Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Outgoing Belgian star Kim Clijsters
reached the third round, while reigning U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur suffered
a second-round upset and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki was sent
packing in round one at The Championships, Wimbledon.
The 29-year-old Clijsters disposed of fellow non-seed Andrea Hlavackova of the
Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in 65 minutes on a roof-enclosed Centre Court.
Clijsters did not allow even one break-point chance on a rainy Day 3.
The former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters is
appearing in her last Wimbledon event, as she will retire from tennis
following this year's U.S. Open.
Promising 21-year-old Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus knocked out the fifth-seeded
Aussie Stosur 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 on Court 1 at the All England Club. Stosur has
only ever reached the third round once in 10 tries on the grass in this London
suburb and has suffered five opening-round losses at tennis' most prestigious
event.
Rus shocked Clijsters in the second round last year at the French Open.
Stosur is the highest seed to exit the women's draw thus far.
Aggressive Austrian Tamira Paszek toppled the seventh-seeded Wozniacki 5-7,
7-6 (7-4), 6-4 under the roof at Centre Court. The match started on Tuesday
and was suspended because of rain, and the bout was interrupted by rain once
again on Wednesday, prompting tournament officials to close the expensive
translucent covering on Day 3.
Paszek served for the match leading 5-3 in the third set, only to see
Wozniacki break to stay alive. But the Dane was promptly broken herself in the
next game when the Austrian converted on her first match point with a
blistering forehand winner, her 54th winner of the high-quality 3-hour,
12-minute bout.
The former U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki wasted two match points in the second
set and had to save four set points in order to win the first set on
Wednesday.
This marks only the second time that Wozniacki has lost in the first round of
a major (20-2). She has never reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old Paszek was a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year and has now
won five of her last six matches at the AEC.
Paszek, fresh off her grass-court title at Eastbourne, has now won her last
six matches overall, this after winning only two WTA matches all year prior to
last week.
Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska posted a second-round win by blasting Russian
Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-1. The steady Pole will meet British crowd favorite
Heather Watson on Friday.
Meanwhile, 15th-seeded German Sabine Lisicki overcame loud Serb Bojana
Jovanovski 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 in the second round. Lisicki reached the
Wimbledon semis a year ago.
Afterwards, Lisicki said Jovanovski makes more on-court noise than Maria
Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, who are both well known for their screams and
wails.
"It was distracting," Lisicki said. "You usually hear the sound of the ball
but I couldn't hear it because of her grunting. That's why we have the
hindrance rule.
"It was completely different from Sharapova or Azarenka but off-putting as
well. Grunting is part of the game but it shouldn't be off-putting and be an
advantage for the one who is doing it."
Thirtieth-seeded Chinese Peng Shuai reached the round of 32 with a 7-6 (7-4),
6-3 victory over Japan's Ayumi Morita.
Rising American Sloane Stephens reached the third round with a 7-6 (8-6), 4-6,
6-3 upset of 23rd-seeded Czech Petra Cetkovska, while the promising Watson
moved on with a 6-1, 6-4 second-round victory over American Jamie Hampton.
Tenth-seeded French Open runner-up Sara Errani of Italy reached the second
round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over American Coco Vandeweghe.
In other first-round action involving seeds, Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova
ousted No. 13 Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-1, No. 14 Serb Ana Ivanovic
got past Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and No. 22 German
Julia Goerges grounded Israeli Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2. Ivanovic is a former
world No. 1 and French Open champ.
Additional second-round wins came for Italian Camila Giorgi and Taiwan's Su-
Wei Hsieh.
Other first-round wins came for Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, Belarusians
Olga Govortsova and Anastasiya Yakimova, and France's Alize Cornet.
Rain delayed play for several hours on the outside courts on Wednesday.
The Sports Network