Australian Open 2011 Tennis Results, Day 5: Injured Venus Williams Retires, Justine Henin Upset

Scores and highlights from Day 5 of the Australian Open 2011. Here’s what went down Down Under in the women’s draw:
• No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki def. No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-3.
Wozniacki’s on cruise control, and rightly so: She’s never crashed out earlier than the third round in her four appearances at the Aussie Open. Should have a cakewalk in the fourth against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
• No. 30 Andrea Petkovic def. No. 4 Venus Williams, 1-0 (Ret.)
That psoas injury was surmountable for one match, but not two. And even if Williams had powered through, she’d have had a whale of a time against Sharapova in the next round.
• No. 6 Francesca Schiavone def. Monica Niculescu, 6-0 7-6 (7-2).
At one point during the match, a graphic displayed Niculescu’s first name as “Minica.” This is probably what powered her to a would-be second-set comeback, but too late: Schiavone advances to take on No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
• No. 8 Victoria Azarenka def. Chanelle Scheepers, 6-3 6-3.
It turns out that having a NOTY-caliber name isn’t a substitute for being really, really good at tennis. Next up for Azarenka: No. 9 Li Na.
• No. 23 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. No. 11 Justine Henin, 6-4 7-6 (10-8).
The day’s first upset in the women’s draw that didn’t involve a gruesome injury still featured one wounded party: Henin was nursing a sore elbow but emphasized afterwards that that was no excuse for her play. Kuznetsova will tackle Schiavone in Round 4.
• No. 14 Maria Sharapova def. Julia Goerges, 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Will you look at Miss Maria! Since winning in 2008, the best she’s done here is get herself knocked out in last year’s first round, but she’s got a nice little run going, and she gets to face Andrea Petkovic instead of Venus Williams for further advancement.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more results and highlights from Day 5 of the 2011 Australian Open.