The qualifying stage at the 2016 Brisbane International continued on Saturday with eight second-round qualifying matches played, getting us one step closer to the first main draw play of the season.
For one former Brisbane winner, the road to the main draw came to a premature end — Kaia Kanepi had to retire from her match against Kateryna Bondarenko. Other well-known names in the qualifying draw have been faring much better. Elena Vesnina has moved on into the qualifying finals, joining players like young Japanese Naomi Osaka, Jana Cepelova & Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan.
While the qualifiers were on duty on the match courts, many of the main draw players used the hot & sunny day to prepare for their start into the tournament. Victoria Azarenka, Belinda Bencic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Andrea Petkovic were spotted on the practice courts, gearing up for their first tournament of the new year.
The final qualifying rounds will be played on Sunday, followed by the start of main-draw play in the afternoon. But first, it’ll be time for one of the secret highlights of the event, when Brisbane invites in the young crowd for the annual kids day that will feature the appearance of several star players to entertain the kids.
Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for more from Australia, as the 2016 Brisbane International picks up steam!
Yes I agree very nice. I like the more traditional dresses (but also the colourful ones when they are well-designed). On the other hand, Kaia’s outfit is hideous.
Mathilda Johansson’s dress is very pretty. Do you know who sponsors her, I don’t recognize the logo.
Misty, the brand is Scheyda. Aravane Rezai wore some crazy Scheyda dresses in 2010 and I made an overview back then: https://womenstennisblog.com/2010/12/09/aravane-rezais-shocking-scheyda-style-in-2010/