Australian Open: Venus Williams, US champion Stephens crash out in Round 1

Venus Williams of the US reacts after a point against Switzerlands Belinda Bencic during their womens singles first round match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 15 2018Pic AFPIn 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 and ensured it cannot happen in 2018 Venus lost last years final at Melbourne Park to younger sibling Serena who clinched an Open erarecord 23rd major but hasnt played a Grand Slam tournament since because of her pregnancy and the birth of her first childThe 63 75 loss for Venus Williams was her first in five career meetings with Bencic who lost to Serena Williams in the first round here last year It was a bleak opening day for American women with US Open champion Sloane Stephens No 10seeded CoCo Vandeweghe a semifinalist here and at the US Open last year and CiCiBellis the WTAs Newcomer of the Year going out in the first round The US women were 0 for 7 in firstround singles by midafternoonUS Open finalist and No 11seeded Kevin Anderson was the highestranked man eliminated at that point losing in five sets to Kyle Edmund the only British man in the draw after fivetime finalist Andy Murray withdrew No 16 John Isner lost in four sets to Australian Matt Edben The 20yearold Bencic saved five break points in the eighth game before a rain delay caused an almost halfhour suspension of play as the roof was closed on Rod Laver ArenaShe returned on a roll winning the next six points to hold serve and then clinch the set Bencic teamed up with Roger Federer to win the Hopman Cup for Switzerland in the first week of the season and had the 19time major winners parents in the crowd supporting her on today It must have helped having overcome the surprise whenthe draw was made that shed have to play another Williams in the first roundHonestly the first reaction of everyone was Oh bad luck But of course it would be nice to play somebody easier first round and get your rhythm a little bit Bencic said Its amazing when I was a little girl I was watching them on TV I never thought Id get a chance to play them Williams exit followed No 13seeded Stephens 26 76 2 62 loss to Zhang ShuaiStephens had a chance to serve for the match in the 10th game of the second set but dropped her serve She was outplayed in the tiebreaker and in the third set It always shaped as a tough opener for Stephens who hasnt won a tourlevel match since her Grand Slam breakthrough triumph at the US Open last year and facing aplayer ranked No 34 two spots off being seeded for the first major of the season Stephens didnt play last years Australian Open because of a left foot injury that kept her out of action until Wimbledon Since beating Madison Keys in the US Open final Stephens has lost eight matchesSloane she plays so well won the US Open everyone knows shes a great player Zhang said I know how hard Im working coming to Australia Im ready for every match every player Thats why I won today French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko made a positive start with a 61 64 win over 37yearold Francesca Schiavone the 2010 French Open winnerVandeweghe was leading in her first set before a rain delay on Hisense Arena and Timea Babos rallied to win 76 4 62 Of the other US women out in the first round Sofia Kenin lost to No 12 Julia Goerges a who extended her winning streak to 15 matches a Bellis lost to No 30 Kiki Bertens Alison Riske lost in three sets to Kirsten Flipkens Taylor Townsend lost in straight sets to No 19 Magdalena Rybarikova Among the other seeded players falling were No 24 Dominika Cibulkova the 2014 Australian Open finalist who lost to Kaia Kanepi and No 31 Ekaterina Makarova who lost 36 6 4 86 to IrinaCamelia Begu Ryan Harrison was among the men advancing beating Dudi Sela in five sets along with No 10 Pablo Carreno Busta No 23 Gilles Muller and No 31 Pablo CuevasCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go