Two players who had respective Grand Slam breakthroughs Down Under will meet in the second round of the Grampians Trophy, after No.8 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia posted first-round victories on the first day of this week's third WTA event.
Former World No.1 Kerber, who won the first of her three Grand Slam titles at the 2016 Australian Open, went the distance against Katerina Siniakova, eventually outlasting the Czech, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Kerber righted the head-to-head ship in her favor with the victory; Siniakova had won their most recent meeting last year after Kerber had triumphed in their first three tilts.
Meanwhile, Jabeur, who became the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year's Australian Open, had a much easier time of it on Wednesday, dispatching Russia's Anna Blinkova, 6-1, 6-1. Jabeur faced one break point, which she saved, during the 55-minute romp.
World No.25 Kerber and World No.30 Jabeur will now meet for the first time in the second round. The Grampians Trophy is the final WTA event to kick off this week and will run through Sunday.
In other first-round matches, No.6 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia defeated Christina McHale of the United States, 6-1, 6-3, and No.7 seed Jennifer Brady of the United States ousted two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-3, 6-0.
Leylah Fernandez claimed a win over a Grand Slam champion as well, as the Canadian teen defeated 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens of the United States, 6-3, 6-1.
Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, a finalist at the season-opening event in Abu Dhabi, also notched a first-round victory, triumphing over Heather Watson of Great Britain, 6-2, 6-2.
From power to perfect placement 🙌 @PutintsevaYulia | #GrampiansWTA pic.twitter.com/sIQ9T79gKJ
— wta (@WTA) February 3, 2021
Three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan also opened with a win, as she moved past Georgina Garcia-Perez of Spain, 7-6(1), 6-4.
Also, Bethanie Mattek-Sands was an upset winner over Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, as the American clinched a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory.
