Australia’s Arina Rodionova described her qualifying first round triumph over former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro on Saturday as one the biggest wins of her career.
Ranked 202 in the world, Rodionova recovered from a set down to overcome the Spanish world No.52 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a two-hour six-minute battle at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide.
Rodionova gave herself the perfect birthday present last month when she came out victorious in the Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs to secure a spot in the main draw of the opening Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
Sunday order of play – the main draw begins!
She appears to have kept up her momentum at the Adelaide International and was impressive against Suarez Navarro on Saturday.
“I feel great, I feel like I’m playing some decent tennis in the new year. I kind of came out swinging, because obviously she’s a great player, I had nothing to lose. It’s just always great to have a couple of good matches before the Australian Open,” Rodionova told adelaideinternational.com.au.
“I don’t know if she’s top 50, or around 50, she’s a great player regardless of where her ranking is. So it’s one of my biggest wins and I’m really happy.
“The Aussie summer is the most exciting part of the year for us and I’m really enjoying it.”
We're going to miss this backhand…
Catch @CarlaSuarezNava's signature shot in action today at #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/sUYQT57WHX
— Adelaide International (@AdelaideTennis) January 11, 2020
The 31-year-old Suarez Navarro, who is a four-time Australian Open quarter-finalist and a former world No.6, recently announced that 2020 would be the last season of her professional career. With retirement looming for the Canary Islands native, Rodionova made sure to pay tribute to her opponent.
“I think we’re a similar age, we’ve been playing on tour both for many years. I think she’s a really nice girl. We’ve played a few matches against each other, especially in doubles. We’ve always had mutual respect for each other. She’s had an amazing career and I hope she’s going to have fun this year,” said Rodionova.
Over on Match Court 1, 15-year-old South Australian Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz put together a valiant effort against world No.88 Vitalia Diatchenko en route to a tight 7-6(9), 6-3 loss to the Russian.
Kempenaers-Pocz, who clinched the 18/u Australian Championships girls’ singles title last month, pushed Diatchenko all the way in a gruelling 71-minute first set, and hung with her in the second before surrendering. Her performance caught the eye of Anett Kontaveit and Ajla Tomljanovic, who were practicing together on a nearby court, and a curious Kontaveit stuck around to watch the whole first set.
“I feel very privileged, I’m so happy I got to play in my hometown and I’m pretty happy with my performance,” said Kempenaers-Pocz after the match.
“I’m really happy with how I stayed in the match. My composure could have been better but I’m still happy that I could do how I played today.”
Speaking of her recent success at the 18/u Australian Championships, she added: “I feel like that tournament kind of set me up and I know my level and hopefully I can make this year a bit better than last year and keep competing.”
Diatchenko next takes on top-seeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who advanced to the final round of qualifying with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Japan’s Ena Shibahara. Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich squeezed past Shuko Aoyama 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and will challenge Germany’s Tatjana Maria for a spot in the Adelaide main draw.