Kvitova Wins in Sydney, Vesely Wins 1st Title

Petra Kvitova has warmed up for the Australian Open with a SF in Shenzhen and a title in Sydney.  Does this bode well for her or has she overplayed?  Viktor Troicki is back and possibly better than ever as he qualifies in Sydney, then wins the title.  Heather Watson beat 3 Americans on the way to her title in Hobart.  The British #1 appears to be fully healthy and ready to make some noise on tour.  And there are quite a few up-and-coming young men, but 21-yr-old Czech Jiri Vesely, the '11 boys Aussie Open champion, breaks through for his first title in Auckland.

Tournament Finals
Auckland (ATP): Q) Jiri Vesely (CZE) def. Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3 6-2
Sydney (ATP): Q) Viktor Troicki (SRB) def. Q) Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-2 6-3
Hobart (WTA): Heather Watson (GBR) def. Q) Madison Brengle (USA) 6-3 6-4
Sydney (WTA): 2) Petra Kvitova (CZE) def. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 7-6 7-6

Vesely: 1st career title
Troicki: 2nd career title, last '10 Moscow
Watson: 2nd career title, last '12 Osaka
Kvitova: 15th career title, last '14 Wuhan

Defending Champions
Auckland: John Isner (USA), withdrew
Sydney (ATP): Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG), QF l. to Kukushkin
Hobart: Garbine Muguruza (ESP), QF l. to Kerber (Sydney)
Sydney (WTA): Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL), SF l. to Kvitova (as qualifier)

First ATP Final
-Adrian Mannarino (FRA), 26-yr-old ranked #44
-Q) Jiri Vesely (CZE), 21-yr-old ranked #63

First ATP SF
-L) Lucas Pouille (FRA), 20-yr-old ranked #136 (Auckland)

First ATP QF
-Pouille

First ATP win
-Michael Venus (NZL), 27-yr-old ranked #426 (Auckland), the first win by a Kiwi since '10 Auckland, first over a "foreigner" since '02

First WTA Final
-Q) Madison Brengle (USA), 24-yr-old ranked #84 (Hobart)

First WTA SF
-Brengle

Americans Results (men 3-3, women 9-7)
-Q) Brengle l. to Watson, Hobart F; def. Nara, SF; def. Knapp, QF; def. Kozlova, R2; def. 7) Barthel, Hobart R1
-8) Riske l. to Watson, Hobart SF; def. 2) Diyas, QF; def. Jovanovski, R2; def. McHale, Hobart R1
-5) Stephens l. to Watson, Hobart R2; def. Niculescu, R1
-Davis l. to 1) Dellacqua, Hobart R1
-McHale ret. vs Riske, Hobart R1
-Keys ret. vs Pironkova, Sydney R2; def. Kuznetsova, R1
-L) Gibbs l. to Ka.Pliskova, Sydney R1
-8) Johnson l. to 4) Anderson, Auckland QF; def. Carreno Busta, R2; def. Sousa, R1
-Young def. Schwartzman, Auckland R2; def. Soeda, R1
-Querrey l. to 7) Chardy, Sydney R1

Notable results
-Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) returned from a nearly year long injury layoff in Sydney with a QF and a win over Fognini
-Diego Schwartzman (ARG), 22-yr-old ranked #58, picked up his 4th win (1st hard court) in Auckland over Garcia-Lopez.
-Not a good week for those who went deep last week. Davis, S.Zheng, Svitolina, Wozniacki all out early
-Errani and Kuznetsova begin the year 0-2
-Karolina Pliskova (CZE) def. Nicole Gibbs (USA) 6-0 6-0
-Angelique Kerber (GER) def. Daria Gavrilova (RUS) at 3:10 am local time.  Nice start to the year for Gavrilova.
-Due to weather delays, 5 players had to play 2 matches in a day in Hobart (R2/QF).

3rd set Tiebreaks
-Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) def. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 7-4, Sydney R1
-Q) Madison Brengle (USA) def. 7) Mona Barthel (GER) 7-2, Hobart R1
-3) Camila Giorgi (ITA) def. Storm Sanders (AUS) 8-6, Hobart R1
-Jerzy Janowicz (POL) def. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 7-5, Sydney R1
-Gilles Muller (LUX) def. Sam Groth (AUS) 8-6, Sydney R1
-Michael Venus (NZL) def. Q) Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) 9-7, Auckland R1
-5) Leonardo Mayer (ARG) def. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 7-3, Sydney R2

Long Tiebreaks
Muller def. Tomic 15-13, Sydney QF
Hantuchova def. Hogenkamp 12-10, Hobart R1