Daria Gavrilova will be out to improve on a disappointing start to the year when she takes on world no.97 Naomi Broady in the first round of the Australian Open. Join The Roar for live scores from around 9pm (AEDT).
Gavrilova was inconsistent at the Hopman Cup, and didn’t do much better at the Sydney International last week.
The most disappointing aspect of her Hopman Cup performance was losing to players she should have beaten comfortably in her first two matches.
Despite a victory against CoCo Vandeweghe and then dominating Donna Vekic during the first round of the Sydney event, Dasha was blown off the court by Johanna Konta in the second round.
Still, the local had a strong run to the fourth round of last year’s Australian Open, played on her preferred hard court, with a faster-paced game.
Broady hasn’t had a much stronger start to the season, the Briton bowing out at Auckland’s ASB Classic in the second round to Julia Georges – a match she lost in straight sets and should have at least competed in – before bombing out against Kateryna Bondarenko in qualifying for the Sydney International.
Broady, like Gavrilova, enjoys playing on the hard court but has never before played in the Australian Open, only making it out of the first round in one out of seven grand slam attempts.
The pair have previously matched up on two occasions, the most recent coming on the grass courts of Birmingham last year, where Broady took a tough, three-set win.
Their other meeting came back in 2012, on the hard court, with Gavrilova dominating in straight sets.
The winner of this match will take on either Ana Konjuh or Kristina Mladenovic in the second round.
Prediction
Gavrilova has the bigger serve, the more powerful game and is more consistent playing at the top level – she should dominate all over the court.
Gavrilova in straight sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores and coverage of this first round Australian Open match from around 9pm (AEDT), at the completion of Grigor Dimitrov vs Christopher O’Connell, and don’t forget to add a comment below.
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Scott Pryde
Expert
That'll do it here on The Roar for our live coverage of Day 2 at the Australian Open, Aussies getting through to the second round left, right and centre. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage of this match though as Daria Gavrilova beat Naomi Broady. We will be back tomorrow with a whole stack of live scores, as well as blogs of Nick Kyrgios vs Andreas Seppi at 6pm (AEDT) with Riley Pettigrew and Bernard Tomic vs Victor Estrella Burgos - I'll be covering that one at 8:30pm. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Yeah fantastic to see her come back from a set down Cheers Riley.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Match Results Daria Gavrilova has moved through to the second round of the 2017 Australian Open, coming back from a set down to record a tough victory over Naomi Broady. Gavrilova came out of the gates strongly, getting an early break in the first set, but it didn't take long for Broady to get her power game and massive serve - one of the biggest on the WTA - going. She would quickly break back and then break the serve of Gavrilova to take the lead before going on to claim the first set. Gavrilova was forced to play plenty of defence throughout the rest of the match, but got her attacking game going to a much better level, running away with the second set after making the early break. The third set was at a deadlock for the most part, with plenty of love service games and neither player able to crack the other, some high quality tennis being played on each point. Gavrilova completed a shaky hold of serve to go up 6-5, before Broady came back from 30-0, but then played some awful shots to lose the match in three sets. Match Statistics Match Duration: 1 hour and 57 minutes Aces: Gavrilova (5), Broady (19) Double faults: Gavrilova (3), Broady (0) First serves in: Gavrilova (57/81 @ 70%), Broady (52/85 @ 61%) Points won on first serve: Gavrilova (45/57 @ 79%), Broady (37/52 @ 71%) Points won on second serve: Gavrilova (11/24 @ 46%), Broady (18/33 @ 55%) Break points won: Gavrilova (4/6), Broady (3/4) Winners: Gavrilova (30), Broady (45) Unforced errors: Gavrilova (15), Broady (31) Total points won: Gavrilova (86), Broady (80) Final Score Daria Gavrilova 3 6 7 Naomi Broady 6 4 5
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
Great result for Gavrilova after a tough first set, hopefully she can get past Konjuh in the second round. Thanks for the call Scotty.
Scott Pryde
Expert
GAME, SET, MATCH Daria Gavrilova THERE IT IS! Gavrilova is through to the second round of the Australian Open. Broady goes for the big forehand down the line and misses the line. The players - good friends it should be added - share a warm embrace at the net, but the Aussie is through. Absolutely fantastic performance under all sorts of pressure, coming back from a set down. Daria Gavrilova 3 6 7 Naomi Broady 6 4 5
Scott Pryde
Expert
What a brilliant play from Gavrilova! Nails the running forehand into the corner that runs Broady off the court, before smashing one from inside the baseline down the line! Match point. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - AD Broady 6 4 5 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Broady with a fault before the second is a kick serve. Gavrilova with some nice defence to get into the point, Broady advancing to the net but putting a very lazy volley into the net. Brilliant from the Aussie. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - Broady 6 4 5 - deuce (1)
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! This is superb serving from Broady, going down the middle this time. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - 40 Broady 6 4 5 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault from Broady before she attacks the body and Gavrilova returns wide on the backhand. Just didn't move her feet well enough there. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - 30 Broady 6 4 5 - 30
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! Broady goes wide. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - 30 Broady 6 4 5 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fault from Broady now before Gavrilova slams the forehand down the line. Broady finds the net on the sliced forehand and the pressure is on. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - 30 Broady 6 4 5 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Broady a big serve and Gavrilova gets a deep return in. Broady doesn't get over it and finds the net. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - 15 Broady 6 4 5 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide first serve again from Gavrilova and that completes an easy hold of serve as Broady returns the backhand wide. Into that real danger period now. Break of serve will spell disaster from here to whenever this thing finishes. Gavrilova 3 6 6 - Broady 6 4 5 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide first serve from Gavrilova before she smokes the forehand into the corner for the winner. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 40 Broady 6 4 5 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Wide first serve from Gavrilova before she comes forward and puts the forehand away into the corner. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 30 Broady 6 4 5 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Body serve and a strong return from Broady. Gavrilova puts a running forehand into the net. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 15 Broady 6 4 5 - 15
Scott Pryde
Expert
Brilliant reflexes at the net from Gavrilova! Hits one over her head and then drops one straight over on a sharp angle. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 15 Broady 6 4 5 - 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! Goes wide this time and we are tied at 5. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - Broady 6 4 5 -
Scott Pryde
Expert
ACE! Broady goes down the middle. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 0 Broady 6 4 4 - 40
Scott Pryde
Expert
Gavrilova on the slide now, chasing a backhand that runs her off the court and she can only find the net. Gavrilova 3 6 5 - 0 Broady 6 4 4 - 30