FURIOUS FORMER WORLD number one Caroline Wozniacki crashed out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle today and admitted she had no one but herself to blame.
The Dane is yet to win a major in 35 attempts and tossed away a one-set lead against 76th-ranked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
“I would say it’s a pretty shitty start to the season,” Wozniacki said.
“It wasn’t a pretty first set but I got it done and really should have closed it off in two.
“You know, I let her back into the match, and it was basically my own fault that I’m not here as the winner.”
She romped through the first set against Putintseva but as the Kazakh’s confidence grew, Wozniacki struggled to cope with her baseline game and went down 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in 3hrs 12 mins.
“I can’t believe I won the match,” said 21-year-old Putintseva, who was shaking with nerves in her courtside interview and revealed she battled through blisters on her feet.
“I was very nervous in the first set because I am not used to playing on such a big court. But then I got a bit more used to it.”
Her reward is a second round-clash with Chinese wildcard Han Xinyun, and a potential fourth-round encounter with world number one Serena Williams.
Williams returned to Grand Slam tennis with a bang today, playing her first competitive match since the US Open in September, claiming a hard-fought but convincing 6-4, 7-5 win over Italy’s Camila Giorgi.
Temperatures soared at Melbourne Park, forcing players to reach for ice towels and water. Carla Suarez helped a ballboy off the court after he fell faint during her win over Viktorija Golubic.
Novak Djokovic, seeking a record sixth Australian Open title, and Roger Federer secured straights-sets wins on a busy first day at the year’s opening Grand Slam, along with Maria Sharapova.
Williams cut short her 2015 season after defeat in the US Open semi-finals ended her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam, and she pulled out of this month’s Hopman Cup with an inflamed knee.
But the 34-year-old, clad all in canary yellow, showed no sign of injury as she came through a testing match on Rod Laver Arena against Giorgi, the tournament’s highest ranked non-seed.
“I haven’t played a competitive match in a really long time so it was good for me to come out here and get through it,” Williams said.
“I was able to stay in it and stay calm and that is what matters most.”
Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych also went through without significant problems, while Sloane Stephens, Sara Errani and Ivo Karlovic became the first seeds to fall.
But debate was dominated by a report which said 16 top-50 players over the past decade, including Grand Slam champions, had repeatedly been suspected of match-fixing without facing action.
Three suspect matches were at Wimbledon, and eight of the players under suspicion were due to take to the courts for the Australian Open in Melbourne, the BBC and BuzzFeed claimed.
Results:
Men, 1st rd
Novak Djokovic (SRB 1) bt Chung Hyeon (KOR) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Quentin Halys (FRA) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5
Denis Kudla (USA) bt Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 6-2, 6-1, 0-0 ret
Andreas Seppi (ITA 28) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-6 (12/10)
Federico Del Bonis (ARG) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO 22) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 2-1 abandon
Renzo Olivo (ARG) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 7-6 (10/8), 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) bt Inigo Cervantes-Huegun (ESP) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Gilles Simon (FRA 14) bt Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Omar Jasika (AUS) bt Illya Marchenko (UKR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) bt Pablo Andujar (ESP) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
Noah Rubin (USA) bt Benoit Paire (FRA 17) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP 26) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Daniel Brands (GER) bt Victor Estrella (DOM) 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-1
Austin Krajicek (USA) bt Wu Di (CHN) 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
Kei Nishikori (JPN x7) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
Roger Federer (SUI 3) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
Aleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Marco Trungelliti (ARG) bt Jozef Kovalík (SVK) 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL 27) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-3
Dominic Thiem (AUT 19) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (7/0)
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA) 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/1)
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR) 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
David Goffin (BEL 15) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO 12) bt Thiemo de Bakker (NED) 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
Albert Ramos (ESP) bt Borna Coric (CRO) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 abandon
Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, 6-4
Mirza Basic (BIH) bt Robin Haase (NED) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4
Tomas Berdych (CZE 6) bt Yuki Bhambri (IND) 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Nick Kyrgios (AUS 29) bt Pablo Carreno Busla (ESP) 6-2, 7-5, 6-2
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP 24) bt Martin Klizan (SVK) 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA 9) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Women, 1st rd
Serena Williams (USA 1) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 6-4, 7-5
Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1
Ana Konjuh (CRO) bt Urszula Radwanska (POL) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
Darya Kasatkina (RUS) bt Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK 27) 6-3, 6-3
Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) bt Sara Errani (ITA 17) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
Kurumi Nara (JPN) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 7-6 (7/2), 6-2
Han Xinyun (CHN) bt Mariana Duque (COL) 6-2, 2-1 ret
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN 16) 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4
Belinda Bencic (SUI 12) bt Alison Riske (USA) 6-4, 6-3
Timea Babos (HUN) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 7-6 (7/2), 6-3
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS 23) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 6-0, 6-2
Lauren Davis (USA) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS 26) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 6-3, 7-6 (7/2)
Maria Sharapova (RUS 5) bt Nao Hibino (JPN) 6-1, 6-3
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 6-3, 6-4
Monica Puig (PUR) bt Magda Linette (POL) 6-3, 6-0
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL 4) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-2, 6-3
Wang Qiang (CHN) bt Sloane Stephens (USA 24) 6-3, 6-3
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) bt Lourdes Dominguez (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-1
Irina Falconi (USA) bt Anna Tatishvili (USA) 6-4, 3-6, 8-6
Roberta Vinci (ITA 13) bt Tamira Paszek (AUT) 6-4, 6-2
Carla Suarez (ESP 10) bt Viktorija Golubic (SUI) 7-5, 6-4
Maria Sakkari (GRE) bt Yafan Wang (CHN) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Monica Niculescu (ROM) bt Teliana Pereira (BRA) 6-2, 6-1
Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER x22) 7-5, 6-4
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA 28) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 6-3, 6-4
Nicole Gibbs (USA) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Daria Gavrilova (AUS) bt Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4
Petra Kvitova (CZE 6) bt Luksika Kumkhum (THA) 6-3, 6-1
Krisyyna Pliskova (CZE) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS x25) 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)
