Four years after her first Australian Open singles victory in qualifying, Storm Hunter was back in the winner’s circle on Wednesday, this time taking out former world No.15 Kaia Kanepi.
World No.1 doubles player Hunter was blissfully unaware of recent AO fortunes, having last won in singles in the qualifying first round back in 2020.
“Thankfully, I didn’t know that stat before coming out,” a smiling Hunter, 29, said after a convincing 6-3 6-2 win over the 2022 AO quarterfinalist from Estonia.
“The fans get a bit rowdy out here, which I love.”
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It was, indeed, a near-capacity crowd on Court 3 for Hunter, who successfully qualified for both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in 2023. Now world No.179, she cracked forehand return winners to claim each of her two sets, with former Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur cheering from courtside.
Dayana Yastremska, the No.1 seed in women’s qualifying, will join Hunter in round two, having needed three sets to get past Lea Boskovic 6-3 4-6 6-3 in sometimes swirly conditions in Kia Arena.
No.12 seed Harriet Dart is also through, as is fast-rising teen Celine Naef of Switzerland, a 6-1 6-0 winner over Tatiana Porozova in just 55 minutes.
While Wednesday featured a majority of first-round clashes, there were a handful of players who earned their way into the final round of qualifying, including No.22 seed Sara Bejlek, a fast-rising 17-year-old from the Czech Republic. She beat Ankita Raina of India, 6-1 7-5.
No.3 seed Katie Volynets of the U.S. was also a winner, troubled little by Carol Zhao of Canada, 6-3 6-1.
Hunter Storm-ing through
Having played four mixed doubles United Cup matches for Australia last week across Perth and Sydney, Hunter said the transition to the singles court was a challenging one.
“Coming from United Cup and having to reset... it was definitely a bit of a mental battle,” she said. “I’m super happy with how I played.”
It was a slow start, however, for the Queensland native, who fell behind 0-3 as she attempted to adjust to the rocketing power of Kanepi. Then came a change in mentality.
“I told myself, ‘Just enjoy it... there’s no pressure on you here,’” she explained.
She found firm ground and went onto the front foot, blasting 32 winners in total to just 20 for Kanepi.
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It was a 180 from Hunter and Kanepi’s clash at the Adelaide International last January, where Hunter won just four games in a match she said she was “demolished” in.
She next meets the Swiss Naef, the two never having faced off before.
Naef: Bencic, Hingis are ‘inspiration for me’
2023 was a transition year for the 18-year-old Naef, who had reached world No.4 in the juniors, but leapt from No.872 in October of 2022 to a career-high of 121 just 12 months later and entered the AO as world No.137.
“A lot changed last year,” she said. “Everything was the first time and [a] new experience. But I am very happy and I [have] enjoyed how it goes.”
Her smooth strokes are akin to those of multi-Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, her compatriots – and for good reason: she spent eight years training with Melanie Molitor, the mother and coach of Hingis (who also worked with Bencic).
“Belinda and Martina are role models and inspiration for me,” she said.
She’s accompanied in Melbourne by her own mother, Sandra Naef, but is no newbie to the qualifying scene: she successfully qualified at Wimbledon last season, beating Yastremska in the final round to secure her Grand Slam debut.
“To qualify for a Grand Slam, I think it's very tough,” Naef said. “You have to win three rounds and there are very good players. But I made it one time [before] so I know it's possible. And next match I go and try to give all I have.”
Elsewhere...
The highest seed to go out on Wednesday was No.6 Laura Pigossi, the Brazilian who won the Pan American Games in both singles and doubles just a few weeks ago.
Having won the first set, she couldn’t make it count against Nigina Abduraimova, the world No.212 from Uzbekistan prevailing 5-7 7-5 6-0.