TENNIS BALLS 10SBALLS HEARD FROM GLOBAL CHICK WHO SEARCHES FOR THE SUN IN BRISBANE, IT’S ENDLESS SUMMER IT’S 2016 FIRST TENNIS OF THE YEAR

Written by: Global Chick on 4th January 2016

TENNIS BALLS 10SBALLS HEARD FROM GLOBAL CHICK WHO SEARCHES FOR THE SUN IN BRISBANE, IT'S ENDLESS SUMMER IT'S 2016 FIRST TENNIS OF THE YEAR |

The Sunshine State was cloudy today as the Brisbane draw rumbled forward on all fronts, but there was no shortage of star quality out and about.

First up, crowds were treated to a three setter for the perennially entertaining Jelena Jankovic, who despite a solid start found herself on the receiving end of Roberta Vinci’s more tricky slices and dices as they pushed to a third set.

It probably isn’t that much of an upset as the Italian eighth seed edged Jankovic in the decider 3-6 6-2 6-4, but perhaps we might have expected a little better from the glittery one. That being said, Brisbane has not been a happy hunting ground for her in the past couple of years as she reprises her role of first round exit queen.

Meanwhile…. All the way over the other side of the country (if we remember our flight path map correctly) came the news that Serena Williams had to pull out of her first round match in the Hopman Cup, but was replaced by Vicky Duval, who is making her way back in the WTA after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September 2014. That being said though – it’s only the 4th January (in this time-zone anyway) and already the injuries are racking up?

Back across the wide expanses of more insects and beasties that can kill you in an instant, and we were on the brink of Dimitrov’s first win against wily Frenchie Gilles Simon.

It was a confident start by Dimitrov who got half way to his first win over the Frenchman in 5 attempts, putting him on the back foot with a speedy first set, and having break points that could have seen the Bulgarian serving for the match but for some spirited play by Simon.

#dimitrov #victory #brisbane #brisbaneinternationaltennis – Photo by @tennis_phil via Instagram.

Dimitrov was in a squandering mood though, tossing three match points aside with reckless abandon – let’s face it, the state of Queensland would have finally decided on adopting Daylight Savings time by the time the Bulgarian had latched on to how to close out an match. Six match points and a smile to light up the grey skies and Dimitrov sent the first seed of the tournament.

Why is this a cause for potential glee? Because everyone loves the prospect of the battle of the rather similar playing styles of defending champion Roger Federer and the man they used to call ‘Baby Fed’ and a potential quarter-final is now a distinct possibility.

The media gods teased those of us still in a time-zone other than the one we’re in with the merest hint of a schedule, but now it was just a notification that local boy Bernard Tomic would be gracing the Pat Rafter arena tomorrow night. He will face France’s Nicolas Mahut, and really should have the game to advance at this stage.

Meanwhile back in the present, Sam Stosur took a while to mount a challenge to Jana Cepelova, who owns the solitary win in their head to head. A bit of tenacious fighting, a MTO for both ladies, and… rain, made for a long afternoon with an added squirt of jet lag. Stosur has never made it past the second round in this, her home tournament so her win was welcome, 6-4 3-6 6-4.

Stosur gets pride of place in Tuesday’s night match slot, while maybe unusually defending champion Maria Sharapova hits the afternoon running. She has been doing the media rounds with the usual grace and elegance but from tomorrow it is all down to business – there are some tricky prospects ahead for the Russian – and on Bencic’s form that could be a quarter-final match up to savour as youth meets experience head on.

Sam stosur beats jana cepelova in 3 sets winning 6-4 3-6 6-4 #brisbane #brisbaneinternationaltennis #stosur – Photo by @tennis_phil via Instagram.

Topics: Brisbane International, Brisbane Tennis, global chick, Tennis News

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January 4, 2016 at 10:41 am

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1ad935ec7276479 says:

January 4, 2016 at 10:53 am

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dusanVemic says:

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