Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) – Two rising tennis stars with Filipino lineage faced off in the 2022 Australian Open women’s doubles first round on Wednesday.
It was Filipino Australian ace Lizette Cabrera and compatriot Priscilla Hon who prevailed in the battle, dominating the pair of Filipino Canadian Leylah Fernandez and Australia’s Erin Routliffe in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, at Court 16 in Melbourne Park.
Cabrera and Hon, who are wildcard qualifiers, got the early 2-0 lead in the first set but Fernandez and Routliffe forced them to commit errors in the next two frames to tie the game.
The Cabrera-Hon duo then showed their court experience in the succeeding games with scorching groundstrokes and crucial break points to gain the set advantage.
The second set was all Cabrera and Hon as they unleashed their powerful service points that caused a number of errors from Fernandez and Routliffe.
Cabrera and Hon are up for a tough task in their second round assignment, facing second seed Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan.
The loss ended the 19-year-old Fernandez’s 2022 Australian Open campaign, after suffering a first-round defeat against hometown bet and wildcard qualifier Maddison Inglis in singles on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cabrera failed to clinch a berth in this year’s Australian Open women’s singles main draw after losing to Dutch Richel Hogenkamp in the second round of the qualifying phase.
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