Caroline Wozniacki, playing her first match since losing her world No. 1 ranking, crashed out of the Qatar Open on Wednesday, squandering three match points in a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) defeat to Lucie Safarova.
There was also misery for defending champion Vera Zvonareva, who quit with a hip injury midway through her second round match against Romania’s Monica Niculescu.
Czech left-hander Safarova saved three match points in the third set and played a superb tiebreaker to set up a third round clash with Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.
Photo: Reuters
Wozniacki, seeded two, but now ranked No. 4 in the world, was deposed from the world top spot when she was knocked out of the Australian Open quarter-finals.
“I just want to get out of here [the press conference room]. You don’t want to stay when you lose a match like that,” Wozniacki said.
However, there were no such problems for newly-crowned world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who cruised into the third round, beating Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-1, 6-0. The Belarussian top seed will now take on Romania’s Simona Halep.
Photo: EPA
Even the presence of golfer boyfriend Rory McIlroy could not inspire Wozniacki as she made several unforced errors on big points to allow Safarova back into the match in the second set.
The Dane also failed to take advantage of three match points in the 10th game of the third.
Buoyed by the let-off, Safarova really turned it on in the tiebreaker, pulling away after the scores were tied 3-3, a lucky net cord giving her a 4-3 lead. A cracking double-handed backhand passing shot saw the Czech go up 5-3.
Zvonareva’s hip problem came back to haunt her for the second consecutive week when she called it quits after trailing Niculescu.
Niculescu had taken the first set 7-5 and was leading 3-2 in the second when Zvonareva, the sixth seed, decided she could not take the pain anymore.
Earlier, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland thrashed Great Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-2, while French fifth seed Marion Bartoli also had it easy, beating Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-0.
Serb eighth seed Jelena Jankovic fell to Israeli Shahar Peer 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, while compatriot Ana Ivanovic also bowed out, losing to 6-4, 6-4 to the Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska.
US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia advanced beating Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
COPA BBVA COLSANITAS
AP, BOGOTA
Seeded players Jelena Dokic of Australia, Romina Oprandi of Switzerland and Loudres Dominguez Lino of Spain were eliminated from the Copa BBVA Colsanitas on Wednesday, a outdoor event on red clay in the Colombian capital.
No. 4 Dokic lost in the first round to Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while the third-seeded Oprandi was defeated by Timea Babos of Hungary 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the second round.
The seventh-seeded Dominguez Lino fell to Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the second round. Top seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand had better luck in her first-round match, beating Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4.
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