Serena, Mauresmo Win; Roddick v Safin at Australian Open

Posted on January 17, 2007

Mauresmo, Serena Win; 3 Seeds Ousted at Aussie Open

Three lower seeds went tumbling and a Top 10 seed received a scare Wednesday at the Australian Open, where the women were still completing first-round matches after court temperatures in excess of 120 degrees the previous day cancelled 10 scheduled encounters.

Orchestrating upsets on the day were Czech Lucie Safarova who ousted No. 14 seed Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-3, 17-year-old Belarussian Victoria Azarenka who overwhelmed No. 18 Marion Bartoli 6-0, 7-5, and 20-year-old Belarussian Anastasiya Yakimova who outlasted No. 23 Ai Sugiyama 10-8 in the third set.

No. 7 seed Elena Dementieva survived a hiccup in the second set to roll Martina Muller 6-0 in the third, and fellow Russian and No. 26 seed Maria Kirilenko came back from losing the first to defeat Julia Vakulenko.

Other seeds putting up "W"s were (2) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Poutchkova), (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Adamczak), (5) Nadia Petrova (d. Dulko), (8) Patty Schnyder (d. Brengle), (9) Dinara Safina (d. Bychkova), (10) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Sequera), (11) Jelena Jankovic (d. Ruano Pascual), (15) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Cornet), (16) Shahar Peer (d. Tu, bagel in the second), (17) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Zahlavova), (19) Na Li (d. Bovina), (20) Tatiana Golovin (d. Ondraskova, bagel in the second), (21) Katarina Srebotnik (d. Benesova), and (22) Vera Zvonareva (d. Obziler).

"It's never easy when you go out there and you don't know the player you're up against," said Mauresmo who nonetheless eased through. "She was pretty talented and she could really play some great shots so I was very serious and I'm very happy to go through."

Unseeded Serena Williams moved into the third round Wednesday with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Anne Kremer.

"It was tough to start with -- she was really serious and played really well," said Williams who was down a break in the first set. "I definitely feel like I'm getting better with each match."

Williams will next have a test against the No. 5-seeded Petrova.

Seeds in action and other matches of interest on Thursday in Melbourne are (1) Sharapova vs. Rodionova, (4) Clijsters vs. Morigami, (24) Stosur vs. Kostanic, (6) Hingis vs. Kudryavtseva, Molik vs. Kanepi, (13) Ivanovic vs. Radwanska, (15) Hantuchova vs. Loit, (8) Schnyder vs. Peng, (9) Safina vs. Fedossova, Nakamura vs. Mirza, (19) Li vs. Dominguez Lino, (22) Zvonareva vs. Paszek, (30) Garbin vs. Voracova, (29) A.Bondarenko vs. Razzano, (12) Chakvetadze vs. Granville, and (17) Groenefeld vs. Harkleroad.

Monfils Bounces Baghdatis at Aussie Open

Unseeded Frenchman Gael "Force" Monfils found his mojo Wednesday at the Australian Open, rebounding from a disappointing 2006 season early with a 7-6(5), 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 win over No. 11 seed and defending Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.

Thailand's Danai Udomchoke provided the only other upset on the day, shocking former No. 1 and No. 24 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero (24), 7-6(0), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to move into the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time.

The three highest seeds in action didn't drop a set as world No. 1 Roger Federer eased past Swede Jonas Bjorkman, No. 6 Andy Roddick beat Frenchman Marc Gicquel, and No. 7 Tommy Robredo lost only seven games to Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

"I think I was pretty much in control," Federer said. "I knew if I kept my serve going it would make it tough for Jonas. It was a good match from my side. I knew if it ever got close he has the experience. You know you're in for a fight if it gets tough."

Other seeded winners on the day were (9) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. Garcia-Lopez in four), (14) Novak Djokovic (d. F.Lopez), (16) David Ferrer (d. T.Johansson in four), (18) Richard Gasquet (d. Delic), (20) Radek Stepanek (d. Dlouhy from two sets down), (22) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Spadea in four), (25) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Y.-H.Lu), and (26) Marat Safin (d. Sela 6-0 in the fifth).

The marathon win for Safin over the No. 202-ranked Sela nets him a meeting in the third round against Roddick in a battle of former No. 1s.

Safin was serving at 5-6, 30-30 in the fourth set when play was halted to close the roof due to rain. When he returned, Safin won eight straight games to close out the match.

"If the rain doesn't come, I was lost," Safin said.

Unseeded Americans had mixed results, with Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey defeating Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Florent Serra respectively, and Zach Fleishman winning the first set but then dropping the next three to Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs. Fleishman had his hair dyed red, white, and blue for the match.

Seeds in action and other matches of interest on Thursday in Melbourne are (5) Blake vs. Kuznetsov in an all-American, (19) Hewitt vs. Dancevic, (2) Nadal vs. Kohlschreiber, (15) Murray vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (13) Berdych vs. Smeets, (8) Nalbandian vs. N.Lapentti, (12) Haas vs. Bozoljac, (28) Grosjean vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (3) Davydenko vs. Muller, (17) Nieminen vs. Chela, (10) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. Del Potro, Clement vs. Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro in an all-French, (21) Tursunov vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, Zverev vs. Ginepri, and (31) Wawrinka vs. Capdeville.

"Verdasco has won against guys like Andy Roddick and he is a tough guy to play against," Murray said of his next opponent. "I know it's going to be difficult, my next match, but I feel like if I play like I did (on Tuesday) and a little bit better, then I've got a good chance of winning."

