Rain cut short the action on Wednesday at the Hobart International WTA International level tournament. Only four matches were completed, leaving one second round singles match unfinished. All three completed singles matches finished in straight sets with Dominika Cibulkova and KiKi Bertens dominating, while former champion Mona Barthel struggled through her match with a back-injury.
Injured Mona Barthel guts out victory
Barthel has enjoyed great success in Hobart in the past, winning the title in 2012 and finishing runner-up to Elena Vesnina in 2013. Despite advancing to the quarterfinals, future success this week seems in doubt as she struggled with a back injury throughout the match. Barthel's opponent in the match was 18-year-old rising star Naomi Osaka, who needed to lose the match in order to participate in Australian Open qualifying. The result was a lack luster performance which saw many errors flying off the Japanese youngster's forehand and slow reactions to the punishing returns which Barthel sent down the line.
Despite the poor performance from Osaka, the match's winner was still in question for most of the first set. Barthel's stiff movement due to her back injury led to multiple visits from the trainer. It seemed as if she might withdraw from the match or that her level of play would be too low, so that even without motivation, Osaka would pull through the match. Both were blasting the ball with little control and that resulted in many errors. The first set ended up in a tiebreak, which Barthel won 7-6 (2). Thanks to the trainer visits, Barthel's movement seemed to improve as Osaka remained at a subpar level. The German went on to win the match 7-6(2 ), 6-2. She advances to face Alize Cornet in the quarterfinals.
Cibulkova and Bertens advance with ease
The experience and class of Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova prevailed against a talented, but nervous, Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell. The 17-year-old Birrell won her first WTA main draw match with a victory over Danka Kovinic in the first round, a significant milestone in her young career. The victory also guaranteed the Aussie a main draw wild card for next week's Australian Open. Against Cibulkova, things did not go Birrell's way however and she never seemed settled. Cibulkova would only drop eight points on serve in the match, defeating the junior by the score of 6-0, 6-1 with the match only lasting 48 minutes.
In a unexpectidely one-sided affair qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands knocked out German Annika Beck 6-3. 6-1. Bertens looks to have regained some of her lost form in the offseason. She has started off the year strong and used her power and strength to overcome a lackluster Beck. Bertens has been ranked as high as 43 in the world and has tested top players in the past, but struggled over the last 12 months. Bertens will look to continue her run with a quarterfinal match against Cibulkova, which should offer the fans in Hobart a high quality treat.
Rain Suspends Heather Watson's Match
The evening singles match between Heather Watson and Monica Niculescu suffered multiple rain delays, before play was eventually called off with the Brit leading 6-7(3), 6-2, 3-1. The defending champion Watson will hope advice from coach Judy Murray will help her secure the victory when the match resumes Thursday against the tricky, unorthodox Niculescu. The winner of this match will then only have a few hours rest before taking on Swede Johanna Larsson later in the day.