By Chris Oddo/ Sunday, January 12, 2014
Petra Kvitova was stunned by World No. 88 Luksika Kumkhum on Day 1, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Sara Errani also fell.
Photo Source: AP
World No. 6 Petra Kvitova became the highest seed to fall on Day 1 at the Australian Open as she fell to Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand in three sets, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Kvitova had not lost at the first round of a major since the 2011 U.S. Open, which immediately followed her lone Slam title at Wimbledon that same year.
"It was great off season," a dejected Kvitova said. "I was really excited to be here, feeling good. But I think that probably I wanted too much, and then everything just fell down."
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Thailand's No. 1 player was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but she rallied to break back in the next game.
"Yeah, just do my best," said a giddy Kumkhum after the match. "That's it. Not a secret."
After finishing Kvitova off with some dazzling, double-fisted counterpunching, Kumkhum calmly bowed to the crowd after shaking hands with her opponent at the net.
Kumkhum had never faced a top ten player until today, but she was poised throughout the affair, taking the play to a tense Kvitova in the match's crucial moments.
The 20-year-old Chantraburi, Thailand native qualified for last year's Australian Open and reached the second round. Her best career performance came when she reached the quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur last season.
Kvitova wasn't the only top ten seed to fall on Monday in Melbourne. Seventh-seeded Sara Errani was throttled by Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-3, 6-2. The 25-year-old German struck 39 winners on the afternoon against only six for Errani.
Other seeds to fall on Monday were 12th-seeded Roberta Vinci, who fell to Zheng Jie, and 23rd-seeded Elena Vesnina, who fell to American Alison Riske.