January 20, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Petra Martic will move forward in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, while Borna Coric lost in the first round.
Martic beat American Christina McHale 6-3, 6-0, while Coric lost to American Sam Querrey 3-6, 4-6, 4-6.
Martic, who is the 13th-seed of the tournament, played a great match and advanced to the second round without any problems. It took an hour and 30 minutes of play to win against the 27-year-old American, currently the world's 84th best tennis player.
It was their third match, with the Croatian tennis player now leading 2-1 in victories. Petra celebrated three years ago in the Cincinnati qualifiers, and McHale was better in 2014 in the Montreal qualifiers.
Martic, who reached the fourth round last year as her best result in Melbourne, will play in the second round against German Julia Georges, who beat Slovakian player Victoria Kuzma 6-1, 6-2 at the opening of the tournament.
They have played twice so far, and both times the 31-year-old Georges has celebrated. The last time they met was in the semifinals of the WTA Birmingham tournament in June last year.
Unfortunately, Borna Coric, currently Croatia’s best tennis player, was defeated in the first round. American Sam Querrey celebrated 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
In the first set, Querrey first led 3-2. With three games in a row, he increased his lead to 5-2 and calmly brought the set to an end. In the second set, the 32-year-old American made it 2-0, Borna equalized for 2-2, but then again lost his serve and failed to come back in the remainder of the set. The third set was again ruled by one game at 4-4.
Coric and Querrey have played only once so far, five years ago at Roland Garros, where the Coric was the winner.
Coric made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open last year. However, in the remaining five appearances in Melbourne, he dropped out in the first round.
After the rain subsides, Marin Cilic will play against French player Corentin Moutet, while tomorrow, Ivo Karlovic will play against Canadian Vasek Pospisil and Donna Vekic against Russian Maria Sharapova.
Source: Gol.hr
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