Hewitt Survives, Russians, Venus, Coria Falter Monday at Australian Open

In the quarterfinals Roddick's friendly draw continues with No. 26 seed Nikolay Davydenko, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 12 Guillermo Canas.

The No. 3-seeded Hewitt, who does not benefit from any huge weapons and has been dogged throughout week one at the Australian Open with his ostentatious displays of "C'mon!" and frequent use of the "vicht" hand sign, lost his third and fourth sets of the tournament Monday in barely edging into the quarterfinals.

The former No. 1 benefited from a bout of fifth-set cramping from unseeded opponent Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, coming back from a 1-2 set deficit to win 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2.

"This crowd is second to none," said Hewitt, who was treated during the match for a hip injury sustained weeks earlier in Sydney. "I was hurting a little bit in the third set. You try to get all of the negative thoughts out of your mind."

The crowd support and Hewitt's tenaciousness left Nadal, who suffered physical problems of his own, shaking his head during the match.

"In the fifth set, yes, I have problems with cramps. In the fifth set is decided for him," Nadal said. "But in the fourth set, I have a big chances. I have three times 15-30, and in the 5-5 I have the 15 -- yeah, in the 4-4 I have the 15-30. But I have one approach, the slice approach, and he touch one lob very, very good, and I can do nothing, no? Today I don't play bad in the good moments, but he play very, very good in the best moments, and he win for that."

In the quarterfinals Hewitt will square off against No. 9 seed David Nalbandian, who upset No. 6 Guillermo Coria 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 in an all-Argentine showdown.

Among Tuesday's scheduled match features are (4) Safin vs. (20) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (1) Federer vs. (8) Agassi, and in doubles Blake/Fish vs. (2) Bryan brothers in an all-American.


Davenport Stock Rises as Russians Collapse, Venus Loses at Australian Open

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who quietly advanced during week one of the Australian Open under cover of the Russian invasion and player doping allegations, jumped back on the championship radar Monday after moving into the quarterfinals while two of the Top 10-ranked Russians faltered.

Davenport had no problems in a potentially-difficult match-up with No. 13 seed Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, steamrolling the gangly Croatian 6-2, 6-2.

"I felt today was a big improvement from my last few matches and felt I did some things a lot better in terms of groundstrokes and being more aggressive, being more aggressive with my play and going forward," said Davenport, who has lost one set en route to the quarters. "I mean, (I'm) in the quarterfinals, which is a great round to be in. If my game's improving, that's always a good sign."

In the quarters Davenport will face No. 10 seed Alicia Molik of Australia, who upset 2003 runner-up and No. 8 seed Venus Williams 7-5, 7-6(3).

Venus converted only one of seven break point opportunities against Molik, who out-aced the American seven to two.

Monday was also a tough day for the Russians, with No. 3 seed Anastasia Myskina succumbing rather easily to No. 19 Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-2, and No. 6 Elena Dementieva putting in an ugly display against No. 12 Patty Schnyder in a 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2 loss.

Myskina went mentally off the boil against the Frenchwoman with numerous unforced errors, especially off the forehand side, and was not hesitant in pinpointing who gets credit for the result.

"No problem, just a bad day, bad game," Myskina said. "She didn't do a lot of unforced errors. It was mostly I missed the whole match. So I can't say really that she won the match -- I can say that I lost the match...I never won a match on Rod Laver court. So maybe that's not my court. But just it's one of (my) excuses."

Dechy disagreed with the Russian's assessment.

"I'm in the next round and she's not," Dechy said. "I think I won the match."

Dementieva, in addition to blowing a huge lead over Schnyder, kicked in 61 unforced errors and 10 double faults against the lefty, converting on only eight of 20 break chances.

"Such a bad luck today, you know. I was (up a set and) 4-Love, 30-Love. You know, I didn't take my chance," Dementieva said. "I didn't take my advantage. She just started to play well. I just -- I think I lost my rhythm. I thought it's over already."

Schnyder for her part was unclear as to how she made a comeback from a set and 0-4 down.

"Oh, actually I don't know because I was really frustrated with the first set because I think I was more dominating the rallies," the Swiss said of the battle between two of the more mentally unstable players on tour. "I couldn't really get it and win the important points because I was a little nervous, a little tight. So I was frustrated up to 0-4. Then I just, yeah, kept going, tried to, yeah, play one point at a time. Yeah, suddenly it was close again and, you know, getting nervous again."

