A walkabout Down Under is an aimless trek to nowhere, and Mary Pierce’s tennis version of it Thursday ended her reign as Australian Open champion.
She wandered around the court as if she had no idea what to do, slugged shots that would have been wide in doubles, didn’t bother chasing balls two steps away.
It all came crashing down on the fourth-seeded Pierce in a 6-4, 6-4 loss in the second round to Elena Likhovtseva, a Russian ranked No. 51.
Asked what was wrong with her game, Pierce responded: “Basically, everything. . . . Nothing actually felt very comfortable, nothing was working.”
There was nothing sloppy about the play of the men’s top seed, Pete Sampras, who closed out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory with his 20th ace against fellow American Michael Joyce.
Pierce wasn’t the only seed to lose. No. 5 Kimiko Date fell to Japanese compatriot Mana Endo 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
