Hingis Romps, French Struggle at Oz Open

No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters answered the question about the status of her injured hip with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho, though she says she is far from 100 percent.

"It was actually worse at the end, but I got through, that's the most important thing," Clijsters said of her hip pain. "I knew that before I started I wasn't going to be able to play like I usually can, move freely. It hurts a lot. There's moments where it hurts. There's moments where it doesn't. So I just have to protect it. I knew that. I was just trying to get the best out of myself with the way that I physically can, that's all I'm going to try to do."

Seeds needing three sets to advance Monday were (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Sun from a set down), (20) Flavia Pennetta (d. (Q) Black), and (22) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Pous Tio from a set down).

"I guess the first set was not so easy for me because, obviously, I made way too many unforced errors and it really took one set to adjust to the conditions and to the game," said Mauresmo who appeared tight throughout the match. "That's the way it starts. Hopefully it will get better and better as the tournament is going on."

Other seeds into the second round were (5) Mary Pierce (d. (WC) Pratt), (7) Patty Schnyder (d. Daniilidou), (12) Anastasia Myskina (d. Fedak), (15) Francesca Schiavone (d. Italian countrywoman Ant. Serra Zanetti), (16) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Yakimova), (19) Dinara Safina (d. Garbin, bagel in the first), (21) Ana Ivanovic (d. Perry), (27) Marion Bartoli (d. Frazier), (31) Gisela Dulko (d. Ani), and (32) Sania Mirza (d. Azarenka).

After her 1-and-1 blowout of Pratt, Pierce went Michael Chang on her chances during the event and possibly facing Hingis in the third round.

"I just really take it day to day," Pierce said. "I just enjoy every day and what I do. I just do my best. Just really leave the rest to God and His plan for me. You know, I just have a lot of peace in what will happen. Not really concerned about winning or losing really. That's not why I'm playing. Just enjoy to be out here, you know, to serve the Lord with the gift He's given me to play tennis. After that, whatever happens is the best for me in the end anyways."

China's Yan Zi had the only other upset on the day, coming from a set down to oust No. 11 Nathalie Dechy.

Other unseeded winners into the second round were Japan's Shinobu Asagoe (d. Peer from a set down) and Aiko Nakamura (d. (WC) Cornet in three), China's Meng Yuan (d. Czink), American Jamea Jackson (d. (Q) Tanasugarn), Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Safarova), Czech Iveta Benesova (d. Fujiwara from a set down), France's Emilie Loit (d. Kutuzova, bagel in the second), Dutchwoman Michaelle Krajicek (d. Brandi), Aussie Sam Stosur (d. Bremond), Slovak Martina Sucha (d. Smashnova from a set down), Colombian Catalina Castano (d. Dushevina from a set down), Italian Roberta Vinci (d. Shaughnessy), Swede Sofia Arvidsson (d. Vento-Kabchi), Austrian Sylvia Bammer (d. Birnerova), Finn Emma Laine (d. Llagostera Vives), and Russian Anna Chakvetadze (d. Zheng from a set down).

Scheduled for second-round action Wednesday are (8) Henin-Hardenne vs. Sromova, (4) Sharapova vs. Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad, (1) Davenport vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, (13) Serena vs. Pin, (17) Hantuchova vs. Amanmuradova, (6) Petrova vs. Muller, (18) Likhovtseva vs. Ruano Pascual, (14) Kuznetsova vs. Parra Santonja, (23) Jankovic vs. Savchuk, Pironkova vs. Granville, Kostanic vs. Ondraskova, Schruff vs. Vesnina, Bychkova vs. Camerin, (25) Kirilenko vs. Voskoboeva, Santangelo vs. Srebotnik, and Martinez Granados vs. Razzano.

Hewitt Wins in 5, Federer Breezes at Oz Open

No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt was almost bundled out of his home slam in the opening round Tuesday at the Australian Open, coming from 1-2 sets down to defeat unheralded Czech Robin Vik 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 for a berth in the second round.

Vik nervously failed to serve out the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, dropping the game at love.

"There was a lot of long rallies from the baseline, we are both not big servers so there was not a lot of cheap points," Hewitt said. "But that's what you do your off-season work for and hopefully it is going to pay off over the next couple of weeks."

World No. 1 Roger Federer, who some in Australia have mysteriously pegged to be challenged by Hewitt, rolled over Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin in his opener 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

"I thought it was not easy today because he was serving big, taking a lot of chances on my return," Federer said. "So we didn't see too many rallies, which didn't really allow me to get the rhythm going. I guess I still believe it was a good match. I won comfortably. That's what counts most."

A more viable test for Federer down the road could come from an unseeded player, former No. 2-ranked German Tommy Haas who easily controlled No. 14 seed Richard "Baby Fed" Gasquet in a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

"The first time we played against each other, so it's always tough," Haas said of the French teen who plays like a pre-No. 1 version of Federer. "I think you're trying to figure out each other's game in the beginning a little bit. I think it was quite important for both of us to see who will get the early break or maybe the first set to kind of get some confidence. I think in the second it was very important, I think he got away with a break, he started to feel more comfortable. Somehow I broke him back, played some good tennis to break him for the second set."

Other seeds struggling mightily into the second round Tuesday were (5) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Karlovic in five), (6) Guillermo Coria (d. Hanescu 6-1 in the fifth), (12) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Marach in five), (21) Nicolas Kiefer (d. Srichaphan from 0-2 sets down), and (30) Max Mirnyi (d. Ascione 6-0 in the fifth).  

Seeded winners in straight sets were (15) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Zib), (23) Igor Andreev (d. Almagro), (24) Olivier Rochus (d. Llodra), (25) Sebastien Grosjean (d. Philippoussis), and (28) Fernando Verdasco (d. Carlsen).

