By Eleanor Preston
August 28th 2008 @ 1:15am
Moore bright spot on gloomy day for Aussies at Open
Teenager Jessica Moore lifted Australian spirits on an otherwise disappointing day in New York by earning herself a spot in the second round of the US Open.
Federer off to flying start at US Open
Eighteen-year-old Moore beat American teen Melanie Oudin 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) to win her first senior match at Flushing Meadows and become the first Australian so far to make it into round two.
Australian No.1 Casey Dellacqua fell at the first hurdle today when she was upset 7-6 (7-6) 7-6 (7-4) by French qualifier Julie Coin, while Samantha Stosur battled hard before losing 6-2 6-3 to Venus Williams in a noisy and atmospheric night session match.
Robert Smeets, the only Australian man in action today, was outlasted by big-serving American Mardy Fish 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4.
Moore was delighted to have given Australian tennis some much needed good news on a gloomy day for the green and gold contingent.
“I was just pretty happy with the way I went today,” Moore said.
“Melanie played well today and it was mostly on serve, which made it tough for me but I felt I served well.
“It was close but I think I just played the more important points better than she did.
“I wanted to be the stronger one out there mentally, especially because I’ve played a few more grand slams than she has in the seniors.
“I told myself that I needed to step up and I did a good job of that.”
Dellacqua’s defeat to world No.188 Coin saw the tables turned on the once giant-killing West Australian.
Dellacqua had fought her way into the world top 50 on the back of upset wins at the grand slams, including during her run to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
But Dellacqua admitted after losing to Coin that she struggled with being the hunted rather than the hunter.
“All year I have been playing with nothing to lose,” said the world No.44.
“Today I was in a situation where I was clearly favourite to win and I haven’t been in that situation for a long time.
“There was a lot of pressure and expectation that I put on myself.
“I just desperately wanted to win.
“I didn’t get into the match at all.
“I think it’s quite healthy that I’m at a level where I should be putting a little bit more expectation and pressure on myself but I need to be able to handle it.
“I have to give her credit as well because she’s come through three matches in qualifying and you dont qualify for a grand slam without being a good player.”
Dellacqua will now concentrate on a doubles campaign at Flushing Meadows in the hope of repeating her surge to the final of this year’s French Open with Francesca Schiavone.
This time around she will partner Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, with whom she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon.
“I absolutely love playing doubles. It’s a really good situation when you have had a disappointing loss in singles to go out there and hit the practice court and play another match,” she said.
Stosur said she enjoyed her battle with Williams in front of a typically noisy New York crowd.
After a one-sided first set, Stosur led the second set 3-1 and put in a performance which belied the fact that she has spent much of this season struggling to recover from the virus Lymes Disease.
“There are certain things I would have wanted to go better and I would have liked to have been a little bit closer to winning the match but there’s a lot I can take away from it,” said Stosur.
“You want to be playing on centre courts like that every time. I had fun out there.”
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