Sharapova, Hewitt Survive; Young Not a Winner Yet

Other seeded winners were (3) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Roitman), (5) James Blake (d. Moya), (9) David Nalbandian (d. Tipsarevic who retired in the 5th with heat exhaustion), (10) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Korolev in four), (12) Tommy Haas (d. Montanes), (13) Tomas Berdych (d. H.-T.Lee), (15) Andrew Murray (d. A.Martin 0-0-and-1), (17) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Goldstein in four), (21) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Waske in four), (28) Sebastien Grosjean (d. C.Rochus who retired in the second), and (31) Stanislas Wawrinka (d. K.Kim in four).

"You just try to keep energies," Nalbandian said. "That's the more important thing. Then after, it's more like a mind game. It's everything on the mind. I was very tired as well, but I didn't show him how I feel it. He started cramping or, I don't know, something, and he showed me that he was a little bit tired, so I keep very focused with my mind, very tight out there so I could make it."

German Florian Mayer beat No. 23 seed Robin Soderling 6-0 in the fifth, and Frenchman Arnaud Clement ousted No. 29 Xavier Malisse in four in seeded upsets on the day.

Seeded players and other matches of interest scheduled for Wednesday are (1) Federer vs. Bjorkman, (6) Roddick vs. Gicquel, (11) Baghdatis vs. Gael "Force" Monfils, (14) Djokovic vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (26) Safin vs. Dudi "Where's My Car?" Sela, (18) Richard "Baby Fed" Gasquet vs. Delic, (7) Robredo vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, (24) Ferrero vs. Udomchoke, (9) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez, (16) Ferrer vs. T.Johansson, (22) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. rappin' Vince Spadea, (25) Youzhny vs. Y.-H.Lu, and (20) Radek "Mr. Hingis" Stepanek vs. Dlouhy.

Sharapova Survives Heat at Australian Open

Two seeded upsets on the women's side Tuesday at the Australian Open in Melbourne where court temperatures over 120 degrees caused officials to implement the tournament's Extreme Heat Policy, closing the roofs on Rod Laver and Vodafone arenas and temporarily halting outside court matches. Eventually 10 women's matches were postponed to Wednesday.

Japan's Aiko Nakamura ousting (32) Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-0 as the Greek hope melted under the scorching conditions, and in another upset Kaia Kanepi beat (28) Flavia Pennetta in straights.

Seeds getting their matches in amidst the brutal conditions were (1) Maria Sharapova (d. Pin 9-7 in the third), (4) Kim Clijsters (d. Bardina 0-and-0), (6) Martina Hingis (d. Dechy 0-and-2), (12) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Bammer), (13) Ana Ivanovic (d. King, bagel in the second), (24) Samantha Stosur (d. Zakopalova), (29) Alona Bondarenko (d. Cohen Aloro), and (30) Tathiana Garbin (d. Gagliardi 6-1 in the third).

Sharapova jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set over the Frenchwoman Pin before the heat and stomach cramps took their toll. Pin won five straight games to even things at 5-5 before Sharapova held serve and eventually hung on for the win, hardly moving between points and looking like she could become sick at any moment during the changeovers.

"I was so delusional I couldn't think," Sharapova told reporters. "It was hard to think about what you were going to do on court because you were just mentally trying to find a way to kind of make the points shorter and basically trying to find a way to win. It's inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat. I don't think our bodies were made to do that."

The diminutive Pin on the other hand seemed barely effected by the heat and didn't hesitate to scramble for every ball in an attempt to make the struggling Russian stay on the move.

"I was so close that I thought it was my day, but apparently it was not, so next time," Pin told reporters.

With the roof closed, Clijsters allowed her opponent Bardina only two points on her own serve during the entire match in a 6-0, 6-0 thumping.

"I felt lucky I was able to play on that court with the roof closed, and get to play as well, otherwise it can be a very long day here," the Belgian said. "Yeah, I felt very lucky to be out here and play. I was just happy to get it over with. But, you know, felt very into the zone today. I was seeing the ball well."

Unseeded winners of note Tuesday were India's Sania Mirza (d. Savchuk) and Aussie hope Alicia Molik (d. Chan).

"About a year and a half ago, I didn't know if I'd ever pick up a racquet," Molik said of her severe inner ear infection. "I was told so. When you're 24 or 25, I really did start thinking about new careers, a new pathway I guess in life. When you contemplate all that, it's pretty frightening, you know. Scared me out of my boots. But I'm really thankful that I am healthy now, that I'm back playing."

