Kirilenko- Sharapova!

MELBOURNE: Former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters came back to give the Australian Open some first-day lustre on a rainy, dreary day at Melbourne Park.

Former top-ranked Maria Sharapova was a surprise 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 loser on Monday to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko. U.S. Open champion Clijsters, making a return to the Australian Open after coming back from retirement, easily won her first-round match 6-0, 6-4 over Canadian qualifier Valerie Tetreault.

It was Sharapova’s earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2003 French Open, and comes after she lost in the second round at last year’s U.S. Open.

Showers first delayed the start of play on outside courts on Monday, then forced several suspensions during the day. The first match on Court six didn’t finish until nearly seven hours after it started.

Still nervous

Clijsters, who won the U.S. Open in September in only her third tournament back from time off to get married and have a baby, is now six tournaments into her comeback, but still feeling the nerves that come with Grand Slam tournaments.

“I have the experience from the past, but I haven’t been here for so long,” Clijsters said. “So I think that’s why it all feels new again. So, yeah, the butterflies are there, but they’re not the same butterflies as the ones when I was 15 where I couldn’t sleep the night before a match.”

There were no nerves — “just a bad day” — said Sharapova, who was making her first appearance on Rod Laver Arena since winning the 2008 trophy. She missed the Australian Open last year as part of a 10-month lay-off due to shoulder surgery, but said her shoulder did not bother her on Monday.

Sharapova rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set, holding serve and then breaking Kirilenko to stay in the match. She dropped her own serve after giving Kirilenko double match point. In other women’s play, last year’s finalist, second-seeded Dinara Safina won her first-round match, beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4. Another Russian, No. 3 and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6-1, 6-2.

In the men’s section defending champion and second seed Rafael Nadal wore down Australian Peter Luczak to begin his campaign with a straight-set victory. The Spanish World No. 2, bidding for his seventh Grand Slam title, overcame Luczak 7-6(0), 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 34 minutes. In other men’s matches, U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro beat American Michael Russell 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and No. 5 Andy Murray defeated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick sat through a needless rain suspension before beating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Elsewhere, No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic defeated No. 13 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. American Wayne Odesnik beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Sania’s tie postponed

Sania Mirza will have to wait till Tuesday to start her campaign as rains forced postponement of her first round match against French 27th seed Aravane Rezai. — Agencies