Muguruza Opens Sydney Event with Win Over Suarez Navarro

Muguruza Opens Sydney Event with Win Over Suarez Navarro

By: Francis Joseph

Former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over Carla Suarez Navarro on Monday after a day interrupted by rain at the Sydney International.

Sam Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, had a rare win on Australian soil when she rallied to beat Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, a confidence-boosting result for the local hope ahead of the Australian Open, which starts next week.

Seventh-seeded Kiki Bertens beat Bernada Pera 7-5, 6-4, Timea Bacsinszky ousted ninth-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, Yulia Putintseva beat Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 7-6 (4), and Camila Giorgi defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3 in other first-round matches.

On the men's side, Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka beat Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 and 2018 finalist Alex De Minaur defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-3.