We witnessed two massive sensations this morning at the Australian Open. Serena Williams, the seven-time champion here, and Naomi Osaka, the reigning champ, were both eliminated in the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Serena lost to Wang Qiang from China, No.29 in the world with 2-1, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5. What is fascinating in this case, is that Williams met with Qiang at the US Open last year, and she smashed the rival allowing her just one game in the entire match that lasted 44 minutes.
However, today, Serena looked unrecognizable. She was more than frustrated following the event, and didn’t hide the disappointment with her very poor performance.
“I lost that match. So it is what it is… I can’t play like that. Like, I literally can’t do that again. That’s unprofessional. It’s not cool.”
Williams had 56 unforced errors and was way below the expected level. It is safe to say that since she got back from the pause, this was her worst performance.
There was a moment in the contest when the American champion might have changed the course of the entire match. That happened in the late part of the second set, once Serena took the tiebreak after being on the verge of the loss earlier in that sequence.
Yet, she didn’t manage to utilize the swing built in those moments but continued to play under her standards.
After a long and exhausting battle in the third, and more than two and a half hours of play, Qiang made the first sensation of the day.
“I really happy to see it happens. I did really hard work in the off-season, so it paid off,” she stated, remembering the loss from New York.
The 15-year old Coco Gauff delivered the second shock of the day. The American wunderkind eliminated the reigning champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4
After beating Venus Williams in the first round, and Sorana Cirstea in the second, she posted her third straight victory in Melbourne in her first appearance. The teenager recalled the memory from two years ago once she lost in the first round of the junior’s tournament here.
“Two years ago I lost first round in juniors. And now I’m here. It’s crazy. I’m on Rod Laver Arena. I can’t believe this,” Gauff said.
This was revenge for a defeat at the last US Open, when the Japanese who eventually won that tournament, routed the youngster in two sets. Gauff was much better prepared for this event, and she had answers to almost any of Osaka’s attacks.
Also, there is one other new fro Australian Open. Caroline Wozniacki lost to Ons Jabeur, with 1-2, and this was the last professional game for the Danish player. At the age of 29, the former Australian Open champion retired due to health issues. Wozniacki was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and she isn’t able to play like she used to do before.
She was the No.1 for 71 weeks, has one Grand Slam champion, and 29 other WTA titles.
