Sydney, Hobart: Wozniacki ousted again

Sydney 2nd round:

[4] NA LI (CHN) D AYUMI MORITA (JPN) | 6 - 1 | 6 - 0 |
MADISON KEYS (USA) D JIE ZHENG (CHN) | 6 - 0 | 6 - 4 |
DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK) D EKATERINA MAKAROVA (RUS) | 7 - 6 (3) | 1 - 6 | 7 - 6 (1) |
[3] SARA ERRANI (ITA) D MARIA KIRILENKO (RUS) | 6 - 1 | 6 - 1 |
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (RUS) D [7] CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN) | 7 - 6 (4) | 1 - 6 | 6 - 2 |
[2] ANGELIQUE KERBER (GER) D GALINA VOSKOBOEVA (KAZ) | 6 - 2 | 7 - 5 |
ROBERTA VINCI (ITA) D JELENA JANKOVIC (SRB) | 3 - 6 | 6 - 4 | 7 - 6 (4) |
[1] AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (POL) D KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM (JPN) | 6 - 4 | 6 - 3 |

Hobart 1st/2nd round:

[9] MONA BARTHEL (GER) D CHANELLE SCHEEPERS (RSA) | 7 - 6 (3) | 7 - 5 |
ELENA VESNINA (RUS) D [4] YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA (KAZ) | 4 - 6 | 6 - 2 | 6 - 1 |
[8] SLOANE STEPHENS (USA) D SIMONA HALEP (ROU) | 6 - 4 | 6 - 0 |
LAUREN DAVIS (USA) D [2] SORANA CIRSTEA (ROU) | 6 - 1 | 6 - 3 |
BOJANA JOVANOVSKI (SRB) D MARIA-TERESA TORRO-FLOR (ESP) | 6 - 0 | 7 - 6 (7) |
[3] KLARA ZAKOPALOVA (CZE) D TIMEA BABOS (HUN) | 6 - 4 | 6 - 3 |

Upset of the day:

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (RUS) D [7] CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (DEN) | 7 - 6 (4) | 1 - 6 | 6 - 2 | 

Oh Caro! Just when I thought you got things back on track, you throw in a stinker of a performance here. Svetlana hasn't won against Wozniacki since 2009 and somehow, Caroline manages to lose this. It is very worrying for the Dane as Svetlana had trouble closing out matches against top players. Moreover, Kuznetsova just returned from a long layoff. Perhap Caroline's reluctance to train during off season is showing here as she looks like a lost lamb on court. Her normal high percentage game is gone, resulting in ugly errors and wrong strategies. I said it once and I say it again, she needs to lose her father as a coach before any improvement sets in. Well, maybe she is content with being Rory's trophy wife.

ELENA VESNINA (RUS) D [4] YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA (KAZ) | 4 - 6 | 6 - 2 | 6 - 1 |

After Wimbledon, Shvedova has failed to find her stellar form and did relatively nothing for the rest of the year. She seems to be struggling again this year, losing twice to Vesnina and committing a truckload of errors. Vesnina is not a punching bag, but Yaroslava should have won this. Maybe she's just saving energy for the slams? Who knows. Elena continues her good form after reaching the quarters last week in Auckland. She might be a dark horse in Melbourne.

LAUREN DAVIS (USA) D [2] SORANA CIRSTEA (ROU) | 6 - 1 | 6 - 3 |

Any player who can counter Sorana's power with accurate shots into the court will win. It is one thing to hit hard, but the ball needs to land inside the court. Lauren Davis is quite possibly one of the most weaponless players on tour, but Sorana was just brainlessly hitting everything out, not bothering to think whether her opponent has the game to beat her or not. Cirstea will be looking at an early exit in Melbourne; unless she meets Stosur in the first round again.