Armed with a rare one-handed backhand and silky touch, Viktorija Golubic has long been one of the Hologic WTA Tour's foremost exponents of hot shots.
The Swiss player was at it again on Day 2 of the Australian Open en route to upsetting No.15 seed Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-1 in the first round. Golubic showed off all of her backhand's variety during a thrilling 25-shot exchange in the second set: a fizzing, flat drive down the line, a defensive lob at full stretch and finally an angled pass caressed delicately past Kudermetova.
Golubic will face Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
A day earlier, Budapest champion Maria Timofeeva had also won a thrilling exchange on the way to defeating Alizé Cornet 6-2, 6-4. Timofeeva, 20, was playing her first ever Grand Slam main draw match, and announced herself to KIA Arena in style.
The first set saw the No.170-ranked qualifier come out on top of a lungbuster that involved every shot in the book, from every corner of the court. Both players were at net, then pushed back; there were slices, lobs and even a Cornet tweener. But it was Timofeeva who finally ended it with a finely angled backhand pass.
Maria Timofeeva was over the moon when she earned her 1st Slam MD win, opened her phone, and saw this.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) January 14, 2024
"I was working for that (laughs).
"I didn't have much expectations. I just wanted to go there and show what I'm capable of. I didn't know I could play like this." https://t.co/UIKGXgwgjz
"I was working for that," she said afterwards. "I didn't have much expectations. I just wanted to go there and show what I'm capable of. I didn't know I could play like this."
Timofeeva will have to overcome another gulf in experience in the second round when she takes on 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki.
