WAIS tennis star Casey Dellacqua has gone down in three sets in her first match of the 2009 season at the Perth Hopman Cup.
Dellacqua playing in her first tournament since recovering from shoulder surgery last September had hoped to get Australia’s Hopman Cup campaign off to the perfect start, and she outclassed her German opponent Sabine Lisicki in the first set (4-6). However, she was unable to maintain the intensity and world number 56 Lisicki powered back to take the match 4-6 6-2 7-5 and give Germany a 1-0 lead in the tie.
Dellacqua however was able to see the positives in her first venture on the Burswood Dome surface, indicating her injury problems were behind her.
“It’s actually feeling really good,” Dellacqua said of her shoulder after the match.
“That’s the one (positive) thing for me coming out of a three set match like that.”
“The shoulder is holding up really well and it’s great news for me.”
Two time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt – also returning from a lengthy injury lay-off – was able to level the tie for Australia, defeating German Nicolas Kiefer in three sets 6-7 (8-6) 6-3 6-2 on centre court.
Dellacqua and Hewitt paired up for the mixed doubles hoping to complete victory over the German pair of Lisicki and Kiefer but were over-powered despite winning the first set in a tie break.
Lisicki and Kiefer wrestled back the ascendancy to take the match 6-7 (7-2) 6-3 7-6 (10-5) in 101 minutes.
Australia will play the Slovak Republic on Tuesday and the USA on Thursday, needing to win both ties to have any prospect of featuring in Friday’s final.
