She was the sixth seed in qualifying, and a former Grand Slam champion, but Francesca Schiavone’s efforts to reach the main draw of the Australian Open have ended at the Qualifying stage after a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 defeat to Virginie Razzano of France. The world No. 209 dominated the first and final sets to progress to the final round, and have a chance of making the main draw.
There was also disappointment for Ying-Ying Duan (8) who was forced to retire just three games into her second-round match with Arina Rodionova. The top two seed once again progressed, though top seed Qiang Wang struggled through a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over compatriot Zhaoxuan Yang. There were no such problems for second seed Nicole Gibbs, who cruised through her win against Jana Fett of Croatia 6-2, 7-6.
A glut of other seeds did join Duan and Schiavone in exiting the tournament. Stefanie Voegele (9) fell in straight sets to Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, a ranking surprise of nearly fifty places. Tereza Smitkova (17) also fell, losing 7-5, 6-0 to Slovakian Kristina Kucova. Kai-Chen Chang (22) will not feature in the final qualifying round either, as she lost to Ivana Jorovic 6-4, 6-2. Naomi Osaka completed another shock, as she defeated Alexandra Panova (21) 6-2, 7-6.
As always, despite a number of seeds leaving, more did progress to the final round. Anasatsija Sevastova (5) won easily 6-3, 6-1, against Vera Dushevina. The United States’ Sachia Vickery (15) ensured she plays for the chance of the main draw, earning her spot in the final round by defeating Jana Cepelova 6-4, 7-5. Kristyana Pliskova also progressed in a straightforward manner, with a win over Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure, the final score 7-5, 6-1. Richel Hogenkamp (23) proved particularly dominant in a 6-1, 6-3 win over Stephanie Foretz that lasted 59 minutes. Shua Zhang (18) defeated Tereza Martincova 6-1, 7-6.
Other selected results:
Maryna Zanevska defs. Risa Okazaki 6-1, 6-2.
Lin Zhu defs. Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-3, 6-2.
Yafan Wang defs. Alize Lim 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Barbora Krejcikova defs. Hiroko Kuwata 6-3, 6-2.
Michelle Larcher De Brito defs. Maria Sanchez 6-2, 6-3.
Julia Boserup defs. Paula Kania 6-2, 7-5.
Kai-Lin Zhang defs. Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-3.
Julia Glushko (16) defs. Amadine Hesse 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Tamira Paszek (14) defs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-1.
