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MELBOURNE: World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova became a shock casualty
on day six of the Australian Open Saturday, with sixth seed Anna
Chakvetadze and men’s seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez also skidding
out.
The defeat of Kuznetsova, a former US Open
champion, by Polish teenager Agneiszka Radwanska was the biggest
upset yet on the women’s side of the draw, with three of the top
10 seeds now gone by the third round.
Three top men’s seeds have fallen—ninth seed
Andy Murray, Gonzalez, and sixth seed Andy Roddick, who was dumped
out in the early hours of Saturday in a bad-tempered five-set
marathon by Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Eighteen-year-old Radwanska, ranked 28 in the
world, said she was on a mission to avenge three losses to
Kuznetsova last year, and fulfilled her orders, 6-3, 6-4.
“I played against her a few times, always
losing, so I said ‘no more’. “It’s very exciting, I’m very
happy,” said Radwanska, who has a fourth round match against
either Russians Nadia Petrova or Ekaterina Makarova.
A devastated Kuznetsova blamed herself for
blowing her chances.
“For me, it wasn’t about her game. She
played well, but I was not doing anything to win the match. And
playing like this, I think I deserve to lose today,” said the
second seed.
“I was feeling fine. It’s the way I was
thinking on the game, the way I prepare for the game and everything,
it wasn’t right.
“I’ve got to learn to do it right way next
time during Grand Slams. Every day you live and every day you are
learn.”
With rain delaying play on the outside courts at
Melbourne Park, the early action was restricted to the Rod Laver and
Vodafone Arenas, which have retractable roofs.
At the Rod Laver, Chakvetadze let slip a one set
lead against 27th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko, a childhood
friend, crashing 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2.
She now plays either the Slovak Republic’s
Daniela Hantuchova or Spain’s Virginia Ruano-Pascual.
Chile’s Gonzalez was last year’s finalist,
losing to Roger Federer, but failed to produce the form that took
him there on Saturday, slumping to Croatia’s Marin Cilic, 6-2, 6-7
(4-7), 6-3, 6-1.
James Blake, seeded 12, fought back to rein in
French veteran Sebastien Grosjean 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
Federer’s sprint towards a third consecutive
title resumes when he plays Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, but the
day’s marquee match is between Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and
Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
It has added spice after Baghdatis became
embroiled in a race controversy on Friday after videos surfaced of
him chanting anti-Turkish slogans with a Greek supporters group
involved in crowd trouble on Tuesday.
Baghdatis, the big-hitting and popular 2006
finalist, refused to apologize and security has been beefed up
for the evening match on Rod Laver Arena.
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