Roddick, Serena Post Big Wins at Aussie Open; Henin Divorce

Posted on January 19, 2007

Roddick Beats Safin with Connors at Side in Oz

Early in his career Andy Roddick was known as the Tiebreak King, between his crunching serve and go-for-broke forehand sweeping through tiebreaks en route to the No. 1 ranking. Then came Roger Federer.

As Roddick went through a number of coaches and tinkered with his game in an effort to reach Federer's level, his confidence suffered, as did his record in tiebreaks. Now at the 2007 Australian Open the Roddick of old has returned, with the free-swinging American winning two clutch tiebreaks Friday against another former No. 1, Marat Safin, to advance 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) into the fourth round.

"I knew I had to play well and I definitely lifted my game in the last two sets," said Roddick, who again had coach Jimmy Connors in the stands Friday after Connors returned from the U.S. after the death of his mother. "It is nice to get through a tough one like this."

It was a different Roddick than the volatile American that barely navigated past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round when Connors was absent.

"It's just a lot more consistent when he's at a tournament," Roddick said of Connors. "There's a third dimension to his energy. It's probably a lot better in person than it is on the phone."

This time it was Roddick who was in control, perhaps acting the good lad with his coach back in town as Safin exploded at everyone around him, even refusing to take the court again after a brief rain delay. On top of his game, Roddick hung with the Russian in numerous backhand-to-backhand rallies, and volleyed well overall in crashing the net to end points, a tactic he and Connors have been perfecting.

Next Roddick will face another big server in No. 9 seed Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, who easily dismissed Dominik Hrbaty, dropping only six games en route.

World No. 1 Roger Federer was another straight-set winner over No. 25 seed Mikhail Youzhny, and rounding out the Top 10-seeded action was No. 7 Tommy Robredo, who wore down American riser Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-1.

Federer will next face No. 14 seed Novak Djokovic, who disposed of Thai Danai Udomchoke 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

"If I go with the white flag on the court, what I'm doing here?" said the 19-year-old Djokovic when asked if he could compete with the world No. 1. "I'm aware that Roger is the best in the world. I have nine wins in a row now, but that doesn't mean if I play Federer that I'm going to stop here, that...I'm already giving up. I will do everything to win."

Other winners were No. 16 seed David Ferrer coming back to outlast No. 20 seed and Martina Hingis' betrothed Radek Stepanek from two sets down, No. 18 Richard "Baby Fed" Gasquet topping French countryman Gael "Force" Monfils in four with a bagel in the first set, and American Mardy Fish advancing when Aussie opponent Wayne Arthurs retired trailing 0-3 in the first set.

The 35-year-old Arthurs was forced to disappoint Aussie fans after only three games after having a numbing reaction to a local anaesthetic, a pain-killing injection for a hip problem.

"I had a pre-existing injury with my hip and it was getting sorer and sorer over the last probably three days where I injured it during my second-round match. It got worse yesterday during the doubles," an emotional Arthurs said in his post-match conference. "It was an idea to have a local anaesthetic in my hip this morning. It was like a practice run for the local anaesthetic, to see how I would react to it. I'd gone in, had the anaesthetic and felt great during practice. Everything was fine. The hip was good. That was a short-term acting anaesthetic which wore off within the hour type of thing. I went to have another one, which was a pre-plan, as well, which was going to be a longer-lasting, three-to-four hour type of anaesthetic. I had that probably 15 minutes before the match, which was all right on cue. I went on the court. I had a reaction to the anaesthetic and had no co-ordination, no feelings in my right leg at all. I was just completely gone on the right side. As you could see, I couldn't co-ordinate at all on the right side...I don't blame the doctor, no. I've been told it's a one-in-a-thousand thing...I couldn't really believe that this is the way that my last Aussie Open was going to finish."

Scheduled for Saturday in Melbourne are (2) Nadal vs. (31) Wawrinka, (10) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (19) Hewitt, (8) Nalbandian vs. (28) Grosjean, (3) Davydenko vs. Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, (5) Blake vs. Ginepri in an all-American, (12) Haas vs. Mayer in an all-German, and (15) Murray vs. Chela.

Serena Overcomes Choking Petrova at Aussie Open

Unseeded Serena Williams executed an inspired comeback, helped along by her Russian opponent, when the American came back from a set and a break down to upend No. 5-seeded Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 Friday to advance into the fourth round at the Australian Open.

Petrova's history of getting tight in big-match situations reared its head when the Russian served for the contest at 6-1, 5-4. Petrova failed to close the deal, then serving at 5-6 she double faulted to hand the American the set, failing to match Williams' fighting spirit.

"I had no other option than for my game to go up," Williams told reporters of her slow start. "I was on the verge of being out of the tournament, and I obviously didn't want that to happen. I told myself to stay in there...and it will come together sooner or later."

