Aussies suffer early exit
08/31/2010 11:06:06 PM
Australians Jarmila Groth and Alicia Molik were both knocked out of the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.
World No.56 Groth almost pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament but was eventually ousted by Russian 14th seed Maria Sharapova.
Groth broke the Sharapova serve twice on her way to claiming the opening set, but Sharapova responded brilliantly to win the match 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Sharapova broke in the first game of the second set and again in the ninth before reeling off five straight games to seal the match in just under two hours.
Molik, currently ranked 90th in the world, was bundled out in straight sets by the Croatian qualifier Mirjana Lucic 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
The Aussie held a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Lucic stormed back to take the set in a tiebreaker.
Molik barely threatened in the second as world No.153 Lucic needed just 23 minutes to secure the final set and advance to the second round.
Molik's serve, which is usually one of her key weapons, deserted her as she committed nine double faults and failed to fire down a single ace.