Henin, Sharapova tumble in Madrid
Source: Agencies |
May 11, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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FOUR-TIME French Open champion Justine Henin's preparations for the Roland Garros grand slam event suffered a shuddering jolt with defeat to France's Aravane Rezai in the Madrid Masters first round on Sunday.
Henin won the Stuttgart title on clay last week and is considered a dangerous outsider in Paris later this month but said she had been suffering from sickness since the German event and was not at 100 percent.
"When I came back from Stuttgart, I wasn't feeling well at all," she told a news conference.
"I just tried to come and see how I felt but to practise and play a match is a different story. Madrid has been a difficult experience this year and I hope that next year will be better."
Her first serve was inconsistent and Rezai, the world No. 22, took full advantage with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 win as the Belgian's game collapsed in the deciding set.
Henin beat Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final in Stuttgart last Sunday for her first title since she ended her 19-month self-imposed exile at the start of the year.
Maria Sharapova was another former world No. 1 to fall at the first hurdle on the clay in Madrid, the Russian 11th seed going down 4-6, 3-6 to Czech Lucie Safarova.
Fourth seed Venus Williams, also a former No. 1, had a much gentler day's work, the American easing past Swiss Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-2.
"It's a struggle trying to find the rhythm," a philosophical Sharapova, who was playing her first tournament since pulling out of the Sony Ericsson Open in March with an elbow injury, told a news conference.
Safarova broke Sharapova's serve four times and is on course for a possible last-16 clash with sixth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva.
Henin won the Stuttgart title on clay last week and is considered a dangerous outsider in Paris later this month but said she had been suffering from sickness since the German event and was not at 100 percent.
"When I came back from Stuttgart, I wasn't feeling well at all," she told a news conference.
"I just tried to come and see how I felt but to practise and play a match is a different story. Madrid has been a difficult experience this year and I hope that next year will be better."
Her first serve was inconsistent and Rezai, the world No. 22, took full advantage with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 win as the Belgian's game collapsed in the deciding set.
Henin beat Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final in Stuttgart last Sunday for her first title since she ended her 19-month self-imposed exile at the start of the year.
Maria Sharapova was another former world No. 1 to fall at the first hurdle on the clay in Madrid, the Russian 11th seed going down 4-6, 3-6 to Czech Lucie Safarova.
Fourth seed Venus Williams, also a former No. 1, had a much gentler day's work, the American easing past Swiss Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-2.
"It's a struggle trying to find the rhythm," a philosophical Sharapova, who was playing her first tournament since pulling out of the Sony Ericsson Open in March with an elbow injury, told a news conference.
Safarova broke Sharapova's serve four times and is on course for a possible last-16 clash with sixth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva.
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