Serena sizzles after Barty, Kenin script hard-fought wins By Nandita Bose, Steve Keating and Michael Martina
Yarra Valley Classic
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Serena Williams sounded a warning for her fellow Australian Open contenders on Wednesday with a sleek 6-1 6-4 victory against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the quarter-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne.
After top two seeds Ash Barty and Sofia Kenin faced steep challenges to keep their preparations on course, Williams put up a contrasting show at Melbourne Park’s Margaret Court Arena in the evening session.
World number one Barty, who won 6-0 4-6 6-3, showed no signs of fatigue from having played a late match on Tuesday and started in top gear against Marie Bouzkova at the Margaret Court Arena before her Czech opponent staged a fightback.
Barty makes winning return in Melbourne
A Day at the Drive Exhibition
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – World number one Ash Barty marked her return to competitive tennis after almost a year out with a 6-3 6-3 win over Romania’s Ana Bogdan in the second round of Yarra Valley Classic on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Australian had not played a competitive match since last February due to the COVID-19 pandemic, opting to skip the U.S. Open and not defend her title at the rescheduled French Open in September.
Barty went down narrowly to world number two Simona Halep in last week’s exhibition event in Adelaide but was back to winning ways on Tuesday, facing a single breakpoint on her serve in the match.