Jelena Dokic was narrowly beaten 7-6(9) 7-6(5) by former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo at the Brisbane International today.
Showing more than a glimpse of the form that took her to No.4 in the world, Dokic gave Mauresmo a big scare in their opening round encounter.
Dokic had her chances in the first set, but was unable to convert. Mauresmo’s experience shone through as she pounced to take the first tiebreak 11-9.
After the match Dokic said the loss hurt, but she was happy with the way she played.
“It was a lot closer than I thought it would be, so there are a lot of positives I can take out of it.
“I played two tight sets with someone who is No.24 in the world, so that’s got to be positive.”
Dokic lamented her lack of matches and said that if she’d won the first set tiebreak the match may have had a different ending.
“I didn’t close out that first set, which I should have and if I did it really would have made things difficult for her.”
Dokic will now focus on playing the qualifying rounds at the Medibank International Sydney while Mauresmo will size up her next opponent – countrywoman and lucky loser Julie Coin who defeated Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 7-5 6-7(5) 7-6(3).
The two have only met once – at the US Open last year, with Mauresmo walking away the winner.
In other matches, No.8 seed Radek Stepanek breezed past Igor Kunitsyn 6-2 6-2; Tathiana Garbin defeated Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 6-3; Olga Govortsova upset No.8 seed Francesca Schiavone and in the day’s biggest shock, No.4 seed Daniela Hantuchova fell to Sara Errani 6-7(1) 6-4 6-0.
In the first night session of the tournament, Ana Ivanovic will play Petra Kvitova followed by Fernando Verdasco versus Australian Bernard Tomic.
Today’s results are as follows:
Women’s Singles – First Round
S Stosur (AUS) d A Sugiyama (JPN) 6-2 6-3
J Coin (FRA) d Y Wickmayer (BEL) 7-5 6-7 (5) 7-6 (3)
S Karatantcheva (BUL) d I Benesova (CZE) 1-6 6-4 6-2
R Vinci (ITA) d A Groenefeld (GER) 0-6 6-3 6-1
O Govortsova (BLR) d F Schiavone (ITA) 7-5 6-2
Men’s Singles – First Round
J Nieminen (FIN) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 5-7 6-1 6-4
Men’s Qualifying Singles – Second Round
A Delic (USA) d M Crugnola (ITA) 6-4 6-3
K Anderson (RSA) d E Korolev (RUS) 6-4 6-4
A Stoppini (ITA) d T Bellucci (BRA) 6-3 6-4
T Gabashvili (RUS) d S Groth (AUS) 6-2 3-6 6-3
B Reynolds (USA) d L Gregorc (SLO) 6-2 6-4
X Malisse (BEL) d P Luczak 4-6 4-6
J Sirianni (AUS) d M Zverev (GER) 7-5 6-1
G Muller (LUX) d M Kukushkin (KAZ) 7-5 6(5)-7 7-6(4)