The women’s event at the just-concluded Australian Open gave justification to the branding of the Melbourne super show as the Grand Slam of Asia and Pacific. The women’s singles title went to Japan’s Naomi Osaka, while Samantha Stosur of Australia and Shuai Zhang of China won the women’s doubles title. The last former women’s champion from Australia was Chris O’Neill, who defeated Betsy Nagelsen in the 1978 finals, while the last Men’s champion was Mark Edmonson in 1976. The Australian Open also affirmed that the best servers do not always win matches. South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, the world number six and tournament fifth seed, lost in the second round to America’s Frances Tiafoe 4/6, 6/4, 6/4, 7/5.

Source: The Guardian February 01, 2019 03:11 UTC