Serbia's Olga Danilovic stunned defending champion McCartney Kessler 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round on Monday at the Hobart International in Australia.
Danilovic trailed 4-3 in the deciding set, then
collected a crucial break in the ninth game to pull ahead and served out the match in two hours and six minutes. She converted five of seven break points and saved five of nine.
Croatia's Antonia Ruzic also moved into the second round via upset, defeating seventh-seeded Emiliana Arango of Colombia 7-5, 6-1. No. 4 seed Ann Li rallied past fellow American Katie Volynets 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy and Argentina's Solana Sierra also advanced.
Adelaide International
Romania's Jaqueline Cristian upended fourth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-4 in first-round action in Australia.
No. 5 Clara Tauson of Denmark also made an early exit, retiring after dropping the first set 7-6 (5) to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. No. 6 Emma Navarro needed only 78 minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-3 win against Aussie Emerson Jones and No. 8 Victoria Mboko of Canada rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Australia's Daria Kasatkina defeated Greece's Maria Sakkari 7-6 (2), 6-4. Russian Anna Kalinskaya and Czech Marie Bouzkova also advanced to the second round. Kalinskaya cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Romania's Elena Gabriela Ruse in 75 minutes, while Bouzkova overcame a slow start for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Spain's Paula Badosa.
--Field Level Media
