She lost a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 decision to Ukrainian Olga Savchuck on Monday in Melbourne.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFTzipi Obziler's strong start to 2006 wasn't enough to carry her to the second round at the Australian Open. Obziler lost a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 decision to Ukrainian Olga Savchuck on Monday in Melbourne.
Anna Smashnova, Shahar Pe'er and Harel Levy all play their opening-round matches on Tuesday.
Obziler, ranked 166th in the world, started poorly, but won the first five games of the second set as she evened things up. In the third and deciding set, Savchuck (188) went ahead when she broke Obziler's serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Obziler broke back, but the pattern continued as Savchuck recorded her fifth break of the match on her way to the second round for the first time in her career.
Obziler, who reached the second round at the season-opening Grand Slam in each of the past two years, had many chances in the 63-minute third set. However, the 32-year-old only cashed in on one out of her eight break points.
On Tuesday, Smashnova (40) will face Slovakian Martina Sucha (96), Pe'er (41) meets Shinobu Asagoe (39) of Japan and Levy (218) takes on American Kevin Kim (99).