The 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova upset No. 11 seeded Justine Henin in round three of the 2011 Australian Open in Melbourne. Svetlana took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(8).
After taking the first set, Svetlana twice served for the match. Justine broke both times sending the 2nd set to a tie-break. After several lead changes, set points for Justine and match points for Svetlana, Svetlana finally pulled out the upset at 10-8.
Justine reached the final of the Australian Open in 2010, her first Grand Slam after coming out of retirement. Now, just a year later, she suffered her worst run at a Grand Slam event since Wimbledon in 2005 when she lost in the 1st round.
This is also the first time Justine lost in a major to Svetlana. Svetlana’s best showing at the Australian Open is the Quarterfinals in 2009 and 2005. She reached round four last year.
Svetlana will now face No. 6 seed, Francesca Schiavone.
