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Caroline cruises, Henin ousted
Justine Henin departed the Australian Open on Friday a lot sooner than she did last year. No 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki is still around, providing entertainment on and off the court.
Justine Henin departed the Australian Open on Friday a lot sooner than she did last year. No 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki is still around, providing entertainment on and off the court.
Pretending to be irritated at being considered “boring” by some critics, she came prepared with a monologue to answer any question that might be asked about the match, and then some. “They said that my press conferences were kind of boring. ... 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.” She beat ominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3.
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 than usual, and now you can maybe give me some questions that are a little bit more interesting,” the 20-year-old Wozniacki said.
But there was no such fun for Henin, the 2010 finalist, who was beaten 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 all advanced.
“There’s no excuse, even if I know I’m not at 100%, she was better than me today,” Henin said. “I made way too many errors.”
Sharapova, who won the 2008 Australian women’s title, struggled to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Julia Goerges of Germany.
Li Na of China advanced 6-2, 6-1 over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
Fedex in top gear
Federer was back to his vintage best, beating Xavier Malisse 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. It took him 1 hour, 45 minutes to beat Malisse and earn an Open Era-record 57th match win at the Australian Open, breaking Stefan Edberg’s record.
Andy Roddick overcame a slow start before powering to victory with 32 aces to beat Robin Haase 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2.
Venus pulls out
Venus Williams retired from her third round match on Friday against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic with injury after lasting just seven points.
