January 19, 2009
Maria Sharapova (former number one) is making an early exit in the tournament. Yes, Maria Sharapova is now out of the tournament.
It was just as well that Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin came back to give the Australian Open some first-day brilliancy on a rainy, dreary day at Melbourne Park yesterday.
Former top-ranked Maria Sharapova was a surprise 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4
loser yesterday to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.
US Open champion Clijsters, also a former number one and making a
return to the Australian Open in her sixth tournament back from
retirement, easily won her first-round match 6-0, 6-4 over Canadian
qualifier Valerie Tetreault.
Later yesterday, another former number one also on the comeback trail,
seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin, advanced with a 6-4, 6-3
win over fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens.
Henin lost to Clijsters in the Brisbane International final 10 days
ago in her return to the Tour.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal, the defending men’s champion, beat
Australia’s Peter Luczak 7-6 (0), 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal won his first Grand Slam singles title on hard courts – to go
with his four at the French Open and his one Wimbledon title – when he
beat Roger Federer in last year’s Australian Open final.
The Spanish left-hander didn’t find his rhythm until the latter part
of the first set against Luczak, dominating the tiebreaker and much of
the remainder of the match.
Steady rain first delayed the start of play on outside courts, then
forced several suspensions and more than a dozen postponements.
Officials finally called off play at 10pm on outside courts when the
rain returned, forcing the matches to be concluded today.
It was Sharapova’s earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2003
French Open, and comes after she lost in the second round at last
year’s US Open.
Top-seeded Serena Williams starts her title defence today against
Urszula Radwanksa of Poland.
Clijsters, who won the US Open in September in only her third
tournament back from time off to get married and have a baby, still
feels the nerves that come with playing in a Grand Slam.
“I have the experience from the past, but I haven’t been here for so
long,” Clijsters said. “So I think that’s why it all feels new again.
“So, yeah, the butterflies are there, but they’re not the same
butterflies as the ones when I was 15 where I couldn’t sleep the night
before a match.”
There were no nerves for Sharapova, who was making her first
appearance on Rod Laver Arena since winning the 2008 trophy.
She missed the Australian Open last year as part of a 10-month layoff
due to shoulder surgery, but said her shoulder did not bother her
yesterday.
“I could be disappointed or I could just take it as it is and just go
back on the court and just keep working,” Sharapova said.
“I choose option two. A bad day’s not going to stop me from doing what
I love. I’ll be back here on a Saturday of the second week, so you
watch.”
Sharapova rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set, holding serve and
then breaking Kirilenko to stay in the match. She dropped her own
serve after giving Kirilenko double match point.
“It’s never easy. I’m good friends with Maria,” Kirilenko said, but “I
tried my best to win today – I came here quite confident.”
Henin was mostly untroubled in beating Flipkens, getting a service
break in the ninth game, then holding to take the set.
Henin’s trademark groundstrokes were on display, augmented by several
forays to the net and a drop shot that Flipkens didn’t come close to
retrieving.
In other women’s play, last year’s finalist, second-seeded Dinara
Safina, won her first-round match, beating Magdalena Rybarikova of
Slovakia 6-4, 6-4. Another Russian, number three and French Open
champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, beat Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6
-1, 6-2.
In first-round men’s matches, US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro
beat American Michael Russell 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and number five Andy
Murray beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
“Little bit weird playing under the roof here – first time I’ve done
it,” Murray said.
Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick sat through a rain suspension before
beating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
The match at Hisense Arena, the tournament’s second covered court, was
suspended at 2-2 in second set so that organisers could close the
roof, which had also been opened despite rain in the area.
“First rounds are always a little uncomfortable, especially at a
Slam,” Roddick said. “You’re kind of built up, you’re maybe a little
bit overanxious. But I thought it was all right.”
Another American, Mardy Fish, was beaten in his first-round match,
losing 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to wildcard entry Andrey Golubev of
Kazakhstan.
Elsewhere, number 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile beat Olivier Rochus of
Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic defeated number
13 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
American Wayne Odesnik beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 4-6, 6- 1,
6-4, 6-2.
Top-seeded Roger Federer is scheduled to play his first-round match
today against Russia’s Igor Andreev.Sapa-AP
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