The Spanish title contender Garbine Muguruza lived up to her role as favorite at the start of the Australian Open and cleared her opening hurdle in Melbourne for the tenth time in a row.
The 28-year-old beat France’s Clara Burel 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday and remains in contention for the first major trophy of the year.
The third-seeded Spaniard won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon a year later before falling far down the world rankings. Muguruza then returned to the top of the world last year, winning titles in Chicago and Dubai before landing a coup at the WTA Finals in Guadelajara in November. Now Muguruza wants to build on that in Melbourne.
Out is the two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic, who found no recipe against the Romanian Sorana Cirstea and lost 2: 6, 2: 6.
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