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WTT Washington Kastles

7 Kastles Advance at Australian Open

January 21, 2015 - World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


The Washington Kastles' early-season tear through the tennis tour has continued at the Australian Open, where seven of the team's eight participants won first-round matches.

Venus Williams, Leander Paes and Martina Hingis, each of whom entered Melbourne with a 2015 title, advanced to the second round along with teammates Anastasia Rodionova, Shelby Rogers and Jarmila Gajdosova. No. 14 seed Kevin Anderson is already through to the third round in men's singles.

Williams looks to join Anderson tonight when she faces Lauren Davis live at 7 pm on Tennis Channel and ESPN3.com. The Americans met in a one-sided Auckland semifinal 12 days ago, with the 6-foot-1 Williams routing the 5-foot-2 Davis 6-0, 6-3.

Anderson can certainly relate, having defeated two significantly smaller opponents in Melbourne. The 6-foot-8 South African beat 5-foot-7 Diego Schwartzman in four sets and 5-foot-9 Ricardas Berankis in straights.

Next up for Anderson is his sixth meeting with No. 24 seed Richard Gasquet -- all of which have occurred in the Round of 32 at a hard-court tournament. Gasquet leads his rivalry with Anderson 4 wins to 1 going into their match on Friday.

In doubles play, Auckland champions Paes and Raven Klaasen improved to 8-1 in 2015 with a 6-4, 7-6(6) win over the dangerous duo of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram.

Winners of three ATP titles as a team, Lipsky and Ram held two set points on Paes and Klaasen in the second set. The No. 10 seeds saved both, then took the tiebreaker with back-to-back aces.

Paes' mixed doubles partner Hingis was also victorious on Wednesday in a head-to-head match against her 17-year-old Swiss protégé Belinda Bencic.

Much is expected of Bencic, who reached the singles quarterfinals at the US Open. But Hingis' Yonex shoes are impossible to fill.

When she was Bencic's age, Hingis had already won two singles and two doubles titles at the Australian Open. Experience prevailed as Hingis and Flavia Pennetta, the No. 4 seeds, beat Bencic and 18-year-old Katerina Siniakova 7-6(3), 6-2.

Hingis and Paes' much-anticipated mixed doubles debut has yet to be scheduled. But the No. 7 seeds did learn the identities of their first-round opponents on Wednesday. The Kastles teammates will face Australian wild cards Sam Thompson and Masa Jovanovic, neither of whom has ever been ranked in doubles.

Though those Aussies are unlikely to win, the host nation couldn't lose when Anastasia and Arina Rodionova played Naiktha Bains and Sara Tomic. The Rodionovas won 6-2, 6-2 to set up a second-round showdown against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Samantha Stosur, who have both captured two Grand Slam women's doubles titles.

Washington substitutes Gajdosova (singles) and Rogers (doubles) added first-round victories, while first-year Kastle Sloane Stephens fell to two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2.

To keep up with the Kastles, WashingtonKastles.com has you covered with the latest scores, statistics, schedules and even links to full-match replays. Be sure to bookmark the Kastle Tracker and visit daily for the latest updates.

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