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Elena Vesnina - Source: Photosport -
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Sixth seed Nicole Vaidisova crashed out of the ASB Classic on Wednesday, losing to hard-hitting Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-3.
The 41st ranked Vaidisova struggled on serve throughout the match, being broken on six separate occasions in the match in the breezy conditions at Stanley St.
World number 79 Vesnina was all power from the baseline, sent down seven aces and clearly took a lot of confidence from her first-round win.
The sixth seed looked out of sorts throughout the one hour fourteen minute battle, losing the first set to a double fault and the match with another unforced error.
It was the battle of the Czech number one versus the 13th ranked Russian, which says a lot about the depth of the Russian tennis.
At times Vaidisova looked like the 16-year sensation who made semi-final appearances at the French and Australian Open but at other times she played like someone who tumbled from number seven to 41 in 2008.
The first set was a strange affair, with patches of sublime play but far too many unforced errors.
The 19-year-old Vaidisova was slow out of the blocks and after conceding an early break of serve, found herself 4-1 down.
She finally found some form in the sixth game to break back, much to the relief of a substantial crowd, yearning for a competitive match.
What followed was some quite bizarre tennis.
In each of the next four games there seemed to be demons at the service line, as the server found themselves 0-40.
They would come back, but almost invietably all were broken.
The breezy conditions on centrecourt would have been a factor and appropriately Vesnina was handed the first set with the Vaidisova double fault.
Vaidisova improved in the second set, managing some crunching forehands but the 22-year-old Russian was still the more consistent from the baseline.
There were five breaks of service in the second set, the Russian managed three of them and that was enough to send her into the second round.
