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Australia’s Casey Dellacqua bowed out of Wimbledon with a hefty loss to Nicole Vaidisova in the third round today.
In a week that had already featured the demise of several top seeds, Dellacqua, who has made a habit of upsetting big names at grand slams this year, was unable to topple the 18th-seeded Czech, who won their rain-interrupted match 6-2 6-4 in just 55 minutes.
Dellacqua, the world No.43, admitted feeling daunted by playing in the third round at Wimbledon.
“It wasn’t a let down, I just didn’t feel like I played my best today and I felt like Nicole actually played really quite well,” she said.
“I was really, really, really nervous and I think I kind of let that get to me a little bit in the beginning of the first set.”
Vaidisova, who had a lucky escape to overcome another Australian, Samantha Stosur, after trailing 3-0 in the third set of their second-round match, put on a near flawless display today.
She capitalised on a slow start by Dellacqua to claim an early break of serve in the opening game.
Dellacqua threatened to turn the tables when she grabbed a break point with a lightning return in the sixth game, but Vaidisova held her off and then broke the Australian for a 5-2 lead before comfortably closing out the set with an ace.
Dellacqua battled through the fifth game of the second set and Vaidisova made the breakthrough when the Australian sent a backhand long to drop serve and hand her opponent a 3-2 lead.
The 19-year-old Czech served well all match and appeared to be in a hurry when she won her next service game to love as light rain began to fall.
The rain became heavier and play was suspended with Vaidisova leading the second set 4-3 and serving at 30-30.
Dellacqua’s surprise first-round win over ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli at the French Open last month followed a similar pattern, with the Australian trailing in the first set before bouncing back from an overnight rain delay.
But Dellacqua, who also beat No.12 seed Patty Schnyder in the opening round at the All England Club earlier this week, was unable to offer a repeat performance against Vaidisova.
Play resumed after one hour an 50 minutes with the Czech picking up where she left off, completing the game and then serving out the match, which she won with an ace.
Dellacqua has had a promising year, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, having beaten seeded players Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo along the way.
She was also runner-up in the women’s doubles with Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in Paris.
But the 23-year-old Dellacqua is determined to build on this season.
“To be honest, I haven’t felt like I’ve played my best tennis the whole tournament,” she said of her second Wimbledon appearance, which also included a second-round win over Pauline Parmentier of France.
“I really toughed out the last two matches and then today, obviously, playing a high-quality player you just don’t get away with not playing your best tennis and I think that’s what happened.”
Vaidisova’s win gave her a 2-1 win-loss record from her three matches against Dellacqua, all of which have been played this year.
Dellacqua was aiming to become the first Australian woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since 2000, when Jelena Dokic lost to eventual runner-up Lindsay Davenport in the semis.
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