KEY POINTS:
Sympathy was low for Anastassia Rodionova as she tearfully lost the plot in her ASB Classic tennis tournament appearance in Auckland today.
Rodionova was in tears for most of her first round clash with third seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia before retiring halfway through the second set when down 0-6 0-3.
She was reportedly crying because of a problem with the strength of her contact lenses meant she couldn't see the ball properly.
But she exerted little effort during the match, often not running for balls hit into her court, and showed little of the professionalism that would be expected for a 25-year-old ranked 78 in the world.
Rodionova's player profile in the tournament programme describes 2007 as her best year ever, reaching a career-high ranking of 63 and twice reaching the second round at grand slam tournaments.
But she also became just the second player to be disqualified from a WTA tournament when she launched a ball at three spectators during a tournament in Cincinnati in July when at one set all in a first-round match against Angelique Kerber of Germany.
Rodionova had complained about the fans during the match but later said she had not aimed at them and couldn't understand why she was ejected.
Rodionova retired on two other occasions during 2007.
Once was due to heat illness during the semifinal of the Guangzhou tournament - her best performance of the season - and the other due to a left knee injury.
Srebotnik, who beat Rodionova in the first round of the French Open earlier this year, said it was not the way she would wanted to have won.
"It was a strange game. I didn't really get much rhythm, the points were quite quick and I was hoping to get a little bit closer match to get going, especially in my first match of the year," she said.
"Obviously she was having some problems but I was able to not let it distract me."
- NZPA
