MELBOURNE - Ninth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva paid the price for clumsy serving when she was dumped out of the Australian Open on Wednesday, beaten 6-3 6-3 by unseeded compatriot Vera Douchevina in the second round.
The world number 11 lost a surprisingly lopsided match to her 18-year-old opponent in only 61 minutes on showcourt three at Melbourne Park.
Zvonareva gifted the 2002 junior Wimbledon champion the biggest win of her senior career by serving 11 double faults, the last of them on match point.
A French Open quarter-finalist in 2003, Zvonareva also produced 27 unforced errors in an untidy performance.
Douchevina, ranked 65, matched her performance at last year's US Open by reaching the third round and will play either 17th seed Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia or unseeded German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Results of women's singles second round matches at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday (prefix number denotes seeding).
2-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Dinara Safina (Russia) 2-6 6-1 6-0
Vera Douchevina (Russia) beat 9-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-3 6-3
Li Na (China) beat 28-Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) 6-3 6-4
21-Amy Frazier (US) beat Denisa Chladkova (Czech Republic) 6-1 3-6 6-2
Evgenia Linetskaya (Russia) beat Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-0 6-2
- REUTERS
Tennis: Errors cost Zvonareva
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