One of the biggest favorites for the Australian Open crown, fourth seed Elena Dementieva, didn’t advance into the second round of the tournament unchallenged. The Russian’s first-round opponent was world No.88 Kristina Barrois of Germany.
Barrois was leading 5-2 in the first set and even had a set point. Dementieva came back, winning four consecutive games for a 6-5 lead and her own serve followed. She was broken in the 12th game, but eventually won the set in a tiebreak.
In the second set Dementieva was trailing 5-2 again, but this time she surrendered and Barrois won the set. Still, the world No.4 cruised through the deciding set and won the first career meeting with Barrois 7-6(4) 2-6 6-1.
Dementieva remained undefeated in 2009, and has already won two WTA singles titles this year, in Auckland and in Sydney.
Other notable results so far on the second day of the Australian Open: No.9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska was upset by Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6(7) 4-6 6-1. Seed No.13 Victoria Azarenka advanced to the second round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova, while No.28 seed Francesca Schiavone lost to Shuai Peng 7-6(4) 6-1.
