Australian Open: Irina Begu through to second round, Halep to debut on Tuesday

Georgeta Gheorghe 15/01/2018 | 13:01

Romanian tennis player Irina Begu is through to the second round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, after defeating Ekaterina Makarova. Simona Halep, the WTA’s number one player, and the main seed of the tournament, will debut on Tuesday against local 17-year-old player Aiavei Destanee.

Irina Begu, ranked 40, topped Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, the tournament’s 31 seed, in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 in a three hour match. In the second round, Begu will face Croatian player Petra Martic. The two have met once, in a Fed Cup match in 2012, when Martic had the upper hand.

Monica Niculescu, (WTA 85), was defeated by Germany’s Mona Barthel (WTA 27) in two sets 6-4, 7-5.

Mihaela Buzarnescu, who played her first match on the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, exited the tournament after her defeat to Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-3. Wozniacki, the winner of the WTA Finals title in Singapore, is the tournament’s second seed.

Mihai Copil, the only male Romanian player on the main draw of the tournament, left the competition early after a three set loss to Frenchman Gilles Simon, ATP’s 57 seed.

Australian Open’s first seed, Romania’s Simona Halep, will make her debut as WTA’s number one player on Tuesday, against Australian teenager Aiavei Destanee. The Romanian player has yet to announce a partnership with an apparel and footwear sponsor. Halep did not renew her contract with Adidas, after the two parties could not agree on the financial terms of their partnership in time for the German giant’s 2018 budget. According to footwearnews.com, she is in talks with two brands and could soon be seen sporting the logo of Nike or Asics.

Simona Halep will play her first match at the Australian Open at 5.30 Romanian time on the Rod Laver Arena.

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