Just two months ago, Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer wasn’t going to be able to play tennis all year. Now she is into round 3 of the 2010 Australian Open after downing No. 12 ranked Flavia Pennetta in straight sets.
Wickmayer grabbed the momentum in the first-set tiebreaker, winning the tiebreaker easily 7-2. She then broke Pennetta 3 times in the second set for a 7-6(7-2), 6-1 win which took only 87 minutes.
In November 2009, Wickmayer had received a one-year suspension from competition by the Flemish National Doping Organization for failing on three occasions to report her whereabouts in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency policies, even though she never missed a doping test and never failed one. Wickmayer later appealed the suspension, and a Belgian civil court lifted the ban.
Wickmayer, ranked No. 16, had to play the qualifying tournament to get into the Australian Open because the entry deadline had passed before her ban was lifted. That means she came into the tournament unseeded and therefore is in a position to knock off other seeded players in early rounds who might get in her way, such as Pennetta.
Wickmayer will face No. 46 Sara Errani of Italy in round 3, and faces a possible matchup against Justine Henin in round 4, which would pit two great unseeded players against each other, and could make for another exciting match.
Henin will face No. 27 seed, Alisa Kleybanova, in round 3.
