After the disappointment of missing out on qualifying for the women’s singles event at the Australian Open, British teenager Laura Robson received the next best thing: a first-round win in the women’s doubles on her 16th birthday.
Teamed with Australia’s Sally Peers, Robson cruised through to the second round in Melbourne earlier today, with the pair beating the experienced American duo Jill Craybas and Abigail Spears 6-3, 7-5.
Robson, who was born in Melbourne but brought up in Britain, has been adopted by the rowdy Australian crowd as one of their own, especially since being paired with Peers, who was also born locally.
The match was played on court five where fans chanted Robson’s name and one cheekily handed the rising star a certificate to change residence to Australia.
“[the crowd] get into it. At Wimbledon they certainly don’t make chants up for every change of ends,” said Robson, who partnered Andy Murray into the final of the Hyundai Hopman Cup mixed tournament in Perth last week.
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It was a good morning for the British women in doubles action, with Elena Baltacha and Sarah Borwell also progressing to the second round in their respective matches.
Baltacha followed her upset victory over No 30 seed Kateryna Bondarenko in the singles yesterday by partnering Liga Dekmeijere to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova and Aleksandra Wozniak. Borwell then completed a hat-trick of wins alongside American Raquel Kops-Jones. The pair defeated Polona Hercog and Petra Martic 6-4, 7-6.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams claimed her second consecutive straight-sets victory as she eased past Austria’s Sybille Bammer.
The 29-year-old has never won at Melbourne Park but, after losing just four games in her opening match against Lucie Safarova, the No 6 seed was again impressive in a 6-2, 7-5 victory. Her sister, Serena, is currently in action against Petra Kvitova.
In the men’s tournament the No 3 seed Novak Djokovic took a while to get untracked but won his second-round match at the Open, beating Marco Chiudinelli 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
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The Serbian player was outclassed by Chiudinelli, the No 3 Swiss player behind Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, in the opening set before dominating the next three to advance to the next round.
Djokovic will next play Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
Crowd favourites Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer are also set to play in Melbourne today. Hewitt, from Australia, will face Donald Young from the USA while Switzerland’s Feder will play Romania’s Victor Hanescu.