Sunday, March 27, 2011

Peschke & Srebotnik make second straight first-round exit

Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, seeded 2nd at the Sony Ericsson Open, were defeated 7-5, 7-6 yesterday in the first round by Shahar Peer and Peng Shuai. They were also defeated in the first round in Indian Wells, where they were the defending champions.

Indian Wells champions Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina upset 5th seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie, and advanced to the second round.

In singles, Daniela Hantuchova came back from a 1-6 first set loss against Caroline Wozniacki, and sent the second set into a tiebreak. Both before and during the tiebreak, Hantuchova had opportunities to win the set, but she was unable to utilize them. Serving at 7-8 in the tiebreak, she double-faulted, giving the top seed the victory. This dynamics of this match were not unusual for Hantuchova: She figured out how to beat her opponent, but she could not go the extra step and execute her plan.

16th seed Maria Sharapova had an easy time of it against wild card Sabine Lisicki, who is less than a shadow of the player she was in 2008. Lisicki has been troubled by illnesses and injuries since winning Charleston, and has not been able to make any type of comeback. Sharapova's next opponent is 4th seed Sam Stosur.

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