Melbourne, 14 December 2010 | Tim Rose
It was a good day for the seeds in the women’s draw today at the Australian Open Play-off, with favourites Alicia Molik, Jelena Dokic and Sophie Ferguson all winning their opening round robin matches.
Molik and Dokic were far too experienced for Jade Hopper and Viktorija Rajicic respectively, each winning in straight sets.
Ferguson survived a thriller against the talented Monika Wejnert, who reached the final at the Play-off in 2008. In a match sprawling over two hours, second seed Ferguson snuck home with a 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 win.
Jess Moore and Olivia Rogowska, the fourth and fifth seeds, also fared well in cruising past young Victorians Belinda Woolcock and Azra Hadzic
The only seed who was unable to win her opening match was Queenslander Sophie Letcher, who was upset by the ACT-based Alison Bai in straight sets.
The men’s knockout draw was reshuffled to accommodate the late withdrawals of Bernard Tomic with illness and Jason Kubler with injury. James Lemke claimed Tomic’s sixth seeding, allowing Andrew Whittington to enter the draw, while Joey Swaysland took former world No.1 junior Kubler’s place. All men’s seeds received a bye into the next round.
Neither late entrant was able to make the most of their luck; Berman was too good for the replacement Swaysland, continuing the form that saw him claim the Optus 18s title over the weekend, while Whittington went down in three sets to Dane Propoggia.
Promising juniors James Duckworth and Ben Mitchell also won through to the next round to face seeded players John Millman and Matt Ebden.
Day Two sees tournament favourites Peter Luczak, Carsten Ball and Marinko Matosevic begin their quest for an Australian Open wildcard, with a finalised draw to be confirmed overnight.
Day 1, Tuesday 14 December – Results
Women
[1] Alicia Molik def. Jade Hopper 6-1 6-0
Alison Bai def. [7] Sophie Letcher 6-3 6-0
[6] Tammi Patterson def. Ashleigh Barty 6-4 6-3
[3] Jelena Dokic def. Viktorija Rajicic 6-2 6-2
[2] Sophie Ferguson def. Monika Wejnert 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3
[8] Isabella Holland def. Ashling Sumner 6-4 7-5
[5] Olivia Rogowska def. Belinda Woolcock 6-3 6-3
[4] Jessica Moore def. Azra Hadzic 6-4 6-2
Men
Dane Propoggia def. Andrew Whittington 6-3 4-6 6-2
Ben Mitchell def. Maverick Banes 6-4 6-3
Luke Saville def. Joel Lindner 6-1 7-6(3)
Jared Easton def. Mark Verryth 7-5 6-4
Adam Feeney def. Colin Ebelthite 6-4 6-4
James Duckworth def. Matthew Barton 2-6 6-2 6-3
Sean Berman def. Joey Swaysland 6-4 6-2
Michael Look def. Matt Reid 1-6 6-4 6-3
