Kasatkina, Badosa sail in Adelaide as Vekic crashes

World number nine Daria Kasatkina swept into the Adelaide International second round on Monday but Paris Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic crashed to her third straight loss of the season.

Spain’s Paula Badosa also narrowly avoided defeat, battling for nearly three hours to complete a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5 comeback win over American Peyton Stearns.

“I’m so tired, I went through all the emotions,” said Badosa, a former world number two, now ranked 12.

Russia’s Kasatkina, runner-up at the last two editions of the Australian Open warm-up event, broke Australia’s Olivia Gadecki five times to advance 6-2, 6-3.

“I think Adelaide is the tournament I’ve played most in my career,” said the 27-year-old, who made six WTA finals last year and won two titles.

“It’s the beginning of the season, I’m happy to be back.

“My tactic today was to turn on my legs and win as many points as possible and play aggressively when I had the chance.”

The match featured four service breaks in the first five games as third seed Kasatkina got re-acquainted with the Memorial Drive centre court.

She will next face last year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon junior runner-up Emerson Jones, a wildcard entry who scored an impressive 6-4, 6-0 win over China’s Wang Xinyu.

Croatia’s Vekic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, saw her Australian Open build-up go from bad to worse with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.

The world number 19 was also beaten in two group matches in Perth at the United Cup.

Victory moved Putintseva into a second-round clash against either American fourth seed Danielle Collins or Tunisian wildcard Ons Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist.

“Today I played great, I was focused all the way through,” said Putintseva.

“We’ve played so much and know each other’s games well. There are no secrets on the court.”

In other matches, 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez was eliminated by Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets, with her reward a clash against American world number eight Emma Navarro, who had a bye.

The first Grand Slam of the year begins in Melbourne on Sunday.

Injured Osaka ‘very optimistic’ about Oz Open: Naomi Osaka will undergo a scan on the injury that forced her to pull out of the Auckland Classic final but remains optimistic about playing at the Australian Open, the former world number one said on Monday.

Osaka, the 2019 and 2021 champion at Melbourne Park, was reduced to tears on Sunday when an abdominal injury forced her to quit while leading Clara Tauson 6-4 in her first WTA final in almost three years.

“I’m having an MRI today to assess,” the 27-year-old said in a brief statement.

“I don’t feel that it’s too serious and I still feel very optimistic about AO.”

Osaka, who returned to the tour a year ago after a long maternity break, had shown glimpses of the form that won her four major titles on her run to the final in Auckland.

She broke back into the top 50 in the world rankings on Monday.

Deportation fear still gives ‘trauma’ to Djokovic: Novak Djokovic has admitted to still getting stressed when he gets off a plane at Melbourne airport after he was deported from Australia three years ago.

The 24-times Grand Slam champion had his visa cancelled ahead of the 2022 Australian Open following days of drama over Australia’s COVID entry rules and his unvaccinated status.

“I have to be quite frank,” Djokovic said in an interview with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.

“The last couple of times I landed in Australia, to go through passport control and immigration – I had a bit of trauma from three years ago.

“And some traces still stay there when I’m passing passport control, just checking out if someone from immigration zone is -approaching.

“The person checking my passport – are they going to take me, detain me again or let me go? I must admit I have that feeling.”

The Serbian returned to Melbourne Park in 2023 when the worst of the pandemic was over and won a 10th Australian Open title.

“I don’t hold any resentment, to be honest,” the 37-year-old added. “I don’t hold a grudge. I came right away the year after ... and I won.

Agencies