THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Former world No. 7 Nicole Vaidisova began her comeback from an injury-affected 2008 with a first-round win at the ASB Classic women's tennis tournament Monday. Fourth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., beat Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 on a day in which all four seeded players progressed to the second round of the singles. Vaidisova, the sixth seed on her current ranking of 41, took two hours 27 minutes to beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5. The 19-year-old Czech player, winner of six WTA singles titles, led 4-0 in the third set before briefly losing her way against the 71st-ranked Kudryavtseva. She squandered two match points at 5-3 but converted her third match point against serve in the 11th game of the set. "It's hard when you know you've had two match points on your serve," said Vaidisova, who injured her right wrist last year. "But I tried to hang in there, especially mentally. "It's the first week and I don't think you pay as much attention to how (your opponent) plays as what you're trying to do. You try to do things that you practised for two months." Third-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Italy's Mara Santangelo 7-5, 6-0 and No. 5 Shahar Peer of Israel beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-2. In a match between unseeded veterans, 34-year-old American Jill Craybas beat Japanese wild card Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 6-4. The 38-year-old Date Krumm, formerly ranked No. 4 and now 189, was playing her first professional tournament outside Japan since ending a 12-year retirement in May.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Wozniak advances in New Zealand
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Former world No. 7 Nicole Vaidisova began her comeback from an injury-affected 2008 with a first-round win at the ASB Classic women's tennis tournament Monday. Fourth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., beat Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 on a day in which all four seeded players progressed to the second round of the singles. Vaidisova, the sixth seed on her current ranking of 41, took two hours 27 minutes to beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5. The 19-year-old Czech player, winner of six WTA singles titles, led 4-0 in the third set before briefly losing her way against the 71st-ranked Kudryavtseva. She squandered two match points at 5-3 but converted her third match point against serve in the 11th game of the set. "It's hard when you know you've had two match points on your serve," said Vaidisova, who injured her right wrist last year. "But I tried to hang in there, especially mentally. "It's the first week and I don't think you pay as much attention to how (your opponent) plays as what you're trying to do. You try to do things that you practised for two months." Third-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Italy's Mara Santangelo 7-5, 6-0 and No. 5 Shahar Peer of Israel beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-2. In a match between unseeded veterans, 34-year-old American Jill Craybas beat Japanese wild card Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 6-4. The 38-year-old Date Krumm, formerly ranked No. 4 and now 189, was playing her first professional tournament outside Japan since ending a 12-year retirement in May.
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