In-form Glushko sets up Wozniacki clash at Auckland tennis tourney

A win over the world ranked number eight player would be the biggest win of the Israeli tennis player's career.

By ALLON SINAI
Julia Glushko (photo credit: REUTERS)
Julia Glushko
(photo credit: REUTERS)
After coming through three rounds of qualifiers, Israel’s Julia Glushko will face world No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki in the first round of the Auckland Classic in New Zealand on Tuesday.
Ranked No. 154 in the world, Glushko advanced to the main draw on Monday after her opponent in the third round of qualifying in Auckland, Claire Feuerstein (160), retired after 21 minutes with the Israeli leading 4-1 in the first set.
Glushko has started the year in encouraging fashion after also overcoming Yulia Putintseva (113) and Kateryna Kozlova (140) in straight sets in the first two rounds. However, she will need to record the biggest win of her career to reach the second round of the main draw.
Wozniacki will be playing her first match of 2015 after ending last year on a high by going all the way to the final of the US Open before reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Elsewhere, Glushko’s Fed Cup teammate Shahar Pe’er (114) opened the year with a humbling 6-1, 6-0 defeat to Zhaoxuan Yang (241) in a mere 49 minutes in the first round of the qualifiers in Shenzhen, China over the weekend.
Both Glushko and Pe’er will take part in the Australian Open qualifiers in Melbourne next week.
Meanwhile in Perth, women’s world No. 1 Serena Williams credited an on-court coffee for her recovery after she stormed back from a first set bagel to beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta in her opening match of the year at the Hopman Cup on Monday.
The 33-year-old American looked all at sea during the first 19 minutes of the early morning match in a sweltering Perth but the caffeine hit did just the trick as her serve clicked into gear for a 0-6, 6-3, 6-0 win.
“I’m so jet-lagged and Flavia played really, really well and yeah, everyone needs coffee every now and then.
“I needed coffee to get my feet moving,” Williams said in an on court interview to roars of appreciation from the crowd.
“I wanted coffee with my bagel and whatever coffee it was, it was really good.”
Williams had asked a ball girl to get her the hot drink fix but was initially unsure if it was allowed.
“I am a coffee drinker. I didn’t have mine this morning and I was just feeling it, so I just had to get some coffee into me,” she told reporters later.
“I just asked them to get me a shot of espresso. I asked them if it was legal, because I’ve never done it before.”
The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion is aiming for a sixth Australian Open in Melbourne later this month and is using the round-robin mixed team event as preparation for the year’s first major.
She watched on from the stands and pumped her fists in delight as compatriot John Isner beat Fabio Fognini 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) to give the US the victory, with the duo making it a clean sweep by staving off match points to win the mixed doubles.
The Americans will take on the Canadian duo of Eugenie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil in the evening session on Tuesday, while Czech duo Lucie Safarova and Adam Pavlasek will aim for a second Group A win against the Italians earlier in the day.
Reuters contributed to this report.