French Open champion Anastasia Myskina stumbled into the third round of the Australian Open with an unconvincing 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded Israeli Tzipora Obziler on Thursday.
An erratic Myskina had trouble finding her range and rhythm as 114th-ranked Obziler took an early 3-1 lead in what should have been a fairly easy outing for the third-seeded Russian.
Myskina and Obziler traded five service breaks between them in an untidy first set on Melbourne Park's Vodafone Arena.
Despite her poor start, the Russian said she never felt in any real danger against Obziler, whose career was interrupted by a two-year stint in the Israeli army.
"I still was pretty confident. Even though I was down 3-1, I still was confident that I can win the match," Myskina said.
Myskina, who lost in the first round of the Sydney International last week, got her game back on track in the second set and raced to a 4-0 lead.
Even then, the 23-year-old right-hander had trouble closing out the match.
Myskina held two match points on Obziler's serve in the seventh game of the second set but gave up both with unforced errors. She finally served the match out in the next game after 68 untidy minutes.
The Russian made 25 unforced errors -- one fewer than Obziler -- and will be looking for a marked improvement if she is to reach the Melbourne quarter-finals for the third successive year.
SHOULDER INJURY
Myskina has been troubled recently by a shoulder injury but did not blame it for her erratic performance.
"The shoulder been bothering me for already a couple years, so it's nothing new really," Myskina said.
"I just have to work, I have to do some exercise. But it's going to be fine," she said.
Myskina will meet American Lisa Raymond in the third round after the 25th seed thrashed Czech Klara Koukalova 6-0 6-1. Raymond has dropped just two games in her first two matches.
"My next round, Lisa Raymond, she's a really tough opponent," Myskina said.
"She won two matches 6-0 6-1, so it shows me she's really good player or she's really confident here," she said.
Myskina became the sixth Russian to make the third round, continuing her countrywomen's phenomenal success over the past year which saw them grab three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2004.
All 14 Russian women in the women's singles main draw reached the second round.
Myskina, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova are all considered to have title chances in an injury-depleted field which is without last year's finalists, champion Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters.
"I think we've been really hard workers," Myskina said of Russia's success.
"We have a good competition, so we push each other."
