Monday, June 22, 2009

Birmingham champion, Ordina Open champion, Ordina Open finalist, and Eastbourne semifinalist all out in 1st round of Wimbledon

The glory was as brief as the grass season for four of that season's top stars in 2009, as they fell in the first round of Wimbledon. Eastbourne semifinalist Aleksandra Wozniak was defeated by clay specialist and Italian tour veteran Francesca Schiavone, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The young Birmingham champion, Magdalena Rybarikova, also went out, defeated by Italian clay expert Roberta Vinci. Also going out was Ordina Open finalist Yanina Wickmayer, who lost to Elena Vesnina, 6-1, 6-1.

The big shock, at least for me, was the defeat of Ordina Open champion Tammy Tanasugarn. Tanasugarn saved three match points, but ultimately lost to Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-4, 6-4. Parra Santonja hit seven aces, as well as almost twice as many winners as Tanasugarn, who never saw a break point. Last year, grass specialist Tanasugarn made it the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time, after having reached the round of 16 six times.

2 comments:

Beatka said...

Diane,
Aleksandra Wozniak was semifinalist in Eastbourne, she lost to Karolina Wozniacki in the semifinal, am I right? Karolina did not played yet and finalist Razzano is in the second round.

Diane said...

Yes, you are correct, and "semifinalist" is listed, but the "semi" part got whacked off--fixed now. Thanks, Beatka.