Upset-makers on Tuesday were American Alex Bogomolov Jr., outlasting (9) Fernando Gonzalez 7-5 in the fifth; Peru's Luis Horna shocking (22) Gael Monfils in straights; and 25-year-old Aussie Nathan Healey advancing when (29) Filippo Volandri retired down two sets with injury.

The slew of other un-seeds into the second round were Americans Kevin Kim (d. Levy, bagel in the third), Amer Delic (d. Starace in five) and Paul Goldstein (d. Djokoic in four), Belgians Dick Norman (d. Fleishman in five) and Kristof Vliegen (d. C.Rochus), Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Murray) and Juan Monaco (d. Lisnard in four), Aussie Peter Luczak (d. Minar), Dutchman Raemon Sluiter (d. Snobel in four), Germans Florian Mayer (d. H.-T. Lee in four) and Bjorn Phau (d. Berlocq in four), Italians Davide Sanguinetti (d. Adaktusson) and Federico Luzzi (d. Marin), Serbs Janko Tipsarevic (d. Seppi in five) and Boris Pashanski (d. Arthurs in four), and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. countryman Clement).

Murray admittedly played too aggressively in getting rolled in straight sets by Chela, then the Brit-Scot got contentious with the media.

"You don't think there's any pressure on me?" Murray said. "Well, if you don't think that, then I'm obviously going to disagree on something. If you guys don't think you're putting pressure on me, then that's fine. I'll forget about it. It wasn't my best day. But you can't play well every single day. You know, it's the first time I've been easily beaten since I've been on the tour...When you're this young it's difficult to stay consistent all the time...If you guys expect me to play well every single match and every single tournament then it's not going to happen."

Scheduled for Wednesday are (7) Ljubicic vs. Kohlschreiber, (2) Roddick vs. Moodie, (4) Nalbandian vs. Wawrinka, (18) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Hernych, (20) Blake vs. Faurel, (13) Ginepri vs. Gremelmayr, (19) Berdych vs. Simon, (10) T.Johansson vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, (17) Stepanek vs. Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis, (16) Robredo vs. Tursunov, (8) Gaudio vs. Burgsmuller, (31) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Muller in an all-lefty battle, (11) Ferrer vs. Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali, (26) Nieminen vs. Y.-T. Wang, Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez vs. Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau, and Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro vs. Pavel.
 
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Nice effort from the French teens Tuesday, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet, who teamed to win nary a set against their opponents. In fact there are no teenagers left on the men's side entering the second round...Vera Zvonareva complained of the noise coming from Pat Cash's band out in the beer garden at the Australian Open, prompting the referee to shut down the concert...Lleyton Hewitt has won eight straight five-set matches, his last three coming from the 2-1-sets down variety...Mark Philippoussis sent a racquet to get strung during his match with Sebastien Grosjean, but just when it was returned to court it promptly popped. Hope he got a refund...10 five-setters took place on Tuesday raising the first-round total to 14...Olivier Rochus turns 25 on Wednesday...Juan Ignacio Chela and Lleyton Hewitt will be a fun match -- bring your raincoat...Roger Federer has won an Open Era-best 46 straight hardcourt matches...When was the last time a husband-wife team like Alex Bogomolov-Ashley Harkleroad made the second round of a Slam?...What are the chances Vera Zvonareva is crying right now?...Kim Clijsters hip was so bad that -- she won the final 11 games over Yoon Jeong Cho. With Clijsters banged up, look for Mary Pierce to have an open road to the final...There are five Grand Slam champions left in the top half of the women's draw alone...Roger Federer has equaled Pete Sampras' 102 weeks atop the ATP Rankings...ATP Doubles Commissioner Gayle Bradshaw has formed the first-ever ATP Doubles Promotion Committee to step up marketing and promotional efforts, bringing aboard Todd Woodbridge, Justin Gimelstob, and representing ATP tournaments on the committee will be Bill Rapp from San Jose and Chris Kermode from Queen's...From the San Diego Union-Tribune: "When Evgenia Linetskaya was to take the court yesterday in Melbourne at the Australian Open, two people who groomed her game were not welcome. In late November, the WTA Tour barred for life her coach, Joe Giuliano, and suspended for two years her father, Simon Linetskiy. They are prohibited from the grounds of WTA events and official player hotels. The Open is honoring the bans. 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Vik hooked up with Prinosil in August 2004 and since then, Prinosil has helped him train harder, improve his skills and break into the top 100. "(Before) I didn't believe at any time I could be in the top 100 players," Vik said. "He make me change my mind to make me believe in this, that's the reason. I was a little bit lazier, he helped me become a professional." Prinosil said Vik has always had the goods but lacked the drive off the court. He has been "surprised" by Vik's fast improvement. "He was a little bit amateur," Prinosil said. "He was six years around the ATP Tour, never been to top 200. He's got a lot of talent. He was working on the court, but he was not working off it. You have to work, if you want to go to top 100, outside of the court.""...From ESPN: "Venus Williams' first-round loss to Tszvetana Pironkova, an 18-year-old playing in her first major tournament, isn't going to help her get a shoe and apparel deal -- if she even wants one, that is. Williams hasn't had a deal since 2003, although she continues to give Reebok free exposure for some reason. On Monday, she sported six Reebok logos -- on a top, a hat, socks and shoes."...Justin Gimelstob went out in the first round at the Aussie Open, as did just about all his "players to watch" in his blog for SI.com...American Taylor Dent has shot his early-year U.S. Davis Cup chances with his round-one loss at the Australian Open.