Shelby Rogers has had a solid lead-up to Australian Open, getting wins over Bouchard, Arruabarrena and Sevastova. The two had faced off at the 2015 US Open in Round of 32, with the Romanian winning 6-2 6-3. Simona Halep already looked shaky in her loss to Siniakova in Shenzhen, and as it was revealed during her match against Rogers, she is carrying a right shoulder injury. From the start Rogers was the better player, pushing Halep to break points and deuces while remaining great on her own serve. She broke for 4-2 and held the break for rest of the set, winning 6-3. During the break between sets, Halep requested a medic and had him examine her right shoulder. This confirmed the rumors that Halep carried a shoulder injury into the first slam of the year. Her game got worse as it went on, and Rogers became more dominant. The American broke Halep three times in the second set, and took it easily 6-1, after an hour and 17 minutes. The keys to Rogers’ win were her great performance on serve (71% points won on 1st, 63% on 2nd), and fired 26 winners. World No. 57 will play Annika Beck or Ashleigh Barty next.
In the first set between Garbine Muguruza and Marina Erakovic, there was little to none difference in the level at which both women were playing, despite the ranking difference being over a 100 spots. Both players were very solid on their service games, mostly thanks to their baseline game. Erakovic used her Stosur-esque forehand to open up the court, but Muguruza countered well with her flat shots. In the end, the difference between the players was mainly mental. At 5-4, Muguruza was leading 30-15 on her serve, and was given a time violation before her serve. She dropped the next two points, giving Erakovic a set point. However, Muguruza kept her cool and drew back to 5-5. She then went on to win the next two games, and therefore the set. Erakovic ran away with the second set to a 4-1 lead. In a key game that if lost, would have seen Erakovic serve for the match at 5-1, Muguruza saved 3 break points to go to 2-4. Erakovic had a very nervous service game and lost her break. Muguruza took it from there and won the second set 6-4.
