Saturday, January 23, 2010

Kim Clijsters sent crashing out by Nadia Petrova


Kim Clijsters saw her Australian Open challenge ended in the third round by a ruthless display of tennis from Russia's Nadia Petrova.

The Belgian was broken five times as she crashed to a 6-0, 6-1 defeat in just 51 minutes on Hisense Arena.

Petrova, the 19th seed, had lost all four of her previous encounters against the US Open champion, but made amends in a contest which saw her hit 21 winners.

By comparison, 15th seed Clijsters clocked just seven winners and 26 unforced errors, ending hopes of a quarter-final clash with compatriot Justine Henin.

Petrova flew out of the blocks in determined fashion and a series of powerful shots allowed the Russian to claim the opening set to love in just 18 minutes.

Clijsters had to wait until the third game of the second set to register on the board as her opponent's dominance continued.

The Belgian then had her only opportunity to break in the following game, but the chance was wasted with a long forehand and Petrova held serve before breaking again in the sixth.

That left the Russian serving for the match, and although a few nerves dragged the game out, Petrova eventually wrapped up the contest with her third match point when Clijsters hit a weak forehand into the net.

Meanwhile, Russian Maria Kirilenko continued her run of form in Melbourne after she defeated Roberta Vinci 7-5 7-6 (7/4).

Kirilenko, who knocked out 2008 winner Maria Sharapova in the opening round, will play compatriot Dinara Safina next and her win today ensured she equalled her best result at a grand slam.

In the final match of the day session, China's Jie Zheng upset French 11th seed Marion Bartoli 5-7 6-3 6-0.

Zheng's victory ensured she replicated her run to the last 16 at Melbourne Park last year and she will meet the 31st seed Bondarenko.

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