Wet and windy start for girls
Cold and blustery conditions greeted the girls competing in the first round of the 2012 Optus 18s Australian Championships on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.
Melbourne Park, 4 December 2012 | Jaclyn Stacey
Cold and blustery conditions greeted the girls competing in the first round of the 2012 Optus 18s Australian Championships on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.
Victorian top seed and 2011 Optus 18s semifinalist Azra Hadzic was the first of four seeds to fall today, losing in straight sets to up-and-coming 14-year-old Queenslander Priscilla Hon 6-4 6-2 in difficult conditions on Court 5.
The wind wreaked havoc on the players today, and 18-year-old Hadzic was visibly frustrated serving during the final game of the first set, hitting a ball furiously into the fence behind her and losing the set with a double fault.
> Photos: Optus 18s Australian Championships
Hadzic appeared to turn things around at the beginning of the second set, breaking Hon in the first game and consolidating with a hard fought first service game. It wasn’t to last, however, with Hon’s aggressive return game levelling things at 2-2.
The promising Hon, who last year won the Optus 14s Australian Championships, continued attacking Hadzic’s game, taking the short ball and finishing points quickly at the net.
Hon produced some strong forehand winners to force match point against Hadzic’s serve and, following a long rally, a ball into the net from Hadzic gave Hon the upset victory.
After the match, Hon said the win against the top seed felt great. “Conditions were really hard so I was just trying to keep the ball in and change it up a bit.”
“I was prepared for a long match but I got through it in the end and yeah it feels great.”
Hon said that arriving a few days early at Melbourne Park to train with the AIS has helped her feel more confident for the week ahead. While she is happy with the way she played today, Hon identified areas of her game that she needs to work on before her next match. “I definitely need to work on my returns; I missed half of them and probably my serve as well.”
Other first matches of the day saw number two seed Storm Sanders of Western Australia convincingly take care of Victorian Samantha Harris 6-2 6-2, while Victorians Stefani Stojic and Zoe Hives defeated the seventh and eighth seeds Eliza Long of Victoria and Brooke Rischbieth of South Australia in straight sets respectively.
The second match on court 8 today saw Victoria’s Belinda Woolcock obliterate diminutive Sydneysider and number four seed Angelique Svinos 6-1 6-3 in under one hour.
Woolcock, part of the winning 2011 Junior Fed Cup team, dominated play and appeared unaffected by the windy conditions that caused a lot of trouble for many other players.
“My style is aggressive baseliner who you know, likes to come forward and take the volley when I have the opportunity, which I definitely showed today; I think in the conditions today when it’s windy to definitely not let the ball drop and to come forward when you can.”
Ashley Keir of the ACT was also successful in her first-round match against Astra Sharma, defeating the West Australian 6-4 6-4.
A confident win for third seed Abbie Myers 6-2 6-1 in one hour over Ellen Perez of NSW was completed as small droplets of rain began to fall on the courts at Melbourne Park.
Rain disrupted afternoon matches, you can check updated results, draws and order of play here.