[1]Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and freshly crowned French Open champion Francesca Schiavone both lost on a day of upsets at the Eastbourne International on Tuesday.
Danish 19-year-old Wozniacki, the reigning champion, fell 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to France’s Aravane Rezai in the first round, while second-seeded Italian Schiavone lost 7-5, 6-3 against Romanian world number 57 Sorana Cirstea.
Wozniacki was playing her first match on grass since the Wimbledon fourth round last summer. “I would have liked to have gotten more matches,” she said. “But I will now keep my head up and plan some practice matches to prepare.”
Two more seeds also lost, with 2008 champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the fourth seed, going out to Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.
Russian Elena Makarova accounted for Italy’s sixth-seeded Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1. But Belgian Kim Clijsters came through well in her first match in seven weeks after a foot injury, defeating compatriot Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-1.
“It was not bad for the first match in a while,” said the 2005 champion.
“I was happy with it. Conditions were not easy, the wind was always switching, it was another thing to focus on.
“I tried to be aggressive when I had to. I was consistent and that’s not easy at the start of the grass season. It was a good match to get over and done with, I felt no pains in the foot today so that’s good.”
Giant-killer Rezai, a winner on clay last month in Madrid over Venus Williams, came up trumps in her first career meeting with Wozniacki, who stood second in the world until being replaced by Williams after the French Open.
“This was not an unexpected win for me,” said world number 19 Rezai. “I know I have the game to play well and beat big players like I did in the weeks before Paris. I also have the game for grass. — AFP
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/sp06161jpg-782