World number two Angelique Kerber began her title defence at the Sydney International with a 7-6(3) 6-2 victory over Italian Camila Giorgi to reach the quarter-finals on Tuesday. As Kerber gradually tightened up her game, Giorgi stumbled, making two double faults and three unforced errors to concede the opening set in a tiebreak. Kerber will face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei for a place in the semi-finals. Local favourite Ashleigh Barty set up a pre-Australian Open showdown with world number one Simona Halep after beating 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3. Former world number one Garbine Muguruza withdrew from the tournament ahead of her second-round encounter with seventh seed Kiki Bertens, due to a gastrointestinal illness.

Source: dna January 08, 2019 12:00 UTC