Anna Kournikova suffered a disappointing 1st round exit at the Australian Open on Tuesday after Justine Henin beat her in straight sets.
The Russian was beaten 6-2, 7-5 in just 80 minutes by the sixth seeded Belgian in Melbourne.
Henin stamped her authority on the match in the very first game of the match by breaking Kournikova's serve. She then proceeded to race through the remainder of the set in little more than 20 minutes.
But to her credit, Kournikova refused to lie down and accept defeat. She battled hard in the second set and was rewarded with a break of serve in the fourth game to movesintosa 3-1 lead.
However, Henin broke straight back in the very next game and then held serve to level the second set at 3-3. Crucially Kournikova missed a set point in the ninth game on Henin's serve, then in the next game the Belgian broke to lead 6-5; before serving out the match.
Backgroud:
Country: Russia
Birth Date: 7 June, 1981
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Residence: Miami, Florida, USA
Height: 1.73 metres ( 5 ft. 8 in. )
Weight: 55.9 kilos ( 123 lbs. )
Plays: Right
Year turned pro: 1995
Current rank for singles: 64
Current rank for doubles: 30
High rank for singles: 8
High rank date for singles: 20 November, 2000
High rank for doubles: 1
High rank date for doubles: 22 November, 1999
Career titles for doubles: 14
Career matches won: 159
Career matches lost: 95
Year to date matches won: 4
Year to date matches lost: 2
Career prize money: ,018,238 USD
Year to date prize money for singles: ,900 USD
Year to date prize money for doubles: ,000 USD
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