Svitolina, Badosa start 2022 with losses, Swiatek cruises in Adelaide

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Wilson Blade 9

As the second batch of first-round matches at the Adelaide International 1 got underway on Tuesday, Elina Svitolina and Paula Badosa suffered losses as seeded players, while defending champion Iga Swiatek eased into the second round.

Elina Svitolina Adelaide International
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Eighth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine fell to Russia’s Anastasia Gasanova 5-7 6-4 6-3, who was playing her first match on Australian soil (including qualifying and ITF Circuit matches). The world No.130 Gasanova has now won both her matches against Top 20 opposition and both those victories happened in the opening week of the season — she kicked off 2021 with an upset of Karolina Pliskova in Abu Dhabi.

Anastasia Gasanova Adelaide International
Anastasia Gasanova of Russia in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Previously, Svitolina’s last loss to a player ranked outside Top 100 on a hard court had been against No.158 Bethanie Mattek-Sands at 2017 Miami.

Elina Svitolina Adelaide

Thanks to Jimmie48, we have these cool black-and-white photos of Svitolina preparing for her match against Gasanova.

Elina Svitolina Adelaide International

Iga Swiatek recorded a straightforward 6-3 6-3 victory over newlywed Australian qualifier Daria Saville, who was playing her first WTA tournament since last year’s Australian Open after undergoing surgery on her Achilles.

Iga Swiatek Adelaide International
Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

The 27-year-old Saville owns eleven Top 10 wins in her career, but in her first meeting with Swiatek she was unable to add the Pole’s name to the long list.

Daria Saville Adelaide International
Daria Saville of Australia in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Having won the 2020 Adelaide title without dropping a set, Swiatek is now 11-0 in sets at this Australian tournament.

Iga Swiatek Adelaide International
Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Shelby Rogers debuted a new orange and pink Fila outfit in her 6-1 6-3 victory over Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis.

Shelby Rogers Adelaide International
Shelby Rogers of the United States in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Speaking of Fila, Sofia Kenin is no longer sponsored by them. In Adelaide we can see that the 2020 Australian Open champion is currently without an apparel deal. She shouldn’t be without a clothing sponsor for long. I guess she’ll announce something soon.

Sofia Kenin Adelaide International
Sofia Kenin of the United States in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

The sixth-seeded Kenin defeated Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti 7-5 7-5 on Tuesday.

Coco Gauff Adelaide International
Cori Gauff of the United States in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Coco Gauff debuted this unique rainbow tank during her 6-2 6-1 win over Norwegian qualifier Ulrikke Eikeri.

Victoria Azarenka Adelaide International
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Late on Tuesday, world No.27 Victoria Azarenka recovered from a break down twice in the first set to defeat fourth seed Paula Badosa 6-3 6-2. Azarenka’s second-round opponent at the Adelaide International 1 will be Priscilla Hon, who upset Petra Kvitova on Monday.

Victoria Azarenka Adelaide International
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

In her previous meeting with Azarenka, in last year’s Indian Wells final, Badosa came within two points of defeat before battling back to beat the Belarusian. Badosa is currently ranked at a career-high No.8, having begun last season at No.70.

Paula Badosa Adelaide International
Paula Badosa of Spain in action during the first round of the 2022 Adelaide International WTA 500 tennis tournament

Azarenka and Badosa are still playing together in doubles at the Adelaide International 1, as they defeated top seeds Aoyama/Shibahara in the first round.

Second-round pairs are now all set up:

[1] Ashleigh Barty vs. Coco Gauff
Ajla Tomljanovic vs. [6] Sofia Kenin
Victoria Azarenka vs. Priscilla Hon
Leylah Fernandez vs. [5] Iga Swiatek
[7] Elena Rybakina vs. Marie Bouzkova
Shelby Rogers vs. [3] Maria Sakkari
Anastasia Gasanova vs. Misaki Doi
Kaja Juvan vs. [2] Aryna Sabalenka

Action continues on Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time.

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