Singles – First Round: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. Monica Niculescu 6-1 6-4
Monica Niculescu just clawed her way back into the Top Fifty, but with this, she falls back out.
Singles – First Round: (3) Serena Williams def. Edina Gallovits-Hall 6-0 6-0
The only drama in this was when Serena Williams slipped and hurt her ankle. She was nursing it, but it didn’t seem to matter much. At least so far….
Singles – First Round: Carla Suarez Navarro def. (7) Sara Errani 6-4 6-4
We knew Sara Errani had a tough draw (two of the top four unseeded players in the first two rounds), but this is still quite a surprise. Errani — who was defending quarterfinalist points — loses her chance to regain the #6 ranking, although based on the current form of the players below her, it doesn’t seem particularly likely that she will fall.
Singles – First Round: (8) Petra Kvitova def. Francesca Schiavone 6-4 2-6 6-2
The long slide continues for Francesca Schiavone. It appears she is down to #50 in safe points. Which means that she will almost certainly be below #50 on the next rankings.
Singles – First Round: (10) Caroline Wozniacki def. Sabine Lisicki 2-6 6-3 6-3
In the first set of this, Sabine Lisicki was outhitting Caroline Wozniacki. But Wozniacki managed to hang on long enough to wear Lisicki down. Lisicki made the fourth round last year, so this may well cost her her Top Fifty spot. Wozniacki, a quarterfinalist in 2012, needs to repeat that result if she is to stay Top Ten. At least the next result makes it unlikely that she will fall below #11….
Singles – First Round: Kimiko Date-Krumm def. (12) Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-0
Obviously there was something very wrong with Nadia Petrova here. What, we don’t know. But it costs Petrova her Top Ten chance. Odds are that she will keep the #12 ranking she came in with; she certainly won’t rise. Kimiko Date-Krumm gets an unusual spot in the record books: The oldest woman ever to win a singles match here.
Singles – First Round: (14) Maria Kirilenko def. Vania King 6-4 6-2
Vania King just can’t seem to get her strength back after all her physical problems. And she was defending 160 points. She will be falling well below #80.
Singles – First Round: (16) Roberta Vinci def. Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-3 7-5
Roberta Vinci and Maria Kirilenko are slugging it out for the last Top Fifteen spot. It’s close to a tie; Vinci is just slightly ahead.
Singles – First Round: (17) Lucie Safarova def. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 7-6(7-4) 6-4
Lucie Safarova also has a shot at the Top Fifteen, but she needs at least a quarterfinal.
Singles – First Round: (20) Yanina Wickmayer def. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1 7-5
Count Yanina Wickmayer among those on the brink of the Top Twenty. There are a lot of them.
Singles – First Round: (21) Varvara Lepchenko def. Polona Hercog 6-4 6-1
Polona Hercog will remain around #80. Varvara Lepchenko hasn’t clinched her Top Twenty spot, but her chances look pretty good.
Singles – First Round: Lesia Tsurenko def. (24) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 3-6 7-5
This is clearly the best month of Lesia Tsurenko’s career so far. She drops Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova out of the Top 25.
Singles – First Round: (26) Hsieh Su-Wei def. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino 7-6(7-5) 6-2
Hsieh Su-Wei didn’t even have direct entry into the draw here last year, so this is a nice crop of points for her — probably enough to put her in the Top 25.
Singles – First Round: Annika Beck def. (28) Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2 6-7(7-9) 6-3
Yaroslava Shvedova wasn’t defending anything, but this means no Top 25 spot.
Singles – First Round: (29) Sloane Stephens def. Simona Halep 6-1 6-1
Simona Halep will probably stay right around #45.
Singles – First Round: Jamie Hampton def. (31) Urszula Radwanska 6-2 6-4
Urszula Radwanska loses her Top Thirty chance; we’d guess she will be around #35.
Singles – First Round: Akgul Amanmuradova def. Mathilde Johansson 6-4 6-2
Mathilde Johansson remains below #80.
Singles – First Round: Ayumi Morita def. Anna Tatishvili 6-3 6-3
This ought to take Ayumi Morita above #70 while leaving Anna Tatishvili below #55.
Singles – First Round: Bojana Jovanovski def. Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 2-6 6-4 6-3
This will very likely put Bojana Jovanovski in the Top Fifty.
Singles – First Round: Daria Gavrilova def. Lauren Davis 6-3 2-6(6-7) 6-4
This should put Daria Gavrilova well above #200. It appears Lauren Davis will fall to around #90.
Singles – First Round: Donna Vekic def. Andrea Hlavackova 6-1 6-2
Donna Vekic, the youngest player here, drops Andrea Hlavackova to around #70.
Singles – First Round: Elena Vesnina def. Caroline Garcia 3-6 6-3 6-1
After earning her first title last week, Elena Vesnina may have been a little tired, but she extends her winning streak to six. And she had nothing to defend, so she is getting close to the Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: Eleni Daniilidou def. Karolina Pliskova 7-5 5-7 6-4
Rather a surprise, given Eleni Daniilidou’s recent results.
Singles – First Round: Jana Cepelova def. Greta Arn 6-2 6-2
Greta Arn loses another hundred points and will slip to around #140.
Singles – First Round: Kristina Mladenovic def. Timea Babos 6-3 4-6 11-9
Timea Babos will be around #75.
Singles – First Round: Laura Robson def. Melanie Oudin 6-2 6-3
Laura Robson looks very likely to hit the Top Fifty.
Singles – First Round: Luksika Kumkhum def. Sofia Arvidsson 7-6(7-5) 6-4
Luksika Kumkhum has had some promising Challenger results as well as this; hers may be a name worth watching. She leaves Sofia Arvidsson no better than #35.
Singles – First Round: Garbine Muguruza def. Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6 6-1 14-12
Magdalena Rybarikova will stay in the #60-#65 range.
Singles – First Round: Peng Shuai def. Rebecca Marino 6-3 6-0
Rebecca Marino’s comeback remains stalled. It’s getting to the point where a true comeback is seeming pretty improbable.
Singles – First Round: Shahar Peer def. Alexandra Panova 6-4 1-6 6-3
A big win for Shahar Peer — she would have fallen out of the Top Hundred had she lost. Alexandra Panova probably will fall below that mark.
Singles – First Round: Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2 6-1
Svetlana Kuznetsova’s comeback continues to look impressive. She needs one more win to defend her points, but she faces one of the weaker seeds (Hsieh Su-Wei) next.
Singles – First Round: Yulia Putintseva def. Christina McHale 6-1 6-7(0-7) 6-2
Christina McHale will be no better than #40.
©Daily Tennis News Wire
Topics: Australian Open, Australian tennis news, Carla Suarez Navarro, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka
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