MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — In her first match at the Australian Open since a Williams sister was guaranteed to win the title, Venus Williams lost in the first round to Belinda Bencic on Monday and ensured it cannot happen in 2018.
Venus lost last year's final at Melbourne Park to younger sibling Serena, who clinched an Open era-record 23rd major but hasn't played a Grand Slam tournament since because of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
The 6-3, 7-5 loss for Venus Williams was her first in five career meeting with the 20-year-old Bencic, who lost to Serena Williams in the first round here last year, and was part of a disappointing first day for American women.
Sloane Stephens' woes since her winning her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open continued with a first-round loss.
No. 13-seeded Stephens was serving for the match in the 10th game of the second set against Zhang Shuai but dropped her serve. She was outplayed in the tiebreaker and in the third set, with Zhang winning 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2.
It always shaped as a tough opener for Stephens, who hasn't won a tour-level match since her triumph at the U.S. Open last year and facing a player ranked No. 34, two spots off being seeded for the first major of the season.
Stephens didn't play last year's Australian Open because of a left foot injury that kept her out of action until Wimbledon. Since beating Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final, Stephens has lost eight matches.
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko made a positive start with a 6-1, 6-4 win over 37-year-old Francesca Schiavone. The age gap between 20-year-old Ostapenko and 2010 French Open winner Schiavone was the biggest of any in the first round at Melbourne Park.
No. 3 Virginia tops NC State
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Devon Hall scored a career-best 25 points and No. 3 Virginia pushed its winning streak to eight with a 68-51 victory over North Carolina State on Sunday night.
Kyle Guy added 17 points for the Cavaliers (16-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Virginia has won 11 straight regular-season meetings against the Wolfpack.
Torin Dorn scored 16 points to lead N.C. State (12-6, 2-3), which arrived with a 3-0 record against ranked teams. The Wolfpack has beaten the No. 2 team twice — Arizona on Nov. 22 and Duke on Jan. 6 — and was coming off a 78-77 victory against No. 19 Clemson.
N.C. State scoring leader Allerik Freeman (15.2 points per game) did not score in 29 minutes, missing all five of his shots from the field.
Post 6 seeking sponsors, volunteers
PORTSMOUTH — Frank E. Booma Post 6 will host the 2018 New Hampshire Junior American Legion state tournament on July 28 to Aug. 1 at Leary Field.
There will be 15 games played during the four-day, double-elimination tournament, which culminates with the state championship game on Aug. 1. The tournament will feature the top eight Junior Legion clubs from around the state. These are 17-and-under teams that carry some of the best up-and-coming baseball talent in New Hampshire.
Post 6 is currently seeking tournament sponsors and volunteers. Part of the American Legion mission involves a commitment to community service.
Any inquiries regarding tournament sponsorship and volunteering should be directed to Junior Legion tournament director Matt Gladu at (867-8355) or gladu@comcast.net.
For further tournament details, visit www.newhampshireamericanlegionbaseball.com.