Seeded players and other matches of interest scheduled for Wednesday are (3) Kuznetsova vs. Adamczak, (2) Mauresmo vs. Poutchkova, (5) Petrova vs. Dulko, Serena Williams vs. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer, (11) Jankovic vs. Ruano Pascual, (7) Dementieva vs. Muller. (10) Vaidisova vs. Sequera, (8) Schnyder vs. Brengle, (9) Safina vs. Bychkova in an all-Russian, (23) Sugiyama vs. Yakimova, (15) Hantuchova vs. Cornet, (20) Golovin vs. Ondraskova, (21) Srebotnik vs. Benesova, (19) Li vs. Bovina, (18) Bartoli vs. Azarenka, an all-French in Loit vs. Rezai, (26) Kirilenko vs. Vakulenko, (17) Groenefeld vs. Zahlavova, (14) Schiavone vs. Safarova, (22) Zvonareva vs. Obziler, and (16) Peer vs. Tu.

X-CORRECT
American Donald Young lost in the finals of the Grand Slam Futures event.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
From Tracy Austin writing for MSNBC on the chunky Serena Williams: "You don't go from being a great player to being a bad one, but you do become out of shape and not match tight, and that's the position Serena Williams is in at the 2007 Australian Open. Serena is not where she needs to be fitness-wise. When she was at the top of her game, she moved so well into her shots and she was always perfectly balanced for her shots. Nowadays she is half a step late, and that means she is often off balance. And when you are off balance and you hit the ball as hard as Serena does, you are going to make a lot of errors."...Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amelie Mauresmo and Martina Hingis are confirmed for the Family Circle Cup in Charleston...From ABC Sport Australia: "Community leaders have condemned the behaviour of tennis fans involved in yesterday's violence at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park. One hundred and fifty people were ejected from the grounds after a brawl erupted between rival Croatian and Serbian fans. The Serbian Voice newspaper's George Marinkovic says the actions of both groups were a disgrace. "They should go there to see beautiful sport, to see that beautiful tennis there because we have the best players in the world come," he said. "On our Australian Open, to see something like that is a shame, it's a shame of these Australian-born."...Croatian Herald spokesman Tom Starcevic says the behaviour of Croatian fans was unacceptable. "As far as the Croatian community is concerned, we condemn all violence and urge all Croatian supporters to act accordingly and not to be provoked and avoid any provocation," he said. Mr. Starcevic says a history of violence between the two countries is no excuse for yesterday's ugly scenes. "I mean even at the height of the war, in the 1990s, the incidence of violence between the communities was very, very low," he said."...The WTA Tour's Australian Open injury/withdrawal report: "Lindsay Davenport (USA) Pregnant, Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) Personal reasons, Jamea Jackson (USA) Hip surgery, Mar�Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) Left knee injury, Anastasia Myskina (RUS) Left toe inflammation, Mary Pierce (FRA) Left knee injury, Venus Williams (USA) Left wrist injury"...From ESPN.com: "Upon further review, Donald Young still hasn't won a pro singles title, despite reports to the contrary. Sunday, it was reported by The Associated Press that Young had defeated Michael Lammer of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3 in a Grand Slam Futures event. He didn't. Turns out Lammer won, defeating Young 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match."...Tim Henman's knee injury is not healing as expected...Roger Rasheed says he is open to rejoining the Lleyton Hewitt camp...From The Australian: "In a remarkably candid interview on Melbourne radio on the opening morning of this year's tournament, Todd Woodbridge yesterday urged Hewitt to become an adult, distance his father Glynn from his tennis affairs and start making the important decisions in his professional life that will decide whether he can again challenge the world's best players at major tournaments. Speaking on Radio 927, the retired doubles maestro and former Davis Cup player and coach questioned whether Hewitt could rejoin the game's elite while he had so many distractions. Woodbridge referred to the abrupt resignation of coach Roger Rasheed, the sacking of former manager Rob Aivatoglou and legal wrangles with one-time friend and Adelaide footballer Andrew McLeod as examples of distractions incompatible with Hewitt playing his best tennis. "With Lleyton, he is a bit of an angry young man and when he was younger he used to put that energy into the court and winning matches," Woodbridge said. "Now all of that energy is being expended around his outer life and when he gets on court he often looks flat."...Marcos Baghdatis on having his dad at the Aussie Open: "My father is here, that changes things. I will just try to deal with it and try to find a way. Off the court it's not the same. I don't have the same routine with my coach and stuff. Out of the court, I'm not happy. I'm not myself."...James Blake on fellow American Sam Querrey at the Australian Open: "The kid cracks me up every single time when I look at him. He was going out to the court yesterday, had a huge hole in his shoe. Sam, change that. Got new shoes in the locker room. Oh, no, it's fine, it will be okay. I'll change my serve a little. Sam, come on. It's so funny. He's oblivious, just happy to go out there and play."