Burnie, 1 February 2012 | Tim Rose
Men’s top seed Denis Istomin withdrew from the McDonald’s Burnie International due to a wrist injury on Wednesday.
The Uzbekistani player was due to take on Sam Groth in the second round tonight on centre court, but the injury sustained in yesterday’s doubles match has not recovered in time.
Istomin practiced this afternoon, but the injury was deemed too severe to continue. The withdrawal now guarantees that Australia will be represented in the men’s semifinals.
Groth will now take on John Millman, who rallied from a set down to defeat Adam Feeney in three sets and reach the quarterfinals.
The Queenslander admitted he’d been poor to start to the match.
“I think I started off a little bit slow, and in the first set I was really disappointed with how I played that tiebreaker,” he said.
“I came out a bit better in the second set and just started to put more of an emphasis on the important points.”
In other second round matches, the Chinese Taipei male contingent in Burnie continued their impressive form, with three of the four men in action on Wednesday winning into the quarterfinals.
The first two matches on centre court told a similar tale with Michael Look and Matt Reid never in the hunt against their opponents, Jimmy Wang and Yen-Hsun Lu.
Lu, the second seed, must now be considered the favourite in the men’s draw as a former champion here and Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year.
The one countryman to fail did so in an upset, with Ben Mitchell stunning the fourth seeded Tsung-Hua Yang in straight sets. After defeating the in-form James Duckworth in the first round, Mitchell will take some confidence into his quarterfinal against Jimmy Wang.
Women’s second seed Olivia Rogowska started poorly, with her forehand especially wayward. 16-year-old Korean Su Jeong Jang showed her more experienced opponent up, racing to a 4-0 lead before taking the first set 6-3.
From there, both players continued to fluctuate in performance, before a frustrated Rogowska finally found her range. She took the second set and the momentum into the decider.
At 3-all, the Victorian broke serve and from there cruised to the win with another break of serve. Rogowska said she was unprepared for the attack she faced early from Jang.
“She played amazing tennis, she came out firing. I know she’s a really tough junior, credit to her,” she said.
“I really had to battle, so I’m happy with how I fought today.”
Sally Peers went down to top seed Yurika Sema of Japan in straight sets, while defending champion Eugenie Bouchard of Canada just edged out Great Britain’s Melanie South 7-5 in the deciding third set.
Quarterfinal matches begin at 11am on Thursday, with live streaming of centre court matches.
Wednesday, 1st February
Results
Men’s Singles – Second Round
Jimmy Wang (TPE) d Michael Look (Qld) 6-1 6-2
Ti Chen (TPE) d Kamil Capkovic (SVK) 6-3 7-5
[2] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) d Matt Reid (NSW) 6-2 6-1
John Millman (Qld) d Adam Feeney (NSW) 6-7(2) 6-3 6-2
[8] Yuichi Sugita (JPN) d Ze Zhang (CHN) 6-1 2-6 6-3
[6] Danai Udomchoke (THA) d Sebastian Rieschick (GER) 6-3 5-7 6-1
Ben Mitchell (Qld) d [4] Tsung-Ya Yang (TPE) 6-4 6-3
Samuel Groth (Vic) d [1] Denis Istomin (UZB) Walkover
Women’s Singles – Second Round
Monique Adamczak (NSW) d [3] Yulia Putinitseva (RUS) 7-5 6-3
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) d Melanie South (GBR) 6-2 4-6 7-5
[6] Arina Rodionova (RUS) d Sandra Zaniewska (POL) 6-2 7-6(4)
Shuko Aoyama (JPN) d [8] Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 6-1 5-7 6-4
[1] Yurika Sema (JPN) d Sally Peers (Vic) 6-4 7-5
[7] Bojana Bobusic (WA) d Emelyn Starr (NSW) 6-3 6-3
[2] Olivia Rogowska (Vic) d Su Jeong Jang (KOR) 3-6 6-3 6-3
Irina Khromacheva (RUS) d Carol Zhao (Can) 6-3 6-3
Men’s Doubles
JP Smith (Qld)/John Peers (Vic) d James Lemke (Vic)/Dane Propoggia (NSW) 6-4 6-1
Divij Sharan (IND)/Vishnu Vardhan (IND) d Colin Ebelthite (SA)/Marinko Matosevic (Vic) 6-7(4) 6-3 (10-8)
Women’s Doubles
Stephanie Bengson (NSW)/Tyra Calderwood (NSW) d Monique Adamczak (NSW)/Sandra Zaniewska (POL) 6-2 3-6 (10-8)
Aiko Nakamura (JPN)/Ayumi Oka (JPN) d Shuko AOYAMA (JPN)/Kotomi Takahata (JPN) 6-2 6-1
Arina Rodionova (RUS)/Melanie South (GBR) d Anna Fitzpatrick (GBR)/Alenka Hubacek (Vic) 6-3 6-3
Thursday, 2nd February
Schedule – From 11am
Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals
[6] Danai Udomchoke (THA) v [2] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
Jimmy Wang (TPE) v Ben Mitchell (Qld)
Samuel Groth (Vic) v John Millman (Qld)
Ti Chen (TPE) v Yuichi Sugita (JPN)
Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
[2] Olivia Rogowska (Vic) v Shuko Aoyama (JPN)
[6] Arina Rodionova (RUS) v [1] Yurika Sema (JPN)
[7] Bojana Bobusic (WA) v Monique Adamczak (NSW)
