Dominika Cibulkova, Sabine Lisicki Trapped By Upset Bug at Brisbane International; Victoria Azarenka Also Stunned
The opened round’s play of the Brisbane International witnessed the purging of some big players. The upset bug trapped 4th seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, before trapping former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in the first round itself.
11th-ranked Cibulkova continually struggled against young American powerhouse, Madison Keys, and eventually lost the match 7-5, 6-2 in an hour and 90 minutes.
Later, Lisicki squandered her first-set lead, as she went down fighting to Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round.
In the other matches, Jarmila Gajdosova defeated Shuai Zhang (6-4, 6-1), Alla Kudryavtseva toppled Bethanie Mattek-Sands (6-4, 6-2), and Daria Gavrilova beat Alison Riske (7-5, 6-3).
The series of upsets of continued with former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka bowing out of the tournament, losing to Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the first round.
(Image: livetennis.com)