Wozniacki stays; Henin, Venus exit
MELBOURNE, Australia — Justine Henin departed the Australian Open much sooner than she did last year. No. 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki is still around, providing entertainment on and off the court.
Henin, the 2010 finalist, was beaten today by two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 7-6 (8) in the mild third-round upset, while Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova advanced. Wozniacki provided as much fanfare in her post-match media conference as she did during her 6-4, 6-3 win over Dominika Cibulkova.
Pretending to be irritated at being considered “boring” by critics, Wozniacki came prepared with a monologue to answer any question that might be asked about the match, and then some.
“I always gave the same answers,” Wozniacki said. “I find it quite funny because I always get the same questions, so I’m just going to start with the answer.”
What transpired was one of the funniest schticks ever to grace the tiered news conference room under Rod Laver Arena. Once she got the usual match comments out of the way, Wozniacki had a chance to be asked about global warming, her prowess on the piano, the game of cricket and what she’s looking for in a boyfriend.
“Hopefully this was a little bit different from usual, and now you can maybe give me some questions that are a little bit more interesting,” the 20-year-old Wozniacki said.
Henin and Kuznetsova didn’t have much fun following Wozniacki on the court. Kuznetsova twice had chances to serve out the match but Henin broke her both times.
Henin was only weeks into a comeback from a career break from the tour when she lost the final last year to Serena Williams, the third time in four appearances that she’d reached the championship match at Melbourne. Her comeback season was derailed when she injured her right elbow at Wimbledon and didn’t play again in 2010.
“There’s no excuse, even if I know I’m not at 100 percent, she was better than me today,” Henin said in remarks translated from French. “I made way too many errors.”
Venus Williams also had an early exit today after she withdrew in the second game of her third-round match against Andrea Petkovic after appearing to aggravate a stomach injury.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner dropped serve in the opening game and Petkovic was ahead 30-0 when Williams stretched to the right to return service. She immediately cried out and clutched her stomach on the right side.
Sharapova, who won the 2008 Australian women’s title, struggled to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Julia Goerges of Germany. French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy also won, beating Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-0, 7-6 (2).
Federer was back to his vintage best, beating Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. While the defending champion also won in straight sets in his opening-round match against Lukas Lacko, he was extended to five tough sets against Gilles Simon in the second round, a near five-hour match that Federer said he was he relieved to survive.
