Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens crash out

MELBOURNE: The racket had slipped out of her hand and was lying somewhere on the Rod Laver Arena. Belinda Bencic buried her disbelieving countenance in the palm of her hands before turning to the crowd and then her vanquished opponent - the 37-year-old Venus Williams. Slowly the tears, more from shock, gave way to a smile that put the afternoon sun to shade.
The scene at the Australian Open was fitting of a Grand Slam triumph, not a 6-3, 7-5, near two-hour, first-round result.But it has been that sort of a journey for the young Swiss, who was ranked outside the top-300 some four months ago. Bencic, who had 32 winners on Monday, 18 of which came from the forehand side, hadn't won so much as a set against the towering American in their four previous meetings.
"I was really happy I took my chances this time," the 20-year-old said. "I was thinking a lot about the last matches, I had a little bit too much respect, played a little bit careful and safe. This time I tried to hit big, also tactically be smart. It's tough to play her. You have to be on the limit of your game, you have to come out with everything you have."
Bencic, a former top-10 player who played her first main draw match on the Tour against Venus when she was 15, underwent leftwrist surgery in April last year, missing five months of action thereafter. Her ranking had slipped to 312. Choosing to work her way up, she entered lower rung ITF events. She played tournaments ranging from $25,000 to $125,000 in prize-money, winning 28 of 31 matches that gave her four titles.
In other shock results among the women, China's Shuai Zhang put out US Open champion and 13th seed Sloane Stephens 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. The 24-year-old American, who hasn't won a match since emerging victorious in New York in the fall, has now lost eight straight matches, including in the first round in Sydney. American 10th seed Coco Vandeweghe, who was handed a point penalty (for audible obscenity), bowed to Hungary's Timea Babos 6-7 (4-7), 2-6.
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, fell behind 1-4 in the second set, but did well to close out a 6-1, 6-4 win over former Roland Garros winner 37-year-old Francesca Schiavone.
Among the men, top-seeded Rafael Nadal, playing in a shade of pink that made you reach for your shades, was in top form rolling to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win over Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic. Third seed Grigor Dimitrov put out Austria's Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.