Tennis: Upsets continue at ASB Classic

World No 64 Daniela Hantuchova upset Sara Errani in straight sets. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The upsets at the ASB Classic continued on centre court this afternoon with second seed Sara Errani crashing out in a straight sets defeat to world No 64 Daniela Hantuchova.

It took just over 75 minutes for Hantuchova to wrestle control of the match, winning 6-2, 6-3 over her highly-rated opponent.

Errani's exit followed that of former champion Yanina Wickmayer, who was dumped out of the tournament in the first round by American teenager Taylor Townsend.

Hantuchova had a spring in her step from the start at Stanley St, firing an ace on the first point of the match. The Slovakian broke Errani in the fourth game of the first set, showing some deft touches to complement her power game from the baseline.

The 31-year-old Hantuchova, who has been ranked as high as No5 in the world, remains a tough customer. At 1.81m she has a reach advantage over most players and is confident at the front of the court.

Errani fought well, saving three break points but struggled to find her rhythm and lost the first set 6-3.

The second set saw momentum see-saw initially as Errani broke serve before Hantuchova replied in kind. From that point on it was one-way traffic from the Slovakian's end as she bounced back from 2-0 down and maintained her focus to win the next six games and claim victory.

Errani struggled to find an answer to Hantuchova's wide ranging shot selection and her confidence took a dive while her rival powered to victory in emphatic style.

Hantuchova now awaits the outcome of tomorrow's opening centre court clash between another Italian, Francesca Schiavone, and Polish qualifier Urzula Radwanska to learn who she will meet in the second-round.

The dark-horse trend continued on centre court this evening with Croatian wildcard Ana Konjuh ousting German eighth seed Mona Barthel in straight sets.

The 17-year-old 99th-ranked former junior world No 1 impressed as she went about her work efficiently to dismantle the 41-ranked Barthel 6-2, 6-1 in just 53 minutes.

Konjuh quickly gained the ascendancy when she took the first break in the first set, and then kept the pressure on in the second when she raced out to a 4-1 advantage before sealing the match.

The Croatian will now look ahead to a second-round clash against the winner of tomorrow's unseeded match between Russian Elena Vesnina or France's Kristina Mladenovic.

Tonight's night session continues with Marina Erakovic's maiden appearance in the doubles. The Kiwi will team with Monica Puig in a meeting against Maria Irigoyen and Barbora Krejcikova.