Tennis

Sharapova out; Safina wins at Australian Open

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-18 13:38

MELBOURNE, Australia - Maria Sharapova was upset by Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, her worst performance at a Grand Slam event since 2003.

Sharapova out; Safina wins at Australian Open

Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts as she plays Russia's Maria Kirilenko during their Women's singles first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday Jan. 18, 2010.?[Photo/Agencies]

The 14th-seeded Sharapova was unable to defend her 2008 Australian Open championship while sidelined 10 months because of right shoulder surgery. She then failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals in the other three majors last year.

The loss to Kirilenko was her earliest exit at a major since her first-round loss at the 2003 French Open.

"Just didn't win the match ... bottom line," said Sharapova, summing up the match in a matter-of-fact manner. "Certainly had my chances and just didn't execute.

"I felt like I was — when she was up and then I'd get back there, back in the game — I just didn't take advantage of that and let her ... control the situation again."

Kirilenko advanced to the second round with Dinara Safina, who had a 6-4, 6-4 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the first match completed on a rainy day at Melbourne Park. The second-seeded Safina was the runner-up to Serena Williams last year.

Kim Clijsters played on Rod Laver Arena immediately after Sharapova's loss and needed less than an hour to beat Valerie Tetreault of Canada 6-0, 6-4.

Clijsters won the U.S. Open in September in her third tournament back from time off after getting married and having a baby.

Sharapova kept going for winners despite twice being only two points away from losing the match. She ended up with 72 unforced errors and 11 double-faults.

The Marias, both Russian and both 22, clubbed 71 winners and made 110 unforced errors between them as they traded heavy ground strokes in a match that lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes and allowed the No. 58-ranked Kirilenko to even their four career head-to-head matches.

The crowd favored Kirilenko but a few voices chimed in to support Sharapova, or express exasperation. "Come ON Sharapova," one shouted after the three-time major winner chased down a forehand but returned it to the net.

The former No. 1-ranked Sharapova rallied from 2-5 down in the deciding set, holding serve and then breaking Kirilenko to stay in the match. She dropped her own serve after giving Kirilenko double match point, though, her last forehand landing out.

"It's never easy. I'm good friends with Maria," Kirilenko said, but "I tried my best to win today — I came here quite confident."

Kirilenko, who lost in the first round last year, will play Austrian qualifier Yvonne Meusburger, who beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Safina was erratic at times, but had no serious problems handling the No. 47-ranked Rybarikova in her second tournament since a back problem forced her out of the season-ending championship in October.

"I had some good moments and bad moments, but overall I'm happy I went through, and I'm pretty satisfied with everything," Safina said.

"It was a solid game by me. Just from this I can start to build up much more confidence and using more my shots," she said.

Safina and Kirilenko played on the two covered courts at Melbourne Park. Matches on outside courts were delayed 45 minutes by rain, a change to the heat that usually confronts players at the first Grand Slam event of the season.

Police were busy despite the rain, ejecting 11 people from Melbourne Park for disruptive behavior and smuggling flares onto the grounds.

In another incident, police said a group of Croatian supporters were denied entry to the grounds Monday after setting off a flare.

In between rain delays, No. 11-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and Florian Mayer had an impressive comeback to beat Philipp Petzschner 0-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 6-2.

No. 24 Ivan Ljubicic had a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win over 16-year-old wild card entry Jason Kubler, the youngest player in the draw.

On the women's side, No. 30 Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine had a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Romania's Raluca Olaru, Zheng Jie rallied to beat Peng Shuai 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an all-China match, and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-4.

Justine Henin, a seven-time major winner, makes her Grand Slam comeback against fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens at Hisense Arena, the other main show court. Henin lost to Clijsters at the Brisbane International on Jan. 9, Henin's first tournament since she quit while holding the No. 1 ranking in May 2008.

U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potro, No. 5 Andy Murray and No. 7 Andy Roddick highlight the early men's action. Del Potro withdrew from an exhibition tournament at Kooyong last week because of an injured wrist, but his agent said he's expected to be fine.

Rafael Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in five sets in the final last year to win his first major on hardcourts, will start the night session at Rod Laver Arena against Australian Peter Luczak.