Matches scheduled for Tuesday in Melbourne include (5) Kuznetsova vs. (4) Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova in an all-Russian, (7) Serena vs. (2) Mauresmo, in doubles the Spanish/Russian combo of Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues/Dinara "Little Sis" Safina vs. Americans (15) Davenport/Morariu, unseeded Hantuchova/M.Navratilova vs. (6) Kuznetsova/Molik, Russians (7) Myskina/Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva vs. (16) Daniilidou/Pratt, and Czechs Gabriela "No Relation" Navratilova/Pastikova vs. Russell/Santangelo.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Nathalie Dechy has reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal. So too has Nikolay Davydenko, who has yet to drop a set, and Alicia Molik...Marat Safin and Dominik Hrbaty have a 6-6 career head-to-head...After a near-perfect weekend of weather, temperatures are expected to heat up dramatically Tuesday and Wednesday in Melbourne...Llyeton Hewitt is lucky to be alive in Melbourne. James Blake was one swing away from going up 2-0 in sets, and Juan Ignacio Chela at least hung around a bit in their four-setter. On Monday Rafael Nadal really took it to Hewitt, and signs are everywhere that Hewitt is barely hanging on his title hopes and he could easily go out in the next round to one of the Argentines...How scary would Rafael Nadal be if he had a serve?...How bad was that Elena Dementieva-Patty Schnyder match. Did either of those chokers actually hold serve?...Donald "The Future of American Tennis" Young won his first-round junior singles match in Melbourne. Actually, we are joking about the "Future of all Tennis" bit, so don't send e-mail. But the needs-more-time-in-the-oven kid does have lots of hype...If Andre Agassi moves as poorly as he did against Joachim Johansson, Roger Federer will paste him in straight sets, with Federer's 23 straight wins over Top 10 players on the line...With Nikolay Davydenko's win, Russia has two player in the men's quarterfinals for the first time in tournament history...For those that caught any of the celebrity Michael Jordan Invitational golf tournament Sunday on NBC, how funny was it to see John McEnroe (partnered by Brett Hull in the best-ball contest) wince and rub his eyes in classic how-could-I-miss-that-shot? style after missing a putt? Apparently that grimacing look translated to golf...Can Chris and Brad and Pam have less chemistry together during their ESPN in-studio shtick? Lots of awkward silences and interruptions. Could Brad's "Top 5" lists be worse with the delivery, with even Pam chiming in "You need to speed it up a little Brad."...How about ESPN having former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson in the booth, and Brad blabbing on about the "annoying" rule that players can't have coaches on court? What player would put up with Brad on court for more than one match?...Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty on his grinding fitness regimen: "Funny thing is that there is lot of guys that they sometimes smile, you know, or laugh on you that, 'Oh, you practicing so much,' like (Marat) Safin don't practice that much. But it pays off, you know. Then you can show the guys that so much practice, it pays you back sometime. And this is one of the matches (five-set win over Gaston Gaudio) that it eventually returns and I won it because a lot of practice, a lot of work on the court and off the court. So then it's the best feeling, you know."...Swiss Patty Schnyder on her coach/husband Rainer Hofmann: "We do everything together. He has never been a tennis player, so like the feeling stuff, the technique, I do it myself. But he helps me a lot with tactics, and just get another perspective, like out of the court and of my game. We talk a lot about tennis. We're just having a great time. Sometimes we argue, we discuss, that's normal, about tennis or other things. It's a really healthy, healthy thing. Gives me a lot of energy...He was a professional pool, billiard player. He was really good at that. He only did it for two years. But I don't know if that helps me or not. But he knows the big points also. So that's a little in common we have...We are together now I think five and a half years. We just started doing the thing, the coaching thing together, like one and a half year ago. I had some coaches before and was not happy, like overall happy with it. I didn't want to have a new one...If you have someone you can rely on and just, yeah, very caring person that gives you a lot of -- yeah, you just feel good about it. That's very important."...Andy Roddick on his luck in the casinos in Melbourne: "I was down in blackjack, now I'm up 600 bucks so I'm pretty excited about that. My dealer was Alfie, and he was being good to me the other night. Just been doing dinners and, you know, I like to get out and about on my off days. So I've been trying to donate money to the casino, but it hasn't worked yet. James (Blake) was (winning the most), but him and Mardy (Fish) didn't do so well the other night. I'm in the positive right now. I don't know. I think I might be. But that's not saying a whole lot because I'm not up a whole lot, just enough to keep me playing."...Yikes, props to ESPN commentator Pam Shriver who is looking suddenly-swami-like with her pick of Aussie Alicia Molik over Venus Williams...From the Houston Chronicle: "None of Andre Agassi's many fans and friends in Houston would dream of rooting against their man when he faces Roger Federer in the Australian Open quarterfinals, but...should Agassi lose, there's a chance -- a good chance, some surmise -- that he will participate in the Serving for Tsunami Relief event at Toyota Center on Jan. 31. He and Jim McIngvale, who is ramrodding the event to raise money for the Bush-Clinton relief fund, are buddies and Agassi wasn't able to participate in the U.S. Clay Courts or the Masters Cup at McIngvale's Westside Tennis Club last year. For the moment, Andy Roddick and John McEnroe are slated to play a singles exhibition, but, should Andre show up, he'd play Roddick and McEnroe would likely just play mixed doubles opposite Jim Courier, whose new production company is putting on the event gratis. Anna Kournikova and Chris Evert have also signed on. Because Courier is obligated to help broadcast the first night final in Melbourne for Australian television, he'll be in transit for more than 20 hours Monday en route to Houston, arriving just in time to grab his rackets and head to Toyota Center. Should Roddick make the final, he'll be on the flight with Courier."