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Maria Sharapova makes early exit from Down Under
Sharapova, making her first appearance at Melbourne Park since winning the championship two years ago, lost to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 on the Rod Laver Arena.
Unable to defend her title last year because of a shoulder injury, Sharapova was a shadow of the player who stormed to the 2008 title without dropping a single set, contributing to her own defeat with 66 unforced errors and 11 double faults.
“It’s the first tournament of the year and I just came up against somebody that just played really good tennis,” Sharapova said. “”I could be disappointed or I could just take it as it is and just go back on the court and just keep working. I choose option two.”
Sharapova was the only major casualty on a day where everything else went according to script, except Melbourne’s fickle weather.
Instead of the extreme heat that has left competitors soaked in sweat and gasping for air, the players were greeted by wind and rain when they arrived this time.
Clijsters was runner-up at the Australian Open in 2004 but had given up on the idea of ever winning the title when she quit the sport in 2007.
But she made a fairytale comeback to the tour last year, winning the US Open, and is suddenly looming as one of the favorites in Melbourne after launching her campaign with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Canadian qualifier Valerie Tetreault.
Murray began his latest attempt to end Britain’s long grand slam drought with an impressive 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 victory over South African qualifier Kevin Anderson, while Roddick dusted himself off after colliding with a line judge to defeat Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Roddick, who is back playing after a knee injury cut short his 2009 season, said he initially feared the worst when he crashed into the official and tumbled to the court.
With the exception of Sharapova, the leading Russian women all advanced safely with Safina and Kuznetsova both sailing through their first matches. Safina, a finalist in Melbourne last year, defeated Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-4 despite still trying to rebuild her fitness after suffering back pain late last year.
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