Daria Saville has suffered heartbreak for the second straight grand slam in a despairing first-round exit from the US Open in New York.
A shattered Saville pulverised her racquet into pieces after falling 6-3 4-6 7-6 (10-6) to Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara in a three-hour, 16-minute rollercoaster of emotions at Flushing Meadows.
The Australian No.1 looked set to post her first win in almost two months after fighting back from a set down to be leading 2-0, 30-0 in the decider.
But she lost her way after narrowly missing a backhand and allowing Shibahara back on serve in the marathon third set.
Berating herself at every error, Saville did well to hold for 6-5 after a 16-shot service game as the see-sawing encounter inevitably moved into a first-to-10 match tiebreaker.
Alas, a double-fault from from Saville on match point proved the breaking point for the temperamental baseliner.
Saville smashed her racquet five times into the court in disgust and frustration, no doubt mentally haunted by a similarly soul-destroying Wimbledon second-round loss last month.
On that occasion, Saville blew a 6-2 5-1 lead against Marta Kostyuk – and hasn’t won since while also battling a painful bout of plantar fasciitis in her foot.
Slated to drop to No.97 in the world rankings, Saville must now pick up the pieces from her latest setback in order to stay in the top 100 and secure direct entry to the Australian Open in January.
Source Agencies
