Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Ancic through in three sets

Medibank International Monday 12 January 2009 12 Comments »

Mario Ancic has recovered from a set down to beat Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse in the final match on Ken Rosewall Arena on Monday evening.

Earlier today, Dinara Safina wasted no time in securing a place in the second round of the tournament when she powered her way past Sorana Cirstea in just 56 minutes 6-2 6-1.

However Safina, the second seed, didn’t find it an easy match and said the Romanian “goes for the shots” so she had to be more aggressive herself.

“If I would have had a slow start against her I would just run and bring the ball back; she could maybe miss for a game but then she would raise her level up and she would just stop me,” Safina said. “It was a good chance for me to force myself to push even more to be more aggressive.”

Safina said she again employ the same aggressive tactics for her next match against countrywoman Vera Dushevina.

Elena Dementieva the third seed who is fresh from winning the ASB Classic in Auckland last weekend moved past yet another Russian, Ekaterina Makarova. After a slow start the Olympic gold medallist scored a 7-5 6-1 victory and will now come up against Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova, who defeated the lucky loser Karin Knapp of Italy. Knapp replaced Victoria Azarenka who withdrew with illness.

“I was a little bit shocked as you can imagine because I was preparing to play her and I played somebody else,” Gajdosova said.

“I know [Knapp] but I had never played her and didn’t know what to expect. I went on court and tried to play like I did last week and hopefully get a win which I did.”

She says she will now do her best against Dementieva who she described as a “tough cookie” and not an easy one because the Russian is “obviously playing well”.

While it was good news for Gajdosova, it was disappointing for Casey Dellacqua who bowed out to Sara Errani 6-1 6-2. Dellacqua had 39 errors in the match and was “just not finding the court.”

“It’s a match that I’d rather forget to be honest with you,” Dellacqua said. “I’ve probably put a bit too much pressure on myself the last couple of weeks and probably set too high of standards for myself. I didn’t really feel myself out there because I put too much pressure on myself and my expectations and I didn’t cope with the situation well.”

French player Alize Cornet scored the first upset of the tournament when she defeated seventh seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-4, Caroline Wozniacki scored a 6-1 6-2, win over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and Vera Dushevina moved past Australian wildcard Emelyn Starr 6-0, 6-1.

In other results there were wins for Tommy Robredo, Daniela Hantuchova, Michael Llodra,  Jarkko Nieminen, Ai Sugiyama, Igor Andreev, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Melanie South, Kaia Kanepi, Alisa Kleybanova and Simone Bolelli.

Video: Press conferences and player interviews

Order of play

Photos: day 2 gallery

Tags: Dinara Safina, Mario Ancic

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