Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, 4th seeded, was defeated on Monday by Shelby Rogers (US, 57th WTA) 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of Australian Open, in one hour and 15 minutes.
Last year Halep was also eliminated in the first round.
It is a poor start of season for Halep, with one win and two defeats, after the tournament in Shenzhen.
“I am a little frustrated, but what can I do? I cannot change things. I can only look ahead. It happens. I want to be alright with my knee. I have taken anti-inflammatory drugs before the match, as I have during the past days. The pain was strong and I could not do much,” Halep said after the match.
She added she might take a break from tennis for some time, her knee is very sensitive. “It’s the first time I have problems with the knee and I don’t want it aggravated,” Halep said.
Irina Begu (29th WTA, seeded 27th) has qualified to the second round after defeating Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan, 39th WTA) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 18 minutes. In the second round Begu will face the winner between Kristyna Pliskova (Czech Republic) and Viktorija Galobovic (Switzerland).
Sorana Carstea (79th WTA) has also qualified to the second round, after defeating Irina Khromacheva (Russia, 95th WTA) 6-2, 6-1.
In another match, Patricia Tig (107th WTA) was defeated by Monica Puig (29thWTA), Olympic Champion, 6-0, 6-1 in 53 minutes.
Halep and Tig will collect 10 WTA points and 50,000 Australian Dollars.
On Tuesday Monica Niculescu will face Ana Blinkova (Russia) and Ana Bogdan will play against Yelena Vesnina (Russia).