Vaidisova, Lisicki pick up wins
Nicole Vaidisova training at the Academy with her coach David Felgate looking on
Two NBTA alum are in action down under prepping for the first Grand Slam of the year. Nicole Vaidisova, seeded sixth, won her opening round match against Alla Kudryavtseva 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5 in Auckland and will face Elena Vesnina in the second round. Vaidisova is looking to have a bounce-back 2009 after what was a disappointing 2008. She trained hard at the Academy during the short off-season and seems to be ready to roll this year.
Also winning was Sabine Lisicki. The young German is playing in the Hopman Cup with Nicolas Kiefer and she won her match against Australian Casey Dellacqua 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. Her compatriot, Kiefer, wasn’t as successful as he fell to Lleyton Hewitt in three sets. They did team up to beat the combo of Dellacqua/Hewitt in the mixed doubles though, winning 6-3, 7-6 (10/5). The German team is scheduled to face the American team of Meghann Shaughnessy and James Blake tomorrow.