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
From Reuters on Hawkeye going gaga in the heat during Amelie Mauresmo's match at the Australian Open: "But an incident at set point in the opener reignited the debate about Hawk-eye, in use at the grand slam event for the first time, when Mauresmo challenged a call after a deep shot from the Russian teenager was called in. Mauresmo challenged the call and the television graphic on the main showpiece court showed the ball had bounced beyond the baseline, but the caption below read 'In', leading chair umpire Kerrilyn Cramer to ask the players to replay the point. The Frenchwoman, the first player to ever refer a call to Hawk-eye at Melbourne Park on Monday, duly wrapped up the set and match, but it again raised question marks about the validity of instant replay first used in a slam at last year's US Open."...ATP President Etienne de Villiers on on-court coaching: "...fan-based research we've done tells me very strongly that coaches should not be allowed on the tennis court...What came through very clearly is that this is a gladiatorial contest -- it's mano a mano, woman against woman...And there's something very magical about that, so let's not mess with it."...From tennis blogger Peter Bodo: "Serena Williams and Michelle Wie: I don't know about you, but that cameo of Wie watching Serena's match and the inane commentary and interview looked to me like a cheap publicity stunt -- an embarrassing knock-off of the Roger Federer-Tiger Woods U.S. Open love fest of last year. And the fawning over Serena's agent Jill Smoller (I know and like Jill, this isn't about her), who presumably set up the video-op, made me cringe. I don't have time to go into all the incestuous dimensions at play in that scenario, but this was both tediously self-aggrandizing and self-debasing (Who cares if Serena is out-of-shape and a borderline embarrassment to the concept of "professionalism." Michelle Wie, is here, just like Tiger was for Roger. Isn't it cool how alike golf and tennis are?). My take: I wish it were LaVar Arrington, like in the good old days when Serena was kicking booty and taking names."...From the New York Times on American Mike Russell: "He has had to absorb the multiple blows of three knee operations linked to a rare degenerative condition that causes bone to break off the femur. He has had to recover from badly torn hamstrings and hip muscles and even clotting in his lungs after an extremely negative reaction to a marathon flight to Australia last year. "I couldn't last more than 10 minutes on the court," he said. "I ended up needing blood." But the love of the game and the life that goes with it have burned brightly enough to keep Russell from quitting."...From the India Times: "India No. 2 Harsh Mankad has opted out of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group One opener against Uzbekistan, to be played indoors on red clay at Namangan from February 9 to 11. "I want to step aside from this tie and focus on my tennis," the Mumbaikar told TOI. "I've had a few issues with the team in the past and nothing has changed. It doesn't help me mentally to have to go through that again at this point in time, particularly as I am returning from injury and looking for a fresh and positive start to the new season." The 27-year-old US-based pro had earlier stated his unhappiness with the selection process and the manner in which he was treated vis-a-vis selection."...From the Herald Sun's Leo Schlink: "Australian Open officials have wasted no time in cracking down on unacceptable player behaviour. With the tournament's first round still incomplete, 11 players have been fined after a volatile start to the event. And it appears officials have grown tired of umpires being subjected to outside influences by issuing $2500 penalties to Chile's Paul Capdeville and Spain's Annabel Medina Garrigues for receiving illegal coaching. Argentine Juan Monaco and Italian Daniele Bracciali were both given $2500 notices under the same rule, reduced to $1275 on appeal. Frenchman Marc Gicquel was docked $2500 for unsportsmanlike behaviour in his marathon five-set win over Australian Alun Jones, while former finalist Rainer Schuettler was hit with a $1275 fine for the same offence. Russia's 2005 champion Marat Safin lost $630 for racquet abuse with Romanian Edina Gallovits docked the same for ball abuse. Jean-Rene Lisnard (audible obscenity), Mathieu Montcourt (unsportsmanlike) and Alize Cornet (ball abuse) were handed $320 fines."...From tennis writer Matt Cronin: "Nadia Petrova really went after Serena Williams, saying that she essentially has passed it as a player. The two will play in the third round. Petrova's ever-evolving coaching situation seems straightened out -- she's brought two coaches to Melbourne with her -- Tatiana Matokhniuk, whom she worked with as a junior, and Lars Wahlgren -- and a trainer. She's approaching a Navratilova-sized entourage: "Now all I need is to bring along a couple of dogs," she joked. Her experiment with living in Moscow again is over. The nomadic Russian has moved to Cyprus (she loves the food, the environment and the people), where Matokhniuk runs a club. When asked whether she was following Marcos Baghdatis, she said, "Maybe, he's single now, right?" Believe it or not, the Russian won't be there long -- she'll be moving to Monaco sometime this year. Busy and cold Moscow wasn't for her. She says that she lost a little confidence in her Russian and amazingly, is still; more comfortable starting conversations in English than in her native tongue. Remember though, that she also lived in Egypt and Amsterdam. She'll also play doubles full-time with Svetlana Kuznetova this year...For a good perspective on the Extreme Heat Policy, read Tracy Austin's column in The Australian [full confession I help her write her columns]."...From The Australian's Courtney Walsh: "Tony Roche was seen sporting a big grin while chatting on a mobile phone in the corridors of Melbourne Park yesterday. The reason for the master mentor's joy? Given our spy overheard him saying, "Yes. And he's a break down too", we'll take a punt and say he was talking about Andy Roddick, who at that moment was trailing French wild-card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga by a set and a break. Perhaps Roddick's defeat of Roche's charge Roger Federer at Kooyong on Saturday frightened their camp more than the Swiss champion let on...For the first three sets of his first-round match with Wayne Arthurs, Austrian Stefan Koubek must have thought he was still in Europe. He kept hitting the soles of his shoes with his racquet until one fan in the crowd yelled out: "Yep, make sure you get all that clay out." He didn't touch his shoes once in the remaining two sets."