Veronika Kudermetova defeated Victoria Azarenka in the first round of the Adelaide International 2 on Tuesday. The sixth seed came from down a set to claim a 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 win in a match that was only two minutes shy of three hours.
Kudermetova faced 10 break points – all of which came in the first set – and saved all but three of these. In the second set, neither player dropped serve which accounted for the tie-break deciding its outcome.
Across the latter two sets, Kudermetova won 84% and 80% of first-serve points, respectively. In the second round, Kudermetova will play Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Adelaide International 2: Kaia Kanepi makes the most of her luck
The other seeded player to play her first-round match on Tuesday, the ninth-seeded Paula Badosa also moved into the second round.
The Spaniard defeated Estonian Anett Kontaveit in the evening, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 14 minutes. Badosa saved two of three break points she faced while converting four of seven break points on Kontaveit’s serve. Badosa won 77% of her first-serve points, 72% of her second-serve points and 74% points on return on Kontaveit’s second serve.
Next up for Badosa is Kontaveit’s compatriot, Kaia Kanepi. Kanepi who entered the main draw as a lucky loser got the better of Australian wildcard, Storm Hunter in their first-round match. Kanepi needed 72 minutes to win 6-2, 6-2.
Barbora Krejcikova got the better of Alison Riske-Amritraj in their first-round match. The Czech won 6-2, 7-6(3) in two hours and three minutes against the American who was defending runner-up points from last year. The 2021 French Open champion will take on Daria Kasatkina next.
Kasatkina, who’s seeded fifth, is the second-highest seed in the draw this week. Krejcikova’s fellow Czech and doubles partner, Katerina Siniakova also reached the second round. Siniakova led Anastasia Potapova 6-1, 1-0 before the latter retired in the match.
Siniakova will play the fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia, who’s the top seed at the Adelaide International 2. 
