LONDON: Australia`s French Open finalist Samantha Stosur was brought back down to earth with a bang as she crashed out of the Wimbledon first round on Tuesday.

Stosur, the sixth seed, was beaten in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 by Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi, just weeks after reaching her first Grand Slam final.

The unheralded Kanepi is ranked 74 places below the Australian number one.

"I didn`t play as well as I know that I can. But I thought she played well. She served very well. I didn`t serve as well as her. That kind of hurt me," Stosur said.

"To counteract someone serving well against you, I think it helps if you do the same thing and that maybe puts them under a little bit more pressure on serve. I got a few opportunities, but I wasn`t able to take them.

"I`m no doubt disappointed. Not really any other way to say it. I wanted to do a lot better here than what I had in previous years. I didn`t.

"She`s a quality opponent. She has been ranked a lot higher than what she is. For whatever reason, she slipped back. She`s definitely played a lot of matches recently as well. She qualified at the French as well as here and been playing well.

"So it wasn`t an easy first round by any means.

"The last couple days I practiced quite well, tried to prepare for the match as best I could. I did everything I could to allow myself to play well. I just didn`t play my best."

Meanwhile Australian number two Anastasia Rodionova came from behind to beat British number three Anne Keothavong 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 before a show court home crowd, but her fiery outbursts on court did not impress her opponent.

"It was tough. She`s what she is. She`s kind of renowned for some of her antics. But you just have to focus on yourself and get on with the match," Keothavong said of the world number 74.

"I don`t want to speak badly about other players. That`s just the way she kind of deals with her emotions.
"But, like I said, I`ve got to stay focused and just get on with what I can control.

"She held her nerve better than I did. She`s the one who walks off the court with a win."

BDST: 1157hrs, June 23, 2010
SA