One Australian woman advanced in a walkover and another evidenced she's no pushover with a gutsy first-round triumph at the Adelaide International.
Australian duo Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Kasatkina progressed after contrasting matches on Monday's opening day of the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide.
READ MORE: Tomljanovic advances at Adelaide International
After 17-year-old compatriot Emerson Jones exited with a straight-sets loss, Kasatkina prevailed against Greek wildcard Maria Sakkari 7-6(2) 6-4 in a night clash on centre court.
World No.48 Kasatkina took 70 minutes to claim the opening set, and another 45 minutes to win the second against Sakkari, who was ranked third in the world in March 2022 and is currently 52nd.
After an opening-round loss to Anastasia Potapova at the Brisbane International, Kasatkina scored her first win in her adopted homeland, breaking Sakkari to love in the final game and sealing victory with a backhand return winner down the line.
“Honestly, I was waiting for this moment all summer,” said the former world No.8, who recovered from 4-1 down in the first set against Sakkari.
“And I was super nervous. I was like coming from Brisbane, losing a tough match there, and then seeing the draw here … it’s such a strong tournament.
“Honestly, I’m over the moon right now. It feel so special. And you guys making it special… honestly it’s a super special day for me, and I really wanted to finally experience this feeling of winning a match in front of the home crowd.
“Honestly, it feels pretty addictive.
“All of the previous years I was very very jealous of the Australian players because they’ve got this privilege, to play in front of their home crowd, to have a home Slam. But I was never expecting to be one of them.”
Kasatkina’s win sets up a second-round meeting with Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, the qualifier who upset No.4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Tomljanovic, meanwhile, faces the winner of the first-round class between compatriot Maya Joint and AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin.
She advanced when injury-hit Dane Clara Tauson retired after one set.
Tomljanovic won the set in a tiebreak, and Denmark's world No.14, who played with a vertical bandage on her left hamstring, then sought medical treatment before retiring.
The extent of her injury not immediately known ahead of the Australian Open starting on Sunday.
"It's really unfortunate when someone has to retire. I know what it feels like, it's never easy," the 32-year-old Tomljanovic said.
"But just from my point of view, that whole set I was very locked in and didn't really see what was going on with her and what was bothering her."