SYDNEY: A trio of big names tumbled out of the Sydney International on Monday ahead of the first Major of the year.
Double grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and French Open winner Francesca Schiavone crashed out of the first round in Sydney, while former world number one Jelena Jankovic also booked an early flight to Melbourne for next week’s Australian Open.
Kuznetsova, who had a good second half of 2013 to enter the Sydney tournament inside the top 20 after battling back from knee injuries in 2012, was surprisingly beaten 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 by Varvara Lepchenko.
Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, lost 6-4, 6-4 to Lucie Safarova. The 33-year-old was also knocked out of the first round of the Brisbane tournament last week by Jankovic.
Jankovic, the fourth seed in Sydney, was unable to repeat her semifinal run in Brisbane and was swept aside 6-4, 6-2 by left hander Ekaterina Makarova, who used her big ground strokes to move the world number eight around the court.
“I tried to be aggressive and not let her attack, because she’s really good playing down the line from the backhand,” Makarova told the tournament website.
“So I tried to move her to the backhand, not to stand and hit it.
“I was just thinking that it would be a really long match, every point is really long because she never miss those easy balls.”
Caroline Wozniacki, playing for the first time since announcing her engagement to golfer Rory McIlroy over the New Year, overcame a tough challenge from Julia Goerges before she clinched a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to set up a second round showdown against Safarova.
Meanwhile, Jack Sock vindicated Auckland Open organisers’ decision to give him a wild card with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino to set up a second round clash against second seed Tommy Haas. (Reuters)
