|
|
| 21 Jan 2003 | |
| Upsets rock day two in Melbourne |
As temperatures in Melbourne cooled down a notch to relieve yesterday’s
sultry conditions, events in the girls’ draw proved th
unknown
Normal
ITF
3
37
2003-01-21T08:36:00Z
2003-01-21T08:36:00Z
1
442
2522
unknown
21
5
3097
9.2720
By Eleanor Preston
As temperatures in Melbourne cooled
down a notch to relieve yesterday’s sultry conditions, events in the girls’
draw proved that competition in the juniors is as hot as ever.
Following on from yesterday’s
upsets, third seed Petra Cetkovska was given a bad case of the first round
blues by local girl Casey Dellacqua. Dellacqua, from Perth in Western
Australia, beat Cetkovska 6-2, 7-5.
Tenth seed Katerina Bondarenko and
sixth seed Ana Ivanovic also fell on a day which decimated the girls’ draw.
Bondarenko was beaten 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 by 16-year-old Chinese girl Rui Du.
Ivanovic fell in the most dramatic
circumstances, losing an epic battle against Andrea Petkovic in which they
needed sixteen games in the third set to settle matters. Petkovic eventually
prevailed 1-6, 6-1, 9-7 in the longest match of the junior tournament so far.
In other results top seed and
defending champion Barbora Strycova asserted her authority over Moe Kawatoko of
Japan, winning 7-5, 6-3. Twelfth seed, Kristina Czafikova of Slovakia had a far
tougher time before she eased past Sara Errani 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
She may not be seeded but Virag
Nemeth is regarded by many as one of the dark horses in the girl’s draw. The
seventeen-year-old, from Hungary, was in blistering form against Australia’s Tiffany
Welford, demolishing her 6-1, 6-0.
It’s a testament to the high
standards that Nemeth sets herself that she was barely satisfied with her
performance against Welford. “I liked my backhand today and my forehand was
okay but there was a little bit of a problem with my serve, with too many
double faults,” she said, before admitting that perhaps she was a little hard
on herself sometimes. “I won easily and I can still improve, that’s not too
bad,” she smiled.
Nemeth says she is just delighted to be here after
enduring a frustrating year of injury in 2002. A series of physical problems,
culminating in a painful right wrist, has meant she missed the Australian Open
for the last two years’ running and she is thrilled that she has finally made
it to Melbourne. “I am so happy just to be here and to be playing well. I
didn’t play for six months last year because I was injured so to play good
makes me very pleased.
I had problems and had pain every
time I hit the ball, and it was very serious. This is like a new start and a
new year and it’s special.”
Playing well and enjoying her tennis
again, Nemeth has the experience to be a big threat to the girls’ title even
without the protection of a seeding. She is determined not to get ahead of
herself. “I have said to myself all along that is only about the next match,
then the next match. I might win the tournament that way but it will be because
I say ‘next match, next match, next match’ each time.”
The big upset in the boys’ draw was
Patrick Wolfler’s hard-fought 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 win over eleventh-seeded Briton
David Brewer. Elsewhere eighth-seed Chris Guccione, second seed Brian Baker and
Romania’s Florian Mergea all moved smoothly through to the third round.
Photographs by Ron Angle
^ Back to Top
|
