First day in Melbourne brings no surprises

The first day of the Australian Open went pretty much as I thought it would. I expected Kimiko Date Krumm and Kaia Kanepi to have a very close three-set match, and they did. From viewing the scoreboard, this appeared to be a pretty exciting contest, and I hated to see either of them lose. But someone had to win, and that someone was Kanepi, 6-4, 4-6, 8-6.

I also expected Jelena Dokic to win her match against Tamira Paszek, which she did, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. And I expected Galina Voskoboeva to defeat Agnes Szavay because that's what players to these days--they take Szavay out in the first round. I don't know what's going on with Agnes, but this is n turning out to be more than a 2008 problem. Perhaps she should do what Flavia Pennetta did, and play in some small tournaments in order to get her confidence back.

Szavay was not the only seed to exit; Maria Kirilenko was defeated by Sara Errani, 6-0, 6-4.

Of interest among the losers was Julia Goerges, whose forehand was on fire in her first set against Ana Ivanovic. Goerges got tight toward the end of that set, though, and in the middle of the second set, she looked physically spent, probably from the heat.