Friday, January 14, 2011

Taiwan's Lu, Chang handed tough draws at Australian Open

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun and Chang Kai-chen were handed tough draws and potential second round clashes with No. 2 seeds in the upcoming Australian Tennis Open, in the announcement Friday morning of the matchups in the men's and women's singles.

In the main draw for the Australia Open, the first grand slam event of the year, the top- seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain will face Brazilian Marcos Daniel, while top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will play Gisela Dulko of Argentina.

Lu, currently ranked No. 35 in the world and the highest ranked Asian male player, is scheduled to meet Gilles Simon of France, the world No. 41, in the first round and could face second-seeded Swiss star Roger Federer in the second round.

Lu lost his only career matchup against Simon in a 2009 Association of Tennis Players (ATP) event in the United States. He made his deepest run at the Australian Open in 2009 by advancing to the third round. Last year he bowed out in the first round.

Chang, Taiwan's highest ranked women's singles player at world No. 117, received a wildcard in the women's singles competition. She will meet world No. 77 Bojana Jovanovski in the first round. Chang, 20, lost all four matches that she played against the 19-year-old Serbian in the past.

If Chang makes it past the first round, she would possibly meet Vera Zvonareva of Russia, seeded second in the tournament behind Wozniacki. Chang made her Australian Open debut last year but lost in the first round.

Chan Yung-jan, who had her best Down Under memory of a runner-up finish in the 2007 Australian Open women's doubles, will have to start from the women's singles qualifying competition. The world No. 119 will meet Stephanie Foretz Gacon in the first match.

The draws for the men's and women's doubles will be announced next week, according to the organizers.

The Australian Open will be held at Melbourne Park from Jan. 17-30. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc