Sharapova, Clijsters, Hingis Win Easily at Aussie Open
Posted on January 20, 2007Tournament favorites Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis recorded economical wins Saturday amidst rain that kept play reserved to the covered stadiums at the Australian Open, moving safely into the fourth round in Melbourne.
The top-seeded Sharapova eased past No. 30 Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1, while the No. 4-seeded Clijsters had a bit more difficult time against No. 29 Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-3, and the sentimental favorite Hingis, seeded No. 6, mowed over Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-1.
"It was a little steamy in there," said Sharapova after the stadium reportedly had a problem with the air conditioning system. "It wasn't nearly as warm as it was the last few days. It was just humid. It was all right."
Hingis has lost nine games in three matches thus far at the 2007 Australian Open.
"You obviously know the stats and how Japanese players more or less play," Hingis said. "It was just a very strange feeling to be out there today. I guess it was very hot for the people, for the fans as well. The atmosphere was a little different from usual excitement, what you expect here...I think today there were a few errors, a lot of unforced errors. I think the crowd sometimes didn't really have that much to clap for. It was more like they expected me to win easily or just like go there and win every single point because there was like no reason to miss for me. That's how I felt, that kind of pressure. Okay, if I do everything right, I'm going to win every single point. I mean, she's a little feisty player. Every time I needed it, I came up with just no missing and tried to do a little bit more extra."
Other winners were No. 8 Patty Schnyder who ended Australian hopes, outlasting unseeded Alicia Molik 6-0 in the third after dropping the first set, and No. 22-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva who had a surprisingly easy time with error-prone No. 13 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2.
"I think I was definitely a little frustrated with myself for letting that second set slip so quickly," Molik said of losing to Schnyder. "Felt like a bit of a blur actually. You know, when things get tight I generally start rushing. It's a habit that I have to get out of, especially when I'm serving. I really need to take my time. I need to get my ball toss up high because, you know, sometimes I get a little anxious. I want to start the point very quickly. That's something that I'll definitely need to work on the next couple of matches."
Sharapova next faces an all-Russian meeting against Zvonareva.
"Vera is also tough physically, gets a lot of balls back, makes you hit a lot of balls," Sharapova said of Zvonareva. "Just a matter of giving her another ball to hit."
Matches postponed to Sunday due to rain were No. 9-seeded Russian Dinara Safina vs. China's No. 19 seed Na Li, No. 12-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze vs. Croat Jelena Kostanic, and No. 15-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova vs. American hope Ashley Harkleroad.
On court Sunday are (2) Mauresmo vs. Safarova, (11) Jankovic vs. Serena Williams, (3) Kuznetsova vs. (16) Peer, (7) Dementieva vs. (10) Vaidisova, (9) Safina vs. (19) Li, (15) Hantuchova vs. Harkleroad, and (12) Chakvetadze vs. Kostanic.
The top-seeded Sharapova eased past No. 30 Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1, while the No. 4-seeded Clijsters had a bit more difficult time against No. 29 Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-3, and the sentimental favorite Hingis, seeded No. 6, mowed over Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-1.
"It was a little steamy in there," said Sharapova after the stadium reportedly had a problem with the air conditioning system. "It wasn't nearly as warm as it was the last few days. It was just humid. It was all right."
Hingis has lost nine games in three matches thus far at the 2007 Australian Open.
"You obviously know the stats and how Japanese players more or less play," Hingis said. "It was just a very strange feeling to be out there today. I guess it was very hot for the people, for the fans as well. The atmosphere was a little different from usual excitement, what you expect here...I think today there were a few errors, a lot of unforced errors. I think the crowd sometimes didn't really have that much to clap for. It was more like they expected me to win easily or just like go there and win every single point because there was like no reason to miss for me. That's how I felt, that kind of pressure. Okay, if I do everything right, I'm going to win every single point. I mean, she's a little feisty player. Every time I needed it, I came up with just no missing and tried to do a little bit more extra."
Other winners were No. 8 Patty Schnyder who ended Australian hopes, outlasting unseeded Alicia Molik 6-0 in the third after dropping the first set, and No. 22-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva who had a surprisingly easy time with error-prone No. 13 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2.
"I think I was definitely a little frustrated with myself for letting that second set slip so quickly," Molik said of losing to Schnyder. "Felt like a bit of a blur actually. You know, when things get tight I generally start rushing. It's a habit that I have to get out of, especially when I'm serving. I really need to take my time. I need to get my ball toss up high because, you know, sometimes I get a little anxious. I want to start the point very quickly. That's something that I'll definitely need to work on the next couple of matches."
Sharapova next faces an all-Russian meeting against Zvonareva.
"Vera is also tough physically, gets a lot of balls back, makes you hit a lot of balls," Sharapova said of Zvonareva. "Just a matter of giving her another ball to hit."
Matches postponed to Sunday due to rain were No. 9-seeded Russian Dinara Safina vs. China's No. 19 seed Na Li, No. 12-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze vs. Croat Jelena Kostanic, and No. 15-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova vs. American hope Ashley Harkleroad.
On court Sunday are (2) Mauresmo vs. Safarova, (11) Jankovic vs. Serena Williams, (3) Kuznetsova vs. (16) Peer, (7) Dementieva vs. (10) Vaidisova, (9) Safina vs. (19) Li, (15) Hantuchova vs. Harkleroad, and (12) Chakvetadze vs. Kostanic.