Agencies
New York, August 27
HEATHER Watson was shocked by her poor performance against Sorana Cirstea in the first round of the US Open.
Nothing went right for the British No 1, who won just 12 per cent of second serve points in a 6-1 6-1 loss that lasted 54 minutes.
Watson came into the tournament on the back of an excellent season, climbing from a low of 161 in the rankings at the start of February to 46 and posting her first two wins over top-20 players, and she admitted she had not expected to play so poorly.
She said, "The first few games I was okay and then as soon I got broken in that first set she stayed playing well the whole rest of the match and I didn't play very well.”
"I made a lot of errors, a lot of double faults. It was partly because she was hitting some good shots, so maybe I tried to go for a winner too soon. It was just over very quickly. She hasn't been in great form and I've been having a good year so I didn't expect to play like this, I didn't prepare to play like this. I thought I was playing pretty well in practice."
Cirstea has slumped from 21 in the rankings a year ago to 80 now and this looked a good first-round draw for Watson.
"It was an opportunity on paper but she still played very well today and I give her a lot of credit," said Watson.
"Also she served well, hit quite a few aces, and me not so much. I couldn't find my serve. I'm not quite sure why but I've got to look back and try to improve on that. It's definitely the best she's played against me but I like playing her, I usually play quite well against her, but she didn't give me any breathing room."
The 22-year-old still has not won a match at Flushing Meadows since winning the junior title in 2009 and will look to put this one behind her when she heads to Asia for the series of tournaments out there next month.
She said, "It's disappointing leaving after a first-round loss here, especially after my year and the confidence I've gained, but it's just another week and I'm going to have a lot more weeks. I like playing in Asia. I like the courts and I like the food."
Kvitova, Bouchard storm into second round
Reuters
New York, August 27
WIMBLEDON champion Petra Kvitova and runner-up Eugenie Bouchard launched their US Open campaigns with a bang, blasting by their respective first-round opponents in quick fashion.
Third-seeded Kvitova of the Czech Republic crushed Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-1 6-0, while Bouchard was nearly as efficient in dismissing Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2 6-1 in the Flushing Meadows sunshine.
"I'm very happy. First round is always nerves," said the hard-hitting Kvitova, who won the lead-in tournament in New Haven last weekend. "It was the same today. When I wake up, I start to feel nervous. I was just glad how I played today."
Kvitova stumbled at the first hurdle here after winning her first Wimbledon crown in 2011.
"The other grand slams are a big challenge for me right now. I remember 2011 when I lost my first round after winning Wimbledon, so I'm just glad that I'm better already," she said with a smile.
The 20-year-old, pigtailed Bouchard, the only woman to reach the semi-finals of the year's first three majors, eradicated questions about her hard court form with an overwhelming win.
Seventh-seeded Bouchard, who won one match in three events since losing to Kvitova at the All England Club last month as she was bothered by knee and hamstring injuries, ripped 19 winners and forced 24 errors from an outclassed Govortsova.
"Obviously I would have liked more matches, but that's the way it is sometimes. I feel like I practiced well before, and that was the best I could do at that moment," said aggressive baseliner Bouchard. "I still feel very confident with myself and I'm happy with today."
They were joined in the second round by eighth-seeded former world number one Ana Ivanovic, 11th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, 16th seed Victoria Azarenka and 2011 champion Sam Stosur.
Failing to follow a procession of seeds into the second round was former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. The 20th seed was upset by 82nd-ranked Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 3-6 6-2 7-6 (3).
Former champion Stosur carried her recent momentum into New York with a first-round win that extended a perfect record for Australians to five-for-five before a loss by Ashleigh Barty to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of Czech Republic ended the streak.
Stosur pushed past 49th-ranked American Lauren Davis 6-1 6-4 to put behind her a shock, first-round ouster at Flushing Meadows last year to American qualifier Victoria Duval.
The win by 21st-ranked Stosur, only the third player to beat Serena Williams in a grand slam final, continued a turnaround after six losses to opponents ranked outside the top 60 had dropped her out of the top 20 for the first time in five years.
Last week, the hard-hitting Australian showed signs of a revival. The 30-year-old Stosur beat Bouchard in New Haven before eventually falling to Kvitova in the semi-finals.
"I am feeling good," she said. "Going to Connecticut last week and playing well there and making semis, I think is a huge boost. I couldn't really be pleased more with the way that I have had this lead-up."
Ivanovic showed off her self-assured hard court form with a 6-3 6-0 rout of American Alison Riske, who had lost to the Serb 7-5 7-6 this year in New Zealand.
"It was very tough first-round match. We had a tough one in Auckland," said Ivanovic, who has wins over Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in battling back into the world top 10.
"The confidence is on a high level," said Ivanovic. "I had a great season behind me."
