Kuznetsova thrashed at Eastbourne

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:34

The Russian was playing her first match since picking up her second grand slam title at Roland Garros 10 days ago but was humbled by Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak.

Kuznetsova, the second seed, won only three games in a 6-0 6-3 defeat by the world number 23.

Jelena Jankovic’s miserable season continued as she also tumbled out in the first round.

The Serbian, who began the year ranked number one in the world, has largely struggled for results this season – a minor tournament victory in Marbella apart – and has admitted she is low on confidence.

Anna Chakvetadze, a former top-10 player who is now ranked 31, was her conqueror, the Russian triumphing 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 6-2.

Third seed Jankovic mounted an impressive comeback to win the first set having been 5-1 down but could not maintain that momentum.

On a bad day for the top players, fourth seed Vera Zvonareva – playing her first match since April because of an ankle injury – lost 6-3 1-6 6-3 to former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Reigning Eastbourne champion Agnieszka Radwanska easily disposed of younger sister Urszula in their first-round clash 6-1 6-1.

Sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki eased past Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-2 while former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli was a 6-3 6-1 winner against Gisela Dulko. Also in the first round, Ekaterina Makarova beat Jarmila Groth 7-6 (9/7) 6-1 while fellow qualifier Vera Dushevina defeated Ai Sugiyama 6-7 (8/10) 7-5 6-4.

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