Update 8:30 pm. Jarmila Groth has joined Melbourne teenager Sally Peers in the second round of the Brisbane International.
Groth defeated Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 7-5 in her first-round match on Sunday night at Pat Rafter Arena.
The win sets up a possible meeting for Groth with Australian No.1 Sam Stosur. Groth has spent time training in Queensland and could pose a threat to local Stosur.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” she said.
“Sam is a great player and it will definitely be an interesting match.”
Luczak advances
Aussie Peter Luczak has ground out a tough three-set win against former top-20 player, Russian Dmitry Tursunov, to reach the final round of qualifying at the Brisbane International.
Backed by a strong home crowd, Luczak rallied from a set down to edge past the 2008 Sydney International winner 4-6 7-6(6) 6-4 in nearly two-and-a-half hours.
A typically modest Luczak praised the quality of his beaten opponent.
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“He’s a great player. His high level is much better than mine but I was just hanging in there getting as many balls as I could and a bit of fitness paid off in the end,” Luczak said.
“He’s been out for a little bit with an injury but we grew up playing together.
“It was a grind, particularly the second and third sets.”
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King through to main draw
Third seed Vania King has battled her way into the main draw, ousting American compatriot Alison Riske in straight sets on Sunday.
King secured the first set 6-3 with consistently strong strokes, but Riske was determined not to let the second set get away so easily.
Riske fought back in the second set snatching the first two games, until some handy net work from King made the score 1-2.
From there it was on, with Riske pulling out the strong shots she needed to keep King on her toes until they inched their way game for game to a tiebreaker.
King pulled away, securing her victory 6-3 7-6(3). After the game, King said she was “exhausted times twenty”.
“Of course it’s great to win and I’m glad I pulled it out, but it was really tough,” she said.
“I felt fine in the first match but it’s hard to gauge how you’re going to come out in the second match because of the nerves and the intensity, adrenalin.
“Also this court wasn’t covered so I was in the sun the whole time so it was a struggle.
“I’ve played against her before, we’re good friends. She’s such a nice girl, she’s one of the nicest girls that I know.
“But I know that when we get on the court, both of us know that, also out of respect for each other, that we’re going to go out there and give it 100 per cent you know and fight our best.”
King says her focus for the main draw will be “to get ready and get healthy”.
“I’ll try to rest as much as I can,” she said. “We all worked hard enough in the off season so we’re just going to try maintain our fitness and our health and hopefully have a good year.”
Tickets are still available for Brisbane International 2011 from Ticketek.