SHE might not have had one of the most promising starts to this year’s Australian Open, but Ballarat junior Zoe Hives has bolted into the quarter-finals of the junior girls doubles after an emphatic second round victory yesterday.
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Hives, 17, and her playing partner Lizette Cabrera lost just three games to their American opponents Michaela Gordon and Katrine Steffensen in the 6-1 6-2 victory.
Earlier in the week Hives was knocked out of the junior girls singles draw in the first round, losing a three-set match to Russian 10th seed Anastasiya Komardina, 3-6 6-4 6-3.
The Australian duo bested their opponents in almost every key statistic and won 64 per cent of the points received on serve as well as making just one unforced error for the match.
The pair will face Katie Boulter and Ivana Jorovic in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
Boulter, from Great Britain, and Serbia’s Jorovic had a tougher time of it in their second round match against another Australian pair Linda Huang and Kaylah McPhee.
The highly fancied pair lost the first set 6-2 before bouncing back in the second to win it 6-1 and run away with the match in the third set super tie-break, 10-4.