Tennis: Wickmayer tested by former No 1

Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in action against Dinara Safina. Photo / Sarah Ivey.

Defending champion Yanina Wickmayer has already lost more sets here than she did on her way to the 2010 title, but still underlined her status as the most likely challenger to Maria Sharapova.

The Belgian beat former world No 1 Dinara Safina at the ASB Classic yesterday in a three-set, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 smash-a-thon.

She plays on centre court again today against German qualifier Sabine Lisicki, who will provide another stern test of Wickmayer's credentials, having reached a career high ranking of 22, after making the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2009.

Safina and Wickmayer provided the best action of the tournament so far, with the modus operandi of both players tending towards the "hit it hard and hit it early" theory.

It was a brutal draw - Belgian Wickmayer is world No 23 but should be higher and Safina is No 63 and will soon be much higher - but it did guarantee great first-round entertainment for the sell-out crowd.

"I played really well. We both played at a high level. It was a good way to start the year," Wickmayer said.

The second set, which Safina won in a tiebreaker, was arguably the best women's tennis seen on these courts.

"I can't say I lost that set because I played bad. The service game I lost at the end, she [Safina] played three unbelievable winners."

If that was the high point, Marina Erakovic provided a low of sorts in the earlier game when she crashed out with a howl then a whimper, ensuring there would be no New Zealand presence in the second round of the singles.

A set down and trailing 1-4, Erakovic let out a howl of anguish when she mis-hit yet another forehand against 2009 finalist Elena Vesnina. She was only voicing the frustrations of the local crowd who were witnessing a shadow of a player who thrilled en route to the semifinals here in 2008. The 6-2, 6-2 defeat was a fair reflection of her performance against the world No 52-ranked player.

The 22-year-old, who has seen her ranking slip from a career high of 49 to 333, was at a loss to explain her lethargic performance.

"Terrible, pretty much," was how she described her outing. "Very disappointing, but then again you have to take these ones on the chin and move on."

Erakovic never gave the crowd a chance to get in behind her. She traded breaks early in the match to leave the first set 2-2, but it was obvious she was struggling.

"I honestly didn't feel like I was on my feet or hitting the ball very well throughout," she said.

The pity of it was she felt fit and healthy throughout preparations, a feeling that was rare to her in 2009, and expected big things.

She can take some solace in appearing on centre court again when she pairs with Swede Sofia Arvidsson in the second round of the doubles against second seeds Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova.

In last night's singles match, fourth seed Julia Goerges of Germany beat Annabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-4, 6-0.