Sunday, January 13, 2013

Wozniacki bows out in Brisbane

Updated December 31, 2012 20:25:15

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki crashed out of the Brisbane International in the first round following a three-set defeat to Kazakh qualifier Ksenia Pervak.

Wozniacki, seeded eighth in Brisbane, was expected to cruised through to the second round comfortably but the 103-ranked Pervak upset the Dane 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).

Pervak served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, however Wozniacki was able to fight her way back and force a tie-breaker.

But Pervak, who was ranked as high as 37 in 2011, found her cool and dominated the tie-breaker 7-1 to move through to the second round to meet Pole Urszula Radwanska.

"Obviously it's tough to lose 7-6 in the third," Wozniacki said.

"It was a tough match. Could have gone both ways. She just went for it and it went in for her. Hopefully I can get some more matches in Sydney and be more prepared for Melbourne."

Among other results in the women's draw French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy easily accounted for Russia's Olga Puchkova 6-1, 6-3.

The fifth-seeded Errani will be joined in the last 16 by fourth-seeded German Angelique Kerber, who downed Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

There was little joy for local fans with Australian qualifier Bojana Bobusic losing to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova says 2012 has been the most memorable year of her career after her victory at the French Open and carrying Russia's flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

"A lot of things came together," she said.

"It (French Open) was the grand slam that was going to take a little bit longer than the others for me.

"I knew that physically I needed a few extra years to get stronger to move more efficiently on that surface."

Sharapova, competing at the Brisbane International, says there is more depth in women's tennis than at any stage of her 12-year career.

"It's much more physical than it has been," she said.

"Maybe five years ago you go into a tournament and you would treat the first couple of rounds as, you know, not as a warm-up, but you don't have to go into the first round thinking, okay, this is where I really have to play my best tennis.

"Now it's certainly much different because you can be facing an opponent that's had good results, beaten top players, hasn't been consistent enough but is a really tough, tough player.

"The inconsistency obviously shows that their ranking is not high enough, therefore you're facing them in the first few rounds."

Sharapova, the second seed in Brisbane, will meet Australian Jarmila Gajdosova in her opening match of the tournament in the second round.

ABC/Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, brisbane-4000

First posted December 31, 2012 18:21:12


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