WTA Adelaide: New edition of the Indian Wells final at the beginning
With the duel between Paula Badosa and Victoria Azarenka , round one of the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide will bring about a new edition of the Indian Wells final.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Jan 01, 2022, 06:59 pm
In view of the enormously strong field of participants at the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide, hammer duels could be expected early on even before the first draw of the year - and a look at the tableau shows that the hopes of tennis fans were not disappointed.
The big highlight of the first round was the match between Paula Badosa and Victoria Azarenka: The two faced each other in the Indian Wells final last year, Badosa 7: 6 (5), 2: 6 after more than three hours of play and 7: 6 (2) won . All observers then rated the game as one of the best of the year.
The field in Adelaide is led by Ashleigh Barty, who, like world number second Aryna Sabalenka, initially has a bye. In round two, Barty meets Cori Gauff or a qualifier, Sofia Kenin could wait as the first seeded opponent. Badosa or Iga Swiatek are possible opponents in the semifinals.
Sabalenka will play her first match of the season against Kaja Juvan or Chloe Paquet before she could face Elina Svitolina. Other seeded players in the lower half are Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybakina. The tournament in the state of South Australia begins on January 3rd.