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.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS