Hewitt-Kournikova Defeated

Korean woman tennis star Cho Yoon Jung (Samsung Securities) slipped on her major match-victory. In the first round of the Australian Open (total prizes 16.5 million dollars), which began on 15th in Melbourne, the only Korean participant Cho, world-ranking 106th, lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia), world-junior ranking 1st, by 1-2 (3-6, 6-2, 4-6).

Cho participated in the tournament by receiving a wild card, and this was her second major tournament after last year’s U.S. Open. She persistently confronted Kuznetsova, but was defeated due to loss of control.

Cho, who shed tears after the match, regretted, "I wish I didn`t lose control over my phase in the beginning of the match. I had several chances but kept making mistakes."

`Sexy star` Anna Kournikova (Russia) was defeated by Justine Henin (Belgium) by 0-2 (2-6, 5-7). Kournikova played in the Open after a year since the last Australian Open, but she lost due to her left foot injury. Henin, who was made the semi-finals in the last year’s French Open, said, "I was lucky playing with Kournikova when she was not feeling well, but it was hard to concentrate because of her popularity."

Seeking to win twice in a row, top-seeded Jennifer Capriati (U.S.A) beat Silvija Talaja of Croatia by 2-0 (6-4, 6-1) with ease. Many Australian fans eagerly supported Capriati as she redeemed herself in the same tournament last year, taking the first prize.

In men’s singles, an extraordinary event occurred as the world’s No.1 Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) lost to Alberto Martin (Spain), world’s 41st, by 1-3 (6-1. 1-6, 4-6, 6-7), because of a foot injury. Since the 1990 U.S. Open, it was the first time that the top seed lost in the first round.

Therefore, the `top 3`, including withdrawn Andre Agassi, (3rd seed), defeated Gustavo Kuerten (2nd seed), and Hewitt, all failed to advance to the second round.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com