The Spanish Garbine Muguruza (15th in the world) qualified this Tuesday to the round of 16 of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne after beating Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck (65th) by an overwhelming 6-2, 6-0.
The Caracas-born tennis player will face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (39th) for a place in the quarterfinals.
But luck ran his compatriot Aliona Bolsava (103rd), who lost 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 with the Czech Marie Bouzková (52nd).
Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska (47th) also slipped into the top 16 after getting rid of Belgian Greet Minnen (110th) with 6-3, 6-4. The rival of the current semifinalist at Roland Garros will be the Czech Petra Kvitova (9th).
In addition, American Sofia Kenin returned to Melbourne on Tuesday, a year after her triumph at the Australian Open, and qualified for the round of 16 after Italian Camila Giorgi withdrew from the tournament.
The 22-year-old stunned the world in February 2020 by winning her first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park against Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets.
It was not so long this Tuesday against Giorgi (76th world), who retired due to an injury when the score was (7-5) in favor of the American.
“I hope he’s okay … but I’m glad I qualified,” Kenin said. “I missed a lot of shots with the right hand, but I still managed to win the first set.”
The American looks forward to a little more action in the next round, to prepare for the start of the Australian Open next week.
Last year Kenin reached the final at Roland Garros and finished in fourth place in the world.
The Yarra Valley Classic Tournament in Melbourne is held on a hard surface, like the Australian Open (February 8-21), and has a financial commitment of $ 565,530.