Kasatkina rolls into Adelaide second round as Vekic crashes

Adelaide, Australia, 6 Jan  - World number nine Daria Kasatkina swept into the Adelaide International second round on Monday but 

Paris Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic crashed to her third straight 
defeat of the season.

Russia's Kasatkina, runner-up at the last two editions of the Australian Open 
warm-up event, broke Australia's Olivia Gadecki five times to advance 6-2, 6-
3.

"I think Adelaide is the tournament I've played most in my career," said the 
27-year-old, who made six WTA finals last year and won two titles.

"It's the beginning of the season, I'm happy to be back.

"My tactic today was to turn on my legs and win as many points as possible 
and play aggressively when I had the chance."

The match featured four service breaks in the first five games as third seed 
Kasatkina got re-acquainted with the Memorial Drive centre court.

She will next face last year's Australian Open and Wimbledon junior runner-up 
Emerson Jones, a wildcard entry who scored an impressive 6-4, 6-0 win over 
China's Wang Xinyu.

Croatia's Vekic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, saw her Australian Open 
build-up go from bad to worse with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Kazakhstan's Yulia 
Putintseva.

The world number 19 was also beaten in two group matches in Perth at the 
United Cup.

Victory moved Putintseva into a second-round clash against either American 
fourth seed Danielle Collins or Tunisian wildcard Ons Jabeur, a three-time 
Grand Slam finalist.

"Today I played great, I was focused all the way through," said Putintseva.

"We've played so much and know each other's games well. There are no secrets 
on the court."

In other matches, 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez was eliminated by 
Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

The first Grand Slam of the year begins in Melbourne on Sunday.