Venus Bounced by Countrywoman Raymond at Oz Open

Posted on January 25, 2004

Venus Williams' game has fallen off in successive rounds at the Australian Open in her first tournament back from injury, and Saturday the former No. 1 hit bottom, spraying 44 unforced errors and struggling mightily on her serve in a 6-4, 7-6(5) loss to American countrywoman Lisa Raymond.

"I'm pretty much in shock, I definitely had some high hopes to win here," Williams said. "I still can't believe it. It's going to settle in this evening -- I'm going to be like 'No!'"

Raymond gave partial credit to a text message from doubles partner Martina Navratilova before the match that said "Just be brave." Venus' troubles started at the onset of the match, with four doubles faults in her first two games, and Raymond taking advantage of some well-timed net rushes. "You can just close in, because Venus never lobs," as ESPN commentator Pam Shriver said.

Other fallen seeds on the day included (12)Paola Suarez (l. to (22)Nutty Schnyder), (23)Lina "Say My Name" Krasnoroutskaya (l. to 15-year-old French wildcard Tatiana Golovin), and (28)Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova (l. to (6)Myskina in three). Other seeds advancing were (2)Kim Clijsters (d. Dinara "Marat's Sis" Safina 6-2, 6-1), (9)Chanda Rubin (d. Likhovtseva), (20)Silvia Farina Elia (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier 7-5 in the third), and (29)Nathalie Dechy (d. Obata) in a quality match featuring 78 unforced errors. Hey ladies, you're getting worked by a 15-year-old, time to rally the troops, start hazing her in the locker room.

Raymond failed to follow her stellar play in doubles, with partner Navratilova as the No. 2-seeded team losing to Americans Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu 6-3, 6-0.

Fourth round matches Sunday will be (1)Henin-Hardenne vs. (Q)Santangelo (first meeting), (5)Davenport vs. (11)Zvonareva (Lindsay leads 2-0), (4)Mauresmo vs. Molik (first meeting), and (32)Zuluaga vs. Kapros (first meeting).

On the Men's side Saturday, (11)Tim Henman was the high-profile fatality, not much of a surprise in falling to Argentine nemesis Guillermo "Test Me, I Dare You" Canas 9-7 in the fifth. It was the fourth straight time Canas has beaten Henman in five encounters.


Winners into the fourth round were (2)Roger Federer (d. Aussie (WC)Reid 6-3, 6-0, 6-1, no puking this time), (3)Juan Carlos "Back on Track" Ferrero (d. (Q)J.Johansson), (8)David Nalbandian (d. (31)Ferreira), (10)Mark Philippoussis (d. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic), (15)Lleyton Hewitt (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal), and joined by two un-seeds in back-from-injury Romanian Andrei Pavel (d. (14)Novak in five) and Rockin' Moroccan Hicham Arazi (d. (26)Costa). "You know, not much you could do. He was just ripping the balls for winners. He's got a real good game," said Reid, giving the 411 on Federer. Who knew! "He's got an unbelievable forehand. You know, I'm going to have to learn some things, maybe how to counter things when I'm going down like that. But, you know, he's a real good player." There you have it.

Today's men's schedule features all four Americans left in the draw in (1)Roddick vs. (16)Schalken (A-Rod leads 3-1, winning both their hardcourt encounters last year), Blake vs. Safin (first meeting), (4)Agassi vs. (13)Srichaphan (Thai won their only meeting at 2002 Wimbledon), and (9)Grosjean vs. (32)Ginepri (Frenchman leads 1-0 with a hardcourt win last year at LA). "I love to play bigger player like always," Srichaphan said (in English?) on the prospect of facing Agassi. "It's nice to play him, learning best tennis from him. If I play him, it's going to be tough. Last time I play him was two years ago in Wimbledon second round, and I won in three sets. That is on the grass court, and he didn't know my game yet at that time. It might be a little difficult -- but I'm really looking forward to play better and get through to the quarterfinal if I could."

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Tim Henman was up a break in the fifth before folding to Guillermo Canas 9-7 in the longest (4:51) and best match of the event. No one does five sets like Canas...Amelie Mauresmo has lost just six games en route to the R16...Speaking of 16, Tatiana Golovin turns that age Sunday. She won today over Lina Krasnoroutskaya to reach her first Slam fourth round. The 15-year-old Frenchgirl is scheduled to play in the junior event, but will probably have to withdraw with her success in the main draw...If you've seen Rafael Nadal play in person, can you think of anyone with a better left-handed forehand? Thomas Muster? And how good is that grunt! Despite his loss to Lleyton Hewitt, it's Top 15 by year-end for sure for the mean machine...Among the four top seeds on the men's side, only Juan Carlos Ferrero has dropped a set...If you're looking for a good bite to eat on the grounds, try the chicken curry at the Curry House...Put Joachim Johansson on your list of young stars. The 6'5" Swede simply crushes the ball, like the Thomas Enqvist of old...Do any of the 500 party-goers in the Heineken Beer Garden realize there's a tennis event going on? Doesn't seem like it...Lisa Raymond was a 9-1 shot to beat Venus Williams. Raymond is seeking her first Slam QF in this her 45th career major...Venus Williams served a tournament-high 14 aces in her loss (after four doubles in her first two service games)...The four remaining American men have combined to lose just one set. Yikes...Dinara Safin was trying to match elder bro Marat in reaching the fourth round but was stopped by Kim Clijsters. If she had won it would have been the first brother-sister combo in the fourth round of a Slam since Arantxa and Javier Sanchez at 1996 Roland Garros...For $25 AUS you can get a grounds pass and check out all the action outside Laver. Or you can simply hang out in the Heineken Beer Garden like most of the folks and chat up the ladies...Roger Federer looks bored on the court, almost like he's flipping channels, looking for something good on, wishing he upgraded to the silver package so he could get all the movie channels...Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan is one of nine active players with a winning record over Agassi (1-0)...The Martina Navratilova-Leander Paes mixed doubles lovefest continues at the Aussie Open: "Leander bowed to me tonight during the match -- I felt like bowing to him about 10 times," Navratilova said. "Coming back to play tennis after the brain lesion last year is fantastic. I'm so lucky to be playing with him."...Nike Inc. signed a four-year contract to become the official outfitter for the US Olympic teams starting in 2005. Nike replaces Adidas-Salomon AG, whose contract with the US Olympic Committee expires this year...Last year's Aussie Open total attendance (512,225) was the lowest since 1999...Amelie Mauresmo is suffering from an unidentified leg problem: "It bothers me a little bit and I will really try to take care of it, but I don't really know where it comes from or what it is, so it's difficult to say. It's the first time I've had this."...Marat Safin is not the only player at the 2004 Australian Open making his mark after a long lay-off from Grand Slam play due to injury. Andrei Pavel and Guillermo Canas, both unseeded, have also reached the round of 16 having missed the last three majors due to injury...Was that Lisa Raymond's "partner," the blonde with the nice rack, that the ESPN cameras kept showing during the Venus-Raymond match, but every time they showed her, the ESPN commentators in the booth clammed up?. C'mon Cliff and Pam, it's the 21st century, let's hear the story. Newsflash: Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo, and 20 other players in the draw are lesbians. Discuss...15-year-old Tatiana Golovin becomes the first wildcard to advance to the 4th round at the Australian Open in the Open Era.