PHILOSOPHICAL Russian Ksenia Lykina was not getting carried away despite claiming the No. 3 seed for the second year running at the Launceston International.
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Twelve months after defeating Chanel Simmonds in straight sets on the same Regional Tennis Centre court, Lykina needed one more and a tense tie-breaker to claim the biggest scalp of the tournament so far - Japan's Erika Sema 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
``Ranking does not play - a player plays,'' explained the 22-year-old from the western city of Kazan.
``Ranking means nothing when it is just you and the ball on court. Everyone can make mistakes. Even Sharapova makes mistakes.
``Every match is different. I played good today, tomorrow something could go wrong. You never know. That's women's tennis.
``I do like this court . . . but it was easier last year!''
In a bizarre but captivating final set, Sema levelled from 4-0 down before successive service breaks took the score to 5-5 and successive holds confirmed the tie-breaker. Lykina claimed the decider with her first match point after which her coach summed up the drama with the observation: ``I think my hair become grey very soon.''
``When I was 4-0 up she played some good shots because she had nothing to lose,'' added Lykina, who will play Yuxuan Zhang in round 2.
``She played two good games, then we had two even games and I lost those as well but I was not thinking about it and just kept playing.
``At 4-4 it's tough when you think it's going away from you but then I calmed down and just kept playing my game. It just had to finish in a tie-break. I just fought for every ball and got the match. Now I am very tired.''
Another seed to go out on day 2 was Sydney's Monique Adamczak, the 30-year-old fourth seed retiring through illness having lost a first-set tie-breaker to Melburnian Tammi Patterson and trailing 3-0 in the second.
``I did not know Monique was not feeling too flash so it came as a surprise,'' 23-year-old Patterson said. ``She did not show anything, she just slowed down a bit.
``We're good friends, so I don't want to be too excited. We grew up playing together at the AIS. But a win is a win. I was just focusing on what I had to do so getting through was important.''
Adamczak, a losing finalist at Burnie last week, had beaten Patterson in the wildcard playoffs for this year's Australian Open but the tables turned yesterday in a fluctuating first set.
``They were all tough points in the tie-break and in the last few I just went for it and got the winners,'' Patterson added.
Patterson will today face compatriot Viktorija Rajicic who yesterday overcame Karolina Wlodarczak 7-5, 6-1.
Top seed Olivia Rogowska, of Melbourne, halted the tumble of top players with a solid 6-4, 6-4 win over American Alexandra Kiick, to book a second-round date with compatriot Bojana Bobusic.
The West Australian overcame first- and third-set stumbles to beat Japan's Misa Eguchi 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
``I did not really know much about her and probably did not play as well as I would have liked,'' said Bobusic, who led Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 5-4 and 30-15 in round 1 of this year's Australian Open but failed to win another game.
Becoming something of a regular visitor to Tasmania, having played multiple times in Launceston, Burnie and Hobart, the 25-year-old led 5-0 in the decider before clinching victory in the ninth game.
``Losing three games in a row in the third you do start thinking about it so I was glad to be able to close it out.
``I lost to Olivia in the semis at Burnie. I've played her a few times and she's beaten me every time but hopefully this will be different.
``I love it here, the courts are good and the weather is great. It's a bit warmer than Burnie, which I like.''
Sema's sister, No. 6 seed Yurika, progressed with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Australian Priscilla Hon and will play Shuko Aoyama, a 7-5, 6-4 conqueror of Aussie Jessica Moore, in an all-Japanese round 2 encounter.
Brit Emily Webley-Smith came from a set down to beat Akiko Omae, of Japan, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to book a second-round match with Liechtenstein's Olympic flagbearer Stephanie Vogt.
Australian Azra Hadzic will play compatriot Sacha Jones today after overcoming Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-4.