With one former women’s No. 1 making an early exit and the current one not playing until today, it was just as well that Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin came back to give the Australian Open some first-day luster on a rainy, dreary day at Melbourne Park.
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 No. 1 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.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Later yesterday, another former No. 1 also on the comeback trail. Seven-time Grand Slam singles 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 final at Melbourne Park.
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.
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 defense today against Urszula Radwanksa of Poland.
It was “just a bad day” 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 because of 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.
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 a number of forays to the net and a drop shot that Flipkens didn’t come close to retrieving.
Henin’s next match is against fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who downed Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-1.
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. Two other Russians also won — No. 3 and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6-1, 6-2.
In other 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 No. 5 Andy Murray defeated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Another American, Mardy Fish, was beaten in his first-round match, losing 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to wild-card entry Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan. American Wayne Odesnik beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Top-seeded Roger Federer was scheduled to play his first-round match today against Russia’s Igor Andreev. Rain is again in the forecast.
Police ejected 11 people from Melbourne Park yesterday for disruptive behavior and smuggling flares onto the grounds. A group of Croatian supporters were also denied entry after setting off a flare.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care