Zeenews Sports Bureau
Melbourne: Maria Kirilenko was on the verge of disqualification from the Australian Open after a branding issue caught her on the wrong foot.
The 25-year-old Russian was sporting a visor that had the logos of two brands which amounted to breaching of the branding regulations. She was promptly ordered by the organisers to remove the logo of a particular brand from her visor before facing Yanina Wickmayer in her third round match.
"Actually there were two signs and they said I`m not allowed to wear two brands on the same visor,” Kirilenko was quoted as saying by a website.
"I don`t know (why), but I played two matches with that (already) and nobody tell me until today,” she was quoted as saying.
Kirilenko defeated Wickmayer in three sets to book a fourth round date with American Serena Williams.
First Published: Saturday, January 19, 2013, 19:58