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SYDNEY, Jan 9: Jennifer Capriati’s build-up to the defence of her Australian Open suffered a major blow on Wednesday when she was knocked out of the Sydney International by Alexandra Stevenson and injured her hip.
The American failed to show any of the form that saw her win last year’s Australian and French Open titles as she crashed to a 7-6 3-6 6-4 defeat.
The loss means Capriati will go into next week’s Australian Open, where she is top seed after the withdrawal of world number one Lindsay Davenport, with only one competitive match under her belt this year.
Stevenson took the first set in a tiebreaker but Capriati squared the match at one set all when she won the second only to lose her way again in the third.
Capriati saved a match point in the ninth game after losing two successive service games only to blow a 40-0 lead in the 10th game and hand the match to Stevenson, who says she is finally ready to make her mark on the game after two years in the wilderness.
Capriati was the only seeded woman who failed to reach the quarter-finals in Sydney, a tournament she won in 1993, although Belgium’s Kim Clijsters had a scare in her second round match with Italian Silvia Farina Elia.
Third seed Clijsters lost the first set in a tiebreak and was down 2-0 in the second before clawing her way back to win 6-7 6-4 6-1.
Clijsters will play her Fed Cup partner Justine Henin in the quarter-finals after the Wimbledon finalist thrashed Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez 6-0 6-3.
Clijsters made a whopping 60 unforced errors as she failed to come to grips with the swirling winds but said it was a match she needed to have.
The only two seeds to reach the quarterfinals in the depleted men’s draw were Switzerland’s Roger Federer and American teenager Andy Roddick.
RESULTS: Sydney international men’s and women’s tennis tournament Wednesday:
Women’s quarterfinals: Serena Williams (U.S.) bt Amelie Mauresmo (France) 6-4 7-6 (8-6)
Women’s second round: Alexandra Stevenson (U.S.) bt Jennifer Capriati (U.S.) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4; Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1; Justine Henin (Belgium) bt Conchita Martinez (Spain) 6-0 6-3; Sandrine Testud (France) bt Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) 6-1 6-2; Meghann Shaughnessy (U.S.) bt Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-4 6-1
Men’s second round: Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 6-2 6-4; Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) 6-0 6-4; Nicolas Escude (France) bt Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 6-4 6-1; Marcelo Rios (Chile) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-1 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-1); Lee Hyung-taik (Korea) be Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 6-1 6-2; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) bt Paradorn Srichaphan Thailand) 6-2 6-3; Julien Boutter (France) bt Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-4 6-1.
Hewitt, Capriati top seedED: Lleyton Hewitt and Jennifer Capriati were named Australian Open top seeds Wednesday ahead of next week’s first grasnd slam of the season.
World number one Hewitt is the first Australian to be seeded one at his home grand slam since Ken Rosewall in 1976.
Defending champion Andre Agassi, seeded third this time, is aiming for his third consecutive men’s singles title with 1999 champion and 2000 runner-up, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, seeded at four.
In the women’s draw, defending champion and world number two Capriati becomes the top seed, following the withdrawal of current world number one Lindsay Davenport through injury.
U.S. Open and Wimbledon Champion, Venus Williams, is second seed with three-times Australian Open Champion Martina Hingis third seed.
The Australian Open draw will take place at Melbourne Park on Friday.—Reuters#
