Wozniacki, Sharapova advance at Open

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki took a small step towards answering her critics when
she scored a reassuring win in the first round of the Australian Open.
The Dane has come under fire for failing to live up to her ranking in recent weeks.
It follows last week's straight sets loss in Sydney to Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-1 6-0
defeat by world No.2 Vera Zvonareva in Hong Kong and a loss to Kim Clijsters in
Thailand.
But on Monday, Wozniacki managed to claw back some respect when she survived her
opening round match against the world's top doubles player, Argentinian Gisela
Dulko.
She claimed the first set with a single service break converted and escaped a
nervous moment at 4-4 in the second set to break again and serve out the match.
Wozniacki was clearly relieved after making it past the first hurdle.
"Definitely. Gisela is a tough opponent, especially in the first round," she said.
"She changes the rhythm quite a bit so it's tough to get there and play your own game.
"But it's the first round, it's always tough. I'm really happy to be through and
through to the next round."
She said the win had boosted her confidence following a string of recent flops.
"I'm feeling good, feeling like I'm in good shape and happy to be through from the
first round," she said.
The 2008 Open champion and former world No.1 Maria Sharapova also cruised into the
second round, blasting away Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-3.
Sharapova admitted her first round exit from the tournament last year was playing on
her mind as she lost her serve in the first game.
"I was definitely a little bit nervous in the beginning," she said. "Last year I
played first match on centre court and I lost so I was kind of like, I don't want
this to happen again.
"So the first game today wasn't great. I didn't serve good at all during the match
but otherwise, she was close to beating me 4-1 in the second set and I was able to
win 6-1 6-3.
"So that's the positive within my game. I started playing better as the match went
on and I can only improve in the second one," the Russian said.
Sharapova was world No.1 in 2005 but her ranking has slipped in recent years due to
injury.
Now No.16 in the world and seeded 14th for this event, she was sidelined for 10
months after shoulder surgery in 2008-09 and last year she missed seven weeks with
an elbow injury.
However she still managed to win in Memphis and Strasbourg and said she was slowly
improving her form.
"It comes from being in the match and being in certain situations, whether you're up
or down and, you know, finding a way," she said.
"Whether you feel something is not working then figuring out how to change it during
the match."
By contrast, reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone struggled before
silencing Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4.
Sydney International winner Li Na was a weary winner after beating Swede Sofia
Arvidsson 6-1 7-5.
Li said the match was tough on her because she had little time to recover after
beating Kim Clijsters at the weekend.
Fourth-seeded American Venus Williams overpowered Italian Sara Errani in straight
sets, winning 6-3 6-2.



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