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by Prip Chanda Rubin became the first and only seed to fall today, losing a surprisingly quick match to qualifier Janette Husarova. The Slovakian played consistent and smart tennis to stun the 11th seed 6-3 6-0 in a mere 55 minutes. Chanda herself played uninspired tennis, giving her opponent plenty of opportunities to dictate play. Twelfth seed Jennifer Capriati came close to following suit, losing the first set 4-6 before taking the match against an injured Henrieta Nagyova. The Slovakian was in the driver’s seat throughout the first set, making the plays and taking the risks. She had a good chance to take the match, until a toe injury she sustained against Chanda Rubin in Canberra the previous week flared up. Henrieta continues to battle the odds, trying to work her way back into the top 25. Monica Seles recorded the easiest win of the day when Brie Rippner retired with a sprained ankle just two points into the second game of their match. Barbara Schett, on the other hand, had to fight hard for her victory over Elena Likhovtseva. Having dropped down the rankings while dealing with heart problems, the unseeded Austrian finally took the match 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4. The biggest struggle of the day, though, came between Greta Arn and Jana Nejedly. Jana had several chances to close out the match in straight sets, but blew her opportunities and allowed the German qualifier back into the match. The mistake ended up costing her the match, a painfully long ordeal that lasted just under three hours. Greta, who ended up signing more autographs for her supporters than she probably has in her entire life up to now, had taken her chances. Making double the number of both winners and unforced errors her opponent did, her gambles paid off when she finally took the match 3-6 7-6 12-10. Meanwhile, on the adjacent court, in the day session's only other remaining match, Silvia Farina cheated death and barely escaped from 2-4 down in the second set to win 4-6 7-5 6-3 against Martina Sucha. Her compatriot Tathiana Garbin was less successful, though. Playing in only her second match after undergoing an operation late last year, the flamboyant Italian lost 0-6 6-2 6-2. Lacking confidence and many times barely pushing the ball back over the net, Tathiana simply needs more matches under her belt. In other matches, Alina Jidkova handily took care of compatriot Lina Krasnoroutskaya, while Miroslava Vavrinec chalked up an excellent win over Anne-Gaelle Sidot. Sarah Pitkowski defeated Kristie Boogert (who is recovering from wrist surgery) 6-3 6-3, and Marta Marrero got a surprise win over Corina Morariu after losing the first set. Alexandra Fusai fell to wildcard Melissa Dowse 4-6 7-5 6-0 after working so hard to get through qualifying, showing the inconsistency that is keeping her from moving back up the rankings. In the night match, Lindsay Davenport certainly had a scare against Jelena Dokic. Jelena had come on court amid a mixture of cheers and jeers, and was prepared to block all the elements out of her mind. However, any ill-feelings the crowd had towards her lasted for all of 5 seconds. Jelena played a fantastic match, and left Lindsay wondering many times if there was anything she could do to turn things around. Lindsay’s serve came through for her towards the end, and that ended up making the difference in the match. Always one to give credit where it’s due, Lindsay offered full support for Jelena, and praised her opponent’s game. She admitted that she was lucky her serves came through for her in the end, else the outcome could have been very different. Jelena on the other hand, continues to handle the pressures her father puts on her well, and was a class act during her post-match press conference. Showing absolute calm and confidence, she handled the questions thrown at her flawlessly. All the seeds on the men’s side managed to move quite comfortably into the second round, with the exception being Dominik Hrbaty, who dropped the first two sets to Jean-Rene Lisnard before storming back to win. Dangerous floaters who came through comfortably include Max Mirnyi, Todd Martin, Francisco Clavet, and Paul Goldstein. Younes El Aynaoui retired in the second set against Ivo Heuberger, while Guillermo Canas put a stop to George Bastl’s good run of late. It was a frustrating day for several of the Australian players (veterans Jason Stoltenberg, Richard Fromberg, and Todd Woodbridge all bowed out), but Andrew Ilie and Wayne Arthurs joined countryman Patrick Rafter in the second round. In the night match, the fans were further entertained by Karol Kucera and Pete Sampras. The Slovakian did an excellent job of keeping the ball deep and pinning Pete to the baseline. Pete himself was very aware of Karol’s tendency to perform against the big guns, and tried hard to get in but couldn’t find an opening. Karol couldn’t quite push the match to five sets, losing the fourth set 7-3 in the tie-breaker. With the temperature being surprisingly cold after what was predicted to be a record-breaking heat wave, the players trooped on until 12:35 in the morning, partly thanks to the ladies’match going to three sets. |