First-round action continued at the Brisbane International on Tuesday. The day was marked by the upsets of Sloane Stephens and Donna Vekic by qualifiers and Maria Sharapova’s return to competition.
Eighth seed Madison Keys opened the season with a solid 6-3 6-2 victory over Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova, getting 70% of first serves in and winning 81% of points behind her first serve.
Sloane Stephens was knocked out in the first round 6-4 2-6 6-3, falling to Russian world No.129 Liudmila Samsonova, who had progressed past Kaylah McPhee, Kristina Mladenovic and Marta Kostyuk to make the main draw.