Wozniacki Falls to Kuznetsova in Sydney
Seventh-seeded and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-2 in opening round action at the Apia International Sydney. Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number two, recently came back from a six-month knee injury layoff and had to come through the qualifiers this week.
"Before the break, I was losing to Goerges, I was losing to Wozniacki, every time I was up and had chances and could never close those matches," Kuznetsova said. "Now, after the break, I just feel fresh, I feel happy, I feel balanced on the court. I feel I’m doing the right things when I have to do them. I’m definitely far away from where I want to be at, but I like how it looks at the moment."
Agnieszka Radwanska, crowned a winner at last week’s Auckland event and the top seed in Sydney, was broken in the first game of her match, but eventually made it past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6-4, 6-3.
"I couldn’t imagine a better start to the year," Radwanska said. "It was my first time in Auckland, and I had a really good couple of matches there, some really good preparation before coming here."
Second-seeded Angelique Kerber had to rally from a 5-2 second set deficit, saving three set points down 5-4, en route to a 6-2, 7-5 win over Galina Voskoboeva, while the number three seed Sara Errani of Italy dominated Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 6-1.
American qualifier Madison Keys jumped out to a 6-0, 3-1 lead against Zheng Jie and closed it out, 6-0, 6-4. The 16-year-old Keys, who scored her first top 20 win over Lucie Safarova in the first round on Monday, is now through to the first WTA quarterfinal of her blossoming career.
