Çağla loses in Aus Open qualifiers

MELBOURNE

Turkey will not be represented in the first Grand Slam event of the year, after women’s singles player Çağla Büyükakçay lost to Reka-Luca Jani of Hungary in the Australian Open qualifiers yesterday.

The Hungarian player won the first set 6-4, before the 22-year-old Turkish player was given another chance to be in the next round, winning the second set 6-3. However, Jani took the third set at 6-2 to seal Büyükakçay’s fate.

Büyükakçay’s defeat came a day after Marsel İlhan, Turkey’s top-ranked men’s tennis player, crashed out of the qualifiers. Marsel has already appeared twice at the Australian Open, while Büyükakçay was bidding to make her debut appearance in a grand slam tournament.

Jani will next meet Romania’s Madalina Gojnea, who was a surprise winner yesterday, beating Uzbekistani Akgul Ananmuradova 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets. The Uzbekistan player was the second-seed in the qualifiers.

Amanmuradova made her first Australian Open appearance in 2006 but struggled to match the consistency of her younger opponent and could not find any rhythm. Gojnea used her powerful ground-strokes to edge her opponent out, working tirelessly around the court and fighting for every point.
Upsets were rife on the second day of the 2012 Australian Open qualifiers after many of the top seeds were sent packing.

Another big upset came from 20-year-old Kiki Bertens, who surged into the second round after top-seeded Russian Vesna Dolonts retired, trailing 6-0, 4-0. Bertens is ranked No.182 in the world.