth-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
Ferrer advances
The experience was more than a match for youthful exuberance at the Auckland Classic Monday as four-time champion David Ferrer beat Chinese teenager Wu Yibing 7-6(7), 6-4 to advance to the second round.
The 35-year-old Ferrer, who was ranked as high as third in the world in 2013, battled it out from the baseline against his 18-year-old opponent in a first set that lasted 75 minutes.
Wu, the world’s top-ranked junior, held a set point in the tiebreak at 6-4 but could not convert and a double fault handed the first set to Ferrer, who is now ranked 38th.
Ferrer advanced to the second round to face Portugal’s Joao Sousa, last year’s runner-up when Wu belted a forehand long after two hours on court.
Sousa had earlier overcome Donald Young 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-2 in a match that lasted two hours.
Bouchard beaten
Eugenie Bouchard’s poor run of form continued Monday when she was beaten by Belarusian teenager Aryna Sabalenka at the Hobart International.
Former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard was eliminated from the Australian Open warm-up event after losing 6-4, 6-3.
It was the latest in a long sequence of early losses for the Canadian, who was named the most improved player in women’s professional tennis after reaching the Wimbledon final in 2014.
Defending champion Elise Mertens had no problems in her first-round encounter against Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara, racing to a 6-0, 6-4 victory in 72 minutes on the same court where she won her first WTA title.
No.3-seeded Sorana Cirstea lost 7-5, 6-3 to British qualifier Heather Watson, and seventh-seeded Tatjan Maria lost 6-4, 6-2, to Donna Vekic.
Top-seeded Zhang Shuai advanced over Magda Linette 7-5, 6-3 and fifth-seeded Lesia Tsurenko beat Timea Babos 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Azarenka withdraws from Australian Open
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from the Australian Open, with her wildcard entry to the season’s first major reallocated to Ajla Tomljanovic.
Australian Open organizers announced Azarenka’s withdrawal in a social media post-Monday, a week before the tournament begins.
“It’s unfortunate that (Azarenka) is unable to travel to Australia this year,” organizers posted on Twitter, quoting tournament director Craig Tiley. The Australian Open, “is her favourite tournament and she’s looking forward to returning to Melbourne next year.”
The Australian Open starts next Monday at Melbourne Park. Defending champion Serena Williams has already withdrawn, saying her game wasn’t back to a level where she believed she could contend for the title just four months after giving birth to her first child.
