Monday, January 16, 2006

Australian Open Update: Venus Loses, Serena Wins



Venus Williams losesVenus Williams loses

BLACK TENNIS REPORT.

In a stunning upset at this year's Australian Open, Venus Williams lost her first round match to 94th-ranked, 18-year old Bulgarian Tszvetana Pironkova 2-6 6-0 9-7 in 2 hours, 28 minutes. The reigning Wimbledon champion had 65 unforced errors (to 32 winners with 1 ace to 4 double faults) in her third ever first-round Grand Slam loss (1997 Wimbledon and 2001 French) and first in nearly six years. The tenth seeded Williams was down 3-5 in the final set when she came back to serve for the match at 6-5 but was broken after being two points away from winning the match. Pironkova won the match on her first match point at 9-7 when Venus netted a backhand.

Serena Williams avoided a Williams family Australian Open first-round shut out by defeating Na Li 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-2. Serena is the defending champion but the 13th seed and was serving for the match at 5-4 when she was broken and then overpowered in the resulting tie-break. However, Serena easily won the final set and the match, although she still had 45 unforced errors to 21 winners. She's still on track for a fourth round match with Maria Sharapova who won her opening round match in straight sets.

James Blake won his first round match against Jose Acasuso in four tough sets 6-2, 6-3, 4-6,7-6(4).

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