Well, according to TF experts she was going to beat Muguruza next, but it's the first match of the season, so you gotta give her some slack.
Lepchenko is undervaluated and tricky though. She plays a lot lefty heavy top spin angles and doesn't give other players much to work with. Could cause trouble to Muguruza too.
Tee-hee! Slow start for the season. Needs to warm up.
Anna was lacking speed in this match. Varvara is never easy to play. First thing is to avoid her lefty forehand (certainly one of the best forehands on the tour) but then her crosscourt backhand is hard to counterpunch crosscourt too, so you have to attack her first, and Anna isn't the kind of player who attacks first. She tried around the end, though. I can recall at least one rally where Anna dictated the point by playing with more power, but it didn't look like her usual game. But probably the direction to go, if she doesn't want to be stopped as early as the first round anymore by players like Lepchenko.
Anna needs time to read her opponent's game, or to impose hers. It's more of a clay court game. She didn't find any solution here on Brisbane's hard court against Lepchenko.
LOL @ the idea of Schmiedlova being hyped anywhere, including here. What, a couple of posters said she had talent maybe and this is interpreted as "future great"?
Terrible loss from her anyway, hope it's not the start of a slump after her brilliant 2015.