Fuente: © Australian Open
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Lessons Learned By Aussie Women

/noticias.info/ by Jordan Chong
Monday, 16 January, 2006


Three Australian women got a glimpse of life at the top when each took on one of the world's best on Day One of Australian Open 2006.

Unfortunately for Casey Dellacqua, Sophie Ferguson and Lauren Breadmore, their stay was briefer than they would have preferred.

Each was provided with an example of how hard they'll have to work in order to improve their respective games.

By any reckoning, the challenges presented to the Australian trio seemed enormous - Dellacqua, the world No.180 took on No.1 seed and three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport, Ferguson was pitted against No.6 seed Nadia Petrova and Breadmore faced 2004 US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.

First up was Dellacqua, the young West Australian left-hander making her Rod Laver Arena debut.

The 20-year-old made a good fist of things early on, taking the American to deuce and holding game points on her serve in the initial moments of the first set.

But she was unable to convert her opportunities, with Davenport eventually finding her rhythm and overpowering her opponent to record a 6-2 6-1 first-round win in 57 minutes.

Dellacqua hit 14 winners to Davenport's 17, but playing in just her fifth Grand Slam, admitted her opponent was on a different level.

"I'm not used to that pace of ball, coming from someone like Lindsay. I've been playing girls for the last four months that are ranked maybe 300 to 500 in the world. To play someone No.1 in the world is a big jump," Dellacqua said after the match.

"I think if I had stayed a little bit tougher early on into that first set, maybe I would have gotten into the match a lot more. I had a few break points. But, yeah, I kind of let it slip away a little bit in a few games."

"Once she got into the match, I felt like I was outclassed for sure."

The next would-be giant-killing Aussie was 19-year-old Sophie Ferguson, who took the first set off Petrova when the pair met in the second-round of last year's Australian Open.

Perhaps wary of Ferguson's fast start last year, an on-song Petrova began strongly on Show Court 2, taking the first set in 33 minutes before running out a 6-2 6-1 winner.

Petrova, 23, proved much too strong all over the court, with 26 winners to Ferguson's two.

Ferguson, ranked world No.222, said Petrova never let her settle into the match.

"I think today Nadia played really well and didn't really do a lot wrong and didn't give me any free points. I guess she showed me why she's No. 6 in the world,'' Ferguson said.

"Last year I went out and, you know, had nothing to lose, played a good first set, then obviously fell away in the second two. Maybe last year she was unsure of what I was going to be like and how I was going to play. But I think this year she knew what was coming.''

Finally, in the late evening on Court 6, Svetlana Kuznetsova made it an even more disappointing day for Australia when she defeated Lauren Breadmore 6-1 6-3.

The 61-minute clash saw Kuznetsova not concede a break point while Breadmore's serve was broken on four occasions.

However, Breadmore was upbeat after the match, her first against a player ranked inside the world's Top 20 and debut effort in a Grand Slam.

The 22-year-old Victorian, who manages to juggle tennis with a Law/Commerce degree at Melbourne University, won the first game of the match and said she took heart from being able to compete with Kuznetsova from the baseline.

"I felt like I could match her for power and had a lot of opportunities. I think I've got a big serve and I can hit the ball and match it with her," Breadmore said.

"The more I play these players the more confident I'm going to get, I've got the power and I think I've got the game. I wasn't overawed by her power or anything like that.''

"I just need more and more matches at that level.'' notas_de_prensa_archivo