SYDNEY: World number eight Petra Kvitova’s Australian Open preparations were dealt another blow yesterday when she was trounced in straight sets at the Sydney International by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.
Fifth-seed Czech Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, continued her form slump in Sydney, losing 6-1, 6-1 to Cibulkova in little more than an hour.
It follows her upset second-round exit from this month’s Brisbane International, falling 6-4, 7-5 to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and her withdrawal from November’s WTA Championships in Istanbul due to illness.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki had more luck, downing Urszula Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 in a powerful return to form that saw her take the first set in just 26 minutes.
Russia’s Maria Kirilenko also posted a win, overcoming Australian wild card Olivia Rogowska 7-5, 6-2 to progress to the second round.
Seventh seed Wozniacki was ousted at Brisbane after an epic first-round battle with Kazakh qualifier Ksenia Pervak, losing valuable practice time for the Australian Open.
The Dane said she was relieved to notch a win ahead of the season’s first Grand Slam, which begins in Melbourne Monday week.
“It was quite hot out there, especially towards the end of the second set you could really feel it was starting to heat up,” said the former world number one.
“I’m just happy to get the first win of the season under my belt and just move on.”
Wozniacki said she was hopeful of regaining top ranking despite an inconsistent 2012 in which she exited Wimbledon and the US Open in the first round.
“Within myself, I believe I can get back there,” she said. “But it’s a lot of hard work and there are a lot of great players so you never know what’s going to happen,” she added. “The most important thing is that you’re healthy and I’m going to play as best I can and win as many tournaments as I can and the ranking will come if you play well.”
Meanwhile, Serbian duo Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic suffered another painful dose of Hopman Cup heartache when they were edged out by Spain in the final which finished yesterday.
Playing together in the mixed teams tournament for the third time, the pair went into the final as the favourites, but the Spanish duo of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Fernando Verdasco claimed the title by winning the deciding mixed doubles.
In New Delhi, India’s tennis authorities have agreed to accept most of the demands made by its regular Davis Cup players who had threatened to boycott next month’s home tie against South Korea. Eight top players, excluding Leander Paes, submitted a list of requirements to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) with a veiled threat to snub the regional first round tie in New Delhi from February 1-3 if no action was taken.
Yesterday AITA agreed to their demands for a new coach, a higher share of prize money and the players’ involvement in the choice of venues for ties.
In a letter addressed to the players, which was also made available to the media, AITA said it has asked the government to appoint a qualified doctor and a fulltime physiotherapist for the players. The governing body, however, rejected a request to change the captain and decided to retain SP Misra to lead the team Agencies
