Juan Martin del Potro savoured the thrill of being on court again by winning his first match in 10 months since wrist surgery at the APIA Sydney International on Tuesday.
The Argentine, who is defending his Sydney title on a wildcard after his ranking sank to 338 due to his inactivity, registered a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Meanwhile, a tough playing schedule caught up with world No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska when she was dumped out in the first round.
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, who won last year’s Hobart International as a qualifier and is currently ranked 24, fought back from dropping the opening set to beat the Polish third seed 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
It is the first tournament Radwanska, coming off Poland’s win in the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth, is playing under new coach and tennis great Martina Navratilova.
Two-time Wimbledon champion and Czech second seed Petra Kvitova was too strong for China’s Peng Shuai, winning 6-1, 7-5.
Stosur out Fellow Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova knocked out Australia’s top-ranked player Samantha Stosur 7-6(1), 6-2 and will face defending champion Tsvetana Pironkova in the next round.
Pironkova won her 13th straight match at the Sydney tournament, progressing on an injury retirement into quarterfinals.
Pironkova advanced when American youngster Madison Keys was forced to retire from their second-round encounter with a right shoulder injury.
Keys had won the opening set 6-4 but trailed 4-1 in the second before calling it quits.
The Bulgarian continued on her winning way and remained on track to win the trophy as a qualifier for the second successive year.
Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro ousted Russian sixth seed Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to progress to a quarterfinal match against the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova.
Pliskova took full advantage of the withdrawal of Romanian top seed Simona Halep to trounce American Nicole Gibbs 6-0, 6-0.
Halep said she was forced out with gastroenteritis she picked up during her tournament win in Shenzhen in China last week.
Steady rain wiped out play at the Kooyong Classic on Tuesday, although Japanese headliner Kei Nishikori managed to secure an indoor practice session as the Australian Open countdown heats up.
The results:
At Sydney: APIA Sydney International: Men: First round: Juan Martin del Potro bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 7-6(4); Bernard Tomic bt Igor Sijsling 6-1, 6-2; Pablo Andujar bt Jarkko Niemenen 6-2, 6-2; Mikhail Kukushkin bt Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-6(1); Vasek Pospisil bt Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(4); Jeremy Chardy bt Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4; Viktor Troicki bt Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-3; Gilles Muller bt Samuel Groth 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6).
Doubles: Second round: Rohan Bopanna & Daniel Nestor bt Pablo Cuevas & David Marrero 6-7(11), 7-5, 10-6.
Women: Second round: Karolina Pliskova bt Nicole Gibbs 6-0, 6-0; Carla Suarez Navarro bt Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Madison Keys 4-6, 4-1 (retd.).
Garbine Muguruza bt Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2; Barbora Zahlavova Strycova bt Samantha Stosur 7-6(1), 6-2; Petra Kvitova bt Peng Shuai 6-1, 7-5.
At Auckland: ATP Heineken Open: Kenny De Schepper bt Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-3; Diego Schwartzman bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Donald Young bt Go Soeda 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-3; Jiri Vesely bt Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(4).
Michael Venus bt Alejandro Gonzalez 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(7); Alejandro Falla bt Jose Statham 6-4, 6-4; Pablo Carreno Busta bt Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3; Albert Ramos-Vinolas bt Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-3; Lu Yen-Hsun bt Juan Monaco 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