Petrova said she was not surprised to see Williams raise her game as her resolve faltered.

"She came up with unbelievable returns; she just went for it and she produced an unbelievable backhand winner up the line, from far behind the court," Petrova said. "I'm not surprised at all. They've always been tough competitors, her and her sister. Whenever they have to play a tough opponent, they raise their game."

It was an impressive physical display for the American who again appeared to show up in Melbourne not in peak physical form.

"I wasn't winded," Williams said. "I was ready to keep going. I wasn't tired at all. I'm still not tired. I feel like going to run a marathon."

Petrova was forced to eat crow after earlier comments to FOX Sports on the demise of the Williams sisters.

"They've had lots of injuries and they are not in the best shape of their life," Petrova said prior to the match. "It looks like everything is leading to the end of their career because they are quite busy; they have talks shows, books, and clothing lines...their reputation isn't the same. Some young players still fear them, but the good players don't."

Serena's road only gets tougher now, next facing the hot-handed Serb Jelena Jankovic, who Friday beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-4 to advance.

"Playing Serena, it's always tough," Jankovic said. "It doesn't matter if she just came from an injury or she didn't play, she always a great champion. I've beaten her twice before. My score against her is 2-1, so I know how to play against her. I'll try my best. We'll see. It will be a good match for sure."

It was Williams' first win over a Top 10 player since she won the 2005 Australian Open title.

No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo led the seeded winners Friday, easing past Eva Birnerova, 6-3, 6-1.

Other winners on the day were (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (26) Kirilenko), (7) Elena Dementieva (d. Camerin), (10) Nicole Vaidisova (d. (21) Srebotnik), (16) Shahar Peer (d. (20) Golovin from a set down), and unseeded Czech Lucie Safarova (d. Yakimova who retired after the first set).

Scheduled for Saturday in Melbourne are (1) Sharapova vs. (30) Garbin, (6) Hingis vs. Nakamura, (8) Schnyder vs. Molik, (4) Clijsters vs. (29) A.Bondarenko, (15) Hantuchova vs. Harkleroad, (13) Ivanovic vs. (22) Zvonareva, (9) Safina vs. (19) Li, and (12) Anna Chakvetadze vs. Kostanic.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Retired four-time Aussie Open champ Andre Agassi is not a fan of the Extreme Heat rule that stops play at the Aussie Open, and says players need to suck it up and get in shape: "It is about being fit and being prepared, and tennis brings both of those things together, and that needs to be respected and appreciated. This is a sport, it's about handling the elements the best. It is not about playing great. We train for this. (If you are not prepared), too bad."...From the Mail & Guardian: "Australian Open organisers on Friday defended keeping quiet about the sexual assault of a five-year-old boy in a toilet this week, saying they did so at the request of police."...From News.com.au: "Victoria police have arrested a 32-year-old man who was allegedly seen trying to film up women's skirts at the Australian Open tennis tournament." -- What the hell is going on at the Aussie Open?...Props for ESPN's addition in the booth, former Andre Agassi coach Darren "Killer" Cahill, but will he be a mainstay or soon off to coach another top player?...Pete Sampras speaking to ESPN on if he were to play Roger Federer again: "We see Wimbledon today where everyone is staying back, you know I miss the serve and volley tennis, and I would try to put as much pressure on Roger if I could and if he could pass and return great for three straight sets then it's too good. But I felt that I was very, very tough to break on grass when I was serving well and moving well. And the fact that Roger stays back on grass, it gives me a few chances to kind of take a crack at it and just kind of move to the net and try to put pressure on him. But I can't talk too much on how I'd do because he beat me the one time we played."...From the Southwest Florida Herald-Tribune: "Jim Courier, who won four Grand Slam titles and was ranked No. 1 in the world for 58 weeks, will join Bradenton's Petr Korda in an exhibition match during the third annual Serving Up A Slam Tennis Classic to be held March 15 and March 17-18 at the Longboat Key Club and Resort. The event is a three-day fundraiser that includes a doubles tournament and a dinner, along with silent and live auctions in addition to exhibitions. The function is put on by the Sarasota Sports Foundation, a group formed to help combat child abuse."...Serena Williams says she is still working on a movie script about African-American tennis pioneer Althea Gibson...From tennis writer Matt Cronin on the Justine Henin-Hardenne divorce: "In an interview with an Avenir du Luxembourg, Pierre-Yves' parents said of their son's break-up with Justine Henin-Hardenne: "We don't know what could have happened between the two of them. Pierre-Yves just told us they're both going their own way for now, to think things over." They said they haven't seen their son since October, but that he's informed them he's very unhappy. According to, another paper, Vers l'Avenir, Henin-Hardenne will soon be filing for a divorce."