Routliffe out in third round in Melbourne
- editor59343
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
New Zealand doubles player Erin Routliffe has had her Australian Open come to an end in the third round.
Thirty-year-old Routliffe, who has a WTA ranking of nine, came close, but could not get over the line to the last eight.
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Seeded sixth Routliffe and American Asia Muhammad lost to veteran Vera Zvonareva (Russia) and Japan's Ena Shibahara 5-7, 6-3, 1-6 in two hours 27 minutes on John Cain Area.
Breaks were traded in the four and fifth games of the first set before the seeded pair led 5-4 only to drop the next three games in a row and the set 7-5 as Routliffe lost her serve as an Australian Day aerobatic display appeared to buzz the court.
In the second set Routliffe and Muhammad gained the only break in the fourth game on Shibahara's serve and kept the lead as the American rounded out the set 6-3.
However the third set in front of a good sized crowd in 20 degree heat was anything but pleasant for the Kiwi and American combination in their first Slam together.
Muhammad was broken in the second game and Routliffe in the fourth as Zvonareva and Shibahara raced through the set and match 6-1.
The previous day Routliffe lost her Mixed Doubles with Swede Andre Goransson against Kristina Mladenovic (France) and Manuel Guinard (Franc) 6-4 7-5
