Petrova leaves Clijsters gasping

Kim Clijsters' honeymoon is over. Coming back after a 2-year retirement from the game due to marriage, the Belgian managed to win the US Open in quite incredible fashion last August. But it was not to be in the new year for her, as Russian No.19 seedNadia Petrova swept her away in the third Round of the Australian Open. The match, that Clijsters would like to forget, barely lasted an hour, with Petrova downing the 15th seed 6-0, 6-1.

It was all happening pretty quickly in the match, with the 1st set, a shutout for Kim, wrapped up in just 18 minutes. Clijsters barely had time to blink, when Petrova took the game by the scruff of the neck. From 15-40 in the 2nd game, Clijsters gave it away to concede the break, which was the 1st of the 5 breaks in the match. Petrova didn't put a foot down, serving well with big aces in between. On the other hand, Clijsters looked stunned and couldn't even get her service right. She really was trying a bit too hard at times, not doing the basics right. To the astonishment of the fans, who were right behind the comeback queen , the second set was not any good for Clijsters. She just about managed to register on the scoreboard, before Petrova wrapped it all up. The only time the former World No. 1 and two-time finalist here, matched Petrova shot for shot, was in the last game, by which game was all over. The longest rally of the match ended with despair for the crowd and Clijsters, who was blown away by the Siberian Storm.

Meanwhile, in the Men's draw, the No. 7 seed Andy Roddick came back from a set down to get past Feliciano Lopez 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3).The match was much easier for Roddick than the scoreline suggests, with the unseeded Spaniard looking quite lethargic after winning the tight opening set in the tie-breaker. The match certainly lacked intensity from the middle of the second set onwards, with Roddick getting through without much of a challenge in his servce games. Lopez looked unwilling to go that extra mile, which Roddick did quite often. The American was the only one doing the running and it paid off as he wrapped up the next two sets comfortably. In the fourth set, Lopez served well to deny Roddick the elsuive break and took the set into the tie-breaker. It was all one-way traffic in the tie-breaker as Roddick raced to 4-0 before wrapping it up 7-3. Roddick will now face up '07 finalist Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth Round. The 11th seeded Chilean though was pushed to five sets by Evgeny Korolev, winning the 3hr 22min encounter 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

On the other hand, No. 4 seed Juan Martin Del Potro had another scrappy match against German Florian Mayer, edging past in four sets, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. The match was much closer after the first set and the 6-0 shutout that Del Potro faced certainly poses questions about his game. The German, an unknown player was not even expected to push the big Argentine, but he did that quite well. He even threatened to take the fourth set before Del Potro scraped through. The big forhands were working well for the US Open Champion, but only in patches. Mayer moved pretty well around the court to make Del Potro work hard for his points. Del Potro got his service horribly wrong in the second set to be broken thrice. He picked himself quite well after that though, to win the third set 6-4. The see-saw battle continued with Mayer fighting back and getting a break in the fourth and threatened to take the game to the fifth. Del Potro responded with two breaks to take the set befor the tie-breaker. He might as well pick up his game for the coming matches, or risk bowing out after the highs of late last year. He would meet his match though in the Round of 16, when he faces the equally tall Croat Marin Cilic.

The Men's draw has not had any upsets since the first round exit of Robin Soderling. But, there was a possiblity of one, when Philipp Kohlschreiber matched the World No. 2 Rafael Nadal shot for shot in their Round 3 encounter. The match which looked headed to the fifth set ended in favour of the Spaniard 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. The No. 27 seed German, known for his sledge-hammer backhand, was in full flow right from the start. He even got break points in the 4th game of first set. But he didn't capitalise and it was to be the story of the match. Kohlschreiber created more break opportunites than Nadal, but converted less number of them. When somebody does that to a top player, they end up paying a heavy price as the German found out. After the initial hiccup, it proved to be quite a breeze for Nadal as he coolly wrapped up the first two sets. Then Kohlschreiber finally woke up to lift his game and simultaneously Nadal let his game down, as the third set went the German's way with Nadal unable to serve it out to stay in the set. Kohlschreiber had his chances to break in the third as well, and he did take one of them. But, Nadal broke back immediately and then at 5-5, and served out the match. Kohlschreiber though was left wondering about his missed chances as Nadal passed through to the Round of 16 in his title defense. He will meet another challenger in the big serving Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic. Like almost all the top seeds, Nadal too would have to improve to stay alive till the business end of the first Grand Slam of the new decade.