Jelena Dokic ran true to the miserable form she has shown this
season, falling 6-3 6-0 to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the
first round of the China Open on Tuesday.
After struggling with unforced errors and Tamarine's strong
serve in the first set, a visibly dejected Dokic fell apart in the
second, hanging her head and losing the will to chase the ball.
The former world number four from Serbia and Montenegro has had
a nightmare tennis year in 2004, losing in the first round of the
three grand slam tournaments she has played and dropping to 43rd in
the rankings.
In other first-round matches, Emmanuelle Gagliardi of
Switzerland beat Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi 2-6 6-4 6-3 while
Russian Vera Douchevina overcame Anca Barna of Germany 2-6 6-2
6-3.
It was a mixed day for Chinese hopefuls with Li Na beating
Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-3 6-2 but Sun Tiantian overpowered 6-4
6-2 Croatia's Sanda Mamic.
Li, who entered the tournament in the last round of qualifiers
on Monday, will face newly-crowned U.S. Open champion and second
seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.
The Russian is on a hot streak after winning her first grand
slam title at Flushing Meadows and the Bali WTA event over the last
two weeks.
"The less I think about that match the better," Li told
reporters. "I'll be happy if I can play my style and don't
embarrass myself."
(China Daily September 22, 2004)