Tuesday at the WTA Hobart International, a lead-up event for next week's Australian Open, saw second round play commence with four singles matches which saw the more experienced, established veteran players come through the matches. Seeded players Camila Giorgi and Alize Cornet both advanced, as well as former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard and veteran Swede Johanna Larsson.
Camila Giorgi routines Nao Hibino with quality display
The highest seed remaining in the tournament after the withdrawal of Sloane Stephens, flashy italian Giorgi showed some improved form and consistency keeping her double-fault count low and playing the aggressive power game she is known for. Her younger opponent Nao Hibino of Japan struggled to cope with the power of Giorgi being forced into many errors especially off the forehand wing. Giorgi never seemed too troubled as her strong cross-court returns punished the second serves of Hibino disheartening the Japanese player who could only hold serve three times in the match. The result was a solid 6-2, 6-3 victory for Giorgi in slightly over an hour.
Alize Cornet overcomes lucky loser in long, dramatic night match
Seventh seed Alize Cornet faced an unexpected test from Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg which lasted nearly three-hours and finished under the lights of Hobart's Centre Court. Royg, primarily known as a clay court player, pushed Cornet in a match which featured many breaks, long rallies and typical Cornet dramatics and fighting. The first set was a struggle for both on serve, with both players failing to hold in any of their opening four service games. The first hold of serve came with Cornet serving for the first set at 5-4, giving the heavily favoured Frenchwomen the opening advantage.
With Cornet holding in her first service game of the second set to go up 2-0 it looked like the match may well be decided with the much more experienced player having the edge. With the sun falling throughout the second set featuring long, tight games, Cepede Royg managed to erase the break deficit and broke Cornet with some strong returns to claim the second set 7-5. The third set saw Cepede Royg's game start to breakdown, hitting more unforced errors than earlier in the night, and failing to make an impact in Cornet's service games. Serving up 4-1 Cornet showed some signs of weakness as she was broken and started showing more emotion and hysterics as she struggled to close out the match. Cornet would rebound and claim the final two games to take home a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 long grueling victory.
Eugenie Bouchard and Johana Larsson wins tight clashes
After a rough 2015 compounded by a concussion suffered at the US Open, the popular Canadian Bouchard is getting back on track following two straight set victories which should boost her confidence. Bouchard faced fellow 21-year-old Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in a tight match where the server was always under pressure facing an aggressive opponent. Bouchard's fighting and balance of aggression and consistency saw her upset the eight seed 6-4, 7-5. The match highlight was an incredible point played by Bouchard to break Van Uytvanck and serve for the match which saw the Canadian chase down a net cord then run back to return a lob which she returned for a lob of her own.
The remaining second round match of the day saw Sweden's top-player Johanna Larsson advance in three sets over the fast-rising Russian Margarita Gasparyan. Larsson looked the more experienced and consistent of the two players early on, taking the first set 6-3. Momentum seemed to shift early in the second set following a game where Larsson failed to take advantage of break point opportunities. Gasparyan survived the game to go ahead 3-2 and looked the better player for the rest of the set and forced the match into a third. The serving for the 21-year-old Russian let her down in the final set as she struggled in every service game in a scratchy encounter from both players. The result saw the 27-year-old Swede, who won the doubles title her last year, advance in the quarterfinals 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Doubles Action
The top seeds in the doubles draw, the Spanish specialist team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja faced a major challenge in their first round match against the young German team of Annika Beck and Carina Witthoeft. The Spanish duo dropped the opening set but managed to come back winning the match in a super tie-break 2-6, 7-6(1), 10-4. Other doubles matches were one-sided affairs, with an upset occuring as the Australian team of Kimberly Birrell and Jarmila Wolfe knocked out the third-seeded Kichenok twins of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3. This has been a week to remember for the 17-year-old Birrell who won her first WTA main draw singles and was announced as an Australian Open Wild Card recipient. The other four doubles teams advancing to the quarterfinals were Japanese pairings of Nao Hibino/Misaki Doi and Shuko Aoyama/Makoto Ninomiya, and the international teams of Christina McHale/Xinyun Han and Kiki Bertens/Johanna Larsson.