Home hope Tomljanovic books Halep clash in Adelaide
Simona Halep will face Ajla Tomljanovic in round two of the Adelaide International, with Ashleigh Barty meeting Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Home hope Ajla Tomljanovic overcame a self-confessed lack of focus to beat Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 and secure a second-round clash with Adelaide International second seed Simona Halep.
Tomljanovic fell 3-0 behind before battling back to take the first set to a tie-break, where she held her nerve before rounding out the win in more convincing fashion in the second.
“Not the greatest start,” said Tomljanovic. “I don’t even think it was nerves. I wasn’t too focused at the start.
“With her, you have to be really sharp, disciplined, but still aggressive. It took me a little bit to find the balance.
“But I think once I got going, it was a battle. I mean, she’s always tough. She never gives up. She runs down every ball, really makes you win it. This is a quality win for me.”
.@Ajlatom is through to the second round after defeating Putintseva 7-6(4), 6-2 at @AdelaideTennis! pic.twitter.com/qyzubMlw2U
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2020
Another Australian in the draw is top seed Ashleigh Barty, who got a first-round bye and will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova following the Russian’s 6-2 6-4 win over Anett Kontaveit.
Fourth seed Belinda Bencic beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-4, while Sofia Kenin defeated Viktorija Golubic 6-0 6-4.
Other first-round results saw former world number one Angelique Kerber down Wang Qiang 6-1 6-3, Dayana Yastremska beat Timea Babos 7-5 6-3, and American Danielle Rose Collins dump out Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3 6-2.
At the Hobart International, seventh seed Rebecca Peterson retired hurt against Fiona Ferro, but fellow seeds Magda Linette and Veronika Kudermetova progressed without cause for concern.
