Australian Open 2015 countdown: Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams and other big names fall to shock defeats and injuries

Lleyton Hewitt was thrashed by compatriot Sam Groth

by EMILY BENAMMAR - The Daily Telegraph

The Australian Open is still 11 days away yet the top seeds are dropping like flies. Early defeats and injury setbacks have blown the opening grand slam of the season wide open.

What’s going on at the top?

OK, let’s start with the ever-growing list of early round casualties in the lead-up tournaments ... get comfy.

World No 3 Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open preparations are in tatters after he was ousted in the first round of the Qatar Open overnight by Michael Berrer ... ‘Who?’ I hear you ask ... he’s a German player ranked 127th in the world and is due to retire at the end of this season, so we reckon this 1-6 6-3 6-4 win might just be the highlight of his year.

What did Rafa have to say about it?

Nadal lost his opener in Qatar

Williams was beaten by Bouchard

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“These things happen after a long time without being on the road, being on rhythm, being in competition,” he said afterwards.

“I was playing with more nerves because after a long time away I wanted to win. My motivation and my hunger to keep doing things well is still the same.”
Also suffering a shock defeat was 18-time grand slam champion and current world No 1 Serena Williams who struggled to hold serve throughout her Hopman Cup clash with Eugenie Bouchard.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m so tired,” Williams said after the match. “It’s weird. I can’t get my body to move. I feel like I’ve got no energy.

“It’s a little frustrating because I know I can play two thousand times better.”

Williams can take comfort in the knowledge that she is not the only top flight womens player struggling in the early stages of the season with Victoria Azarenka, Sam Stosur, Sabine Lisicki, Jelena Jankovic, Dominika Cibulkova and Garbine Muguruza all out of their respective events after two days.

The situation worsens if you look at the goings-on in Auckland where Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sara Errani and Mona Barthel have all suffered early defeats.

On the home front, there are doubts over the fitness of Aussie Matt Ebden who succumbed to a calf injury during his 3-6 7-5 6-0 loss to Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz at the Hopman Cup.

Over to the injuries now and it looks like the Australian Open will go ahead withoutcrowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and US Open champion Marin Cilic.

The Frenchman is struggling with the same arm injury that forced him out of the Hopman Cup while Cilic continues to suffer from problems with his shoulder.

Other notable absentees in the men’s draw include Tommy Haas, Nicolas Almagro and there are doubts over the fitness of Juan-Martin del Potro.

In the women’s draw Czech Petra Cetkovska (hip) and Great Britain’s Laura Robson (wrist) are confirmed to be out.

Jo Wilfred Tsonga is unlikely to feature in the Australian Open

Changing of the guard?

In case you missed the late action in Brisbane last night Australia’s Sam Groth overcame veteran Lleyton Hewitt, signalling a potential shift in hierarchy when it comes to homegrown talent.

As defending champion Hewitt would have been hoping for more than a first-round bow but it was not to be.

He suffered a 6-3, 6-1 mugging at the Pat Rafter Arena in his first ever encounter with Groth.

Aussie men in form

While much focus has been put on what’s going on with Sam Stosur and whether Bernard Tomic is a reformed man, a host of other Australians have been impressing on the circuit.

While Tomic has joined Groth in the second round in Brisbane, so too have Thanasi Kokkinakis, John Millman and James Duckworth.

Sharapova an early favourite

OK, given the performance of her closest rivals so far this year this might appear an obvious statement, but Sharapova is in fighting form coming into the Australian Open and would appear to be worth a punt to claim her second title in Melbourne.

The world No.2 well and truly dispatched Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0 6-1 at the Brisbane International yesterday.

It seems a few months off have done the Russian no end of good.

“I really just kind of got away from it all. I didn’t check anything. It was nice not to have to check any scores or who you’re playing against,” she said after her win in Queensland.

“But when you do come to a tournament, of course you’re very well aware of what’s going on, especially in the tournament.”

Federer meets the locals

Taking advantage of everything that Queensland has to offer, 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer nipped down to Tangalooma Island to meet some of the locals.

The Swiss gets his Brisbane International campaign under way against Australian John Millman on Thursday.

Brisbane order of play:

Pat Rafter Arena

11:00 am A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) vs. K. Pliskova (CZE)

Not Before 12:30 pm

S. Johnson (USA) vs. K. Nishikori (JPN)

G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs. J. Chardy (FRA)

Not Before 7:00 pm

T. Kokkinakis (AUS) vs. B. Tomic (AUS)

Not Before 8:00 pm J. Gajdosova (AUS) vs. A. Ivanovic (SRB)

Show Court 1 11:00 am

M. Klizan (SVK) vs. A. Dolgopolov (UKR)

Not Before 1:00 pm

M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs. C. Suárez Navarro (ESP)

K. Kanepi (EST) vs. M. Brengle (USA)

Not Before 3:30 pm

C. Guccione (AUS) L. Hewitt (AUS) vs. A. Dolgopolov (UKR) K. Nishikori (JPN)

M. Hingis (SUI) S. Lisicki (GER) vs. A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) A. Panova (RUS)

Show Court 2

M. Krajicek (NED) K. Pliskova (CZE) vs. H. Chan (TPE) K. Peschke (CZE)

Not Before 3:00 pm

E. Butorac (USA) S. Groth (AUS) vs. S. Johnson (USA) S. Querrey (USA)

S. Hsieh (TPE) S. Mirza (IND) vs. A. Rodionova (AUS) A. Rodionova (AUS)

Hopman Cup order of play:

10am Great Britain (Andy Murray & Heather Watson) v Poland (Agnieszka Radwanska & Jerzy Janowicz)

5.30pm Australia (Casey Dellacqua & Marinko Matosevic) v France (Alize Cornet & Benoit Paire)

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/more-sports/australian-open-2015-countdown-rafa-nadal-serena-williams-and-other-big-names-fall-to-shock-defeats-and-injuries/story-fnp3ipqj-1227176910980?nk=69f91df460e5eb4e61aff695336fb3fe