Sloane Stephens ousted as Giorgi springs surprise

Sydney : Sloane Stephens’ preparations for the Australian Open suffered another setback as she was bundled out of the Sydney International at the first round stage.

The reigning US Open champion fell 6-3 6-0 to Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi, extending her winless streak since she won her first major at Flushing Meadows in September.

Giorgi, the world number 100, raced away with the second set to book a second-round meeting with Petra Kvitova, who progressed when opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired after losing the first set 6-1.

There was better news for fellow grand slam champion Angelique Kerber who squeezed through with a 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 victory over Czech Lucie Safarova, saving two match points in the process.

Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova proved too strong for Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, easing to a 6-3 6-1 win in 77 minutes, while Ashleigh Barty defeated Paraguayan qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg 6-3 6-4.

Also in Sydney, there were wins for American qualifier CeCe Bellis, Kiki Bertens of Holland and Czech Barbora Strycova.

At the Hobart International, top seed Shuai Zhang of China moved through to round two with a 7-5 6-3 win over Magda Linette of Poland.

Former champion Heather Watson was an impressive 7-5 6-3 winner over third seed Sorana Cirstea, while Tatjana Maria was another seed to fall as she lost 6-4 6-2 to Croatia’s Donna Vekic.