Defending champion Angelique Kerber cruised into the Sydney International third round Tuesday as she targets back-to-back titles, while world number five Sloane Stephens narrowly avoided a shock loss. The second seeded German was made to work hard in the opening set against Italy's Camila Giorgi, but took control in the second to ease through 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
"It's always tough to play Camila, the way she is hitting the ball. Her second serve is like her first serve," said world number two Kerber, who had a first round bye and is now into the third round. "It's never easy to play your first tournament match but I am happy to be through. Hopefully I can go back-to-back, but there's still a long way to go."
America's Stephens battled back from the brink of a defeat to beat 72nd-ranked qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova in their first round clash. Less than a week before the Australian Open - the season's first Grand Slam - she was on the ropes with Alexandrova winning the first set to love and serving for the match in the second set.
But Stephens somehow rallied to win 0-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3). "I was, like, it's not going to get any worse than this," Stephens said of the first set. "So it was like I might as well just play. "Obviously she was playing well. Sometimes when you play a player that's just playing like that, there is not much you can do."
Earlier, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova avenged her US Open defeat to in-form Aryna Sabalenka. The Czech, who slumped to 29 in the world after being attacked in her home by a knife-wielding man in 2016, has battled back to number eight and was encouraged by her 6-1, 7-5 win over the Belarusian.
Sabalenka is a form player, racing to number 11 in the world after a stellar 2018 and starting the year by winning the Shenzhen Open. "She was definitely (finishing strongly). She came from Shenzhen (last week) where she won the tournament so I knew it would be a tough match," said Kvitova.
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