By Erik Gudris | Monday, January 18, 2016
Former AO semifinalists Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens led a growing list of seeded players who lost on opening day.
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
On a blazing hot opening day in Melbourne, several seeded players found their Australian Open hopes burn out in round one. That included two women who reached the semifinals at the first major only a few years ago.
More: Serena Strong in Opening Match
No. 16 seed Caroline Wozniacki, who reached the final four in Melbourne in 2011, looked in control early over her opponent Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Wozniacki took the opening set 6-1 and was up a break in the second set before things turned in favor of Putintseva. Though Putintseva battled with cramps early in the third set, she managed to get everything under control before closing out the upset win 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.
An overjoyed Putintseva shared her thoughts on court right after the match.
“It wasn't a pretty first set but I got it done and really should have closed it off in two,” said the former number one ranked Wozniacki on the loss. “You know, I let her back into the match, and it was basically my own fault that I'm not here as the winner.”
No. 24 seed Sloane Stephens, who reached the semifinals in 2013, could not keep up her momentum after having won the Auckland title a few weeks earlier. Chinese qualifier Wang Qiang proved ready for the upset bid.
Though Stephens, led 3-1 in the opening set, she could not keep up her advantage. Wang took the first set 6-3 and went up a quick break in the second set. Though Stephens would almost pull even, Wang held on and closed out the 6-3, 6-3 win.
Other women’s seeds who fell on day one included No. 17 seed Sara Errani, No. 26 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and No. 27 seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
USA’s Rubin Knocks Off Paire
The biggest upset on the men’s side also resulted in a first ever major main draw win for a young American.
19-year-old Noah Rubin faced off against No. 17 seed Benoit Paire of France. Though Paire won points for his distinctive fashion including a popped collar, he didn’t win as many points as he would have liked on the court, considering he racked up over 72 unforced errors.
Rubin, who won the USTA wildcard challenge to earn his berth in the tournament, kept his cool through out the first two sets that he won in tiebreaks. Though Paire went up a break in the third set and served for it at 5-4, Rubin broke back.
Another tiebreak resulted and it was Rubin who proved too steady in the end as he walked away with the biggest win of his career 7-6(4), 7-6(6), 7-6(5).
No. 22 seed Ivo Karlovic retired with a knee injury as he trailed in the third set to Federico Delbonis.