Jelena Ostapenko’s poor start to the season continued as the French Open champion was beaten by Ekaterina Makarova in the first round of the Sydney International tennis tournament. Makarova only avoided the qualifying stages when her fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdrew due to injury and she took advantage of being handed a first-round spot, breaking twice in a one-sided second set to advance. (Read | Rafael Nadal to join Novak Djokovic at Kooyong Classic tennis)World number 343 Ellen Perez is a surprise name in the second round after Kristina Mladenovic retired at 6-4 4-2 down on a scorching day. World number 11 Mladenovic tweeted: “43 degrees but probably 50 on court when started, I’m sorry to the fans. Yulia Putintseva, Varvara Lepchenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia also made it into the second round on day one of the tournament.

Source: Hindustan Times January 07, 2018 09:56 UTC