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by Priya Prasad A disappointing crowd showed up in Homebush Bay today for a serving of first-round men's singles action, with Max Mirnyi taking on Wayne Arthurs in a serving competition on center court. The cool backhand down-the-line and quick net approaches made the difference in the match, and "the Beast" (whose last name I'm told actually means peaceful) will play against either Thai talent Paradorn Srichapan or top seed Sebastien Grosjean. Sebastien will certainly have to be wary of following hot on the heels of best friend Arnaud Clement, who looked helpless on court against Wayne Ferreira in his 6-2 6-4 defeat. Always a colourful character, the diminutive Frenchman entertained the crowd nevertheless, actually kissing the charm on his necklace and gesturing in mock relief when yet another serve that flew past him was called out. Tournament organizers had expected the second match on center court to draw in a record crowd, and it did in a way. Rather than the biggest attendance, it had to be the poorest turnout for an Anna Kournikova match since the Russian turned 12. The 10,000-capacity stadium was hardly even half-filled, but that hardly made a difference to Anna, who played better than expected of her against Angeles Montolio. Montolio played a nervous match, but Anna showed glimpses of her pre-baseline-hugging game, not hesitating to move forward and playing aggressively. All-in-all, certainly a promising performance leading up to the big second-round showdown between the Russian bombshell and fourth-seed Serena Williams. At the other end of tournament grounds (where, incidently, the tournament has reinforced the barriers surrounding Court 1 following last year's fiasco in which the barricades collapsed when the crowd surged to get Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett's autographs), Amanda Coetzer made mincemeat of wildcard Jaslyn Hewitt, who may well be the only person who believes that she was awarded a wildcard based on her performance on the ITF circuit late last year instead of her last name. While brother Lleyton battles media scrutiny following his possible bout of chicken pox, Jaslyn will have another easy week hanging out on tournament grounds and having the occasional hit with Kim Clijsters before the Open next week. Iroda Tulyaganova had a good lead against qualifier Alexandra Stevenson, but couldn't close it out. Alexandra has been touting the loss of not only a potential love interest, who was working as a fireman, in the September 11 massacre, but also a good friend from high school. Apparently, the youngster has gained perspective from the tragic incident, and has used that as inspiration to play good tennis. Play well she certainly did, and Alex left her opponent absolutely baffled by the flashy shots she managed to come up with. Having fared as well as she could against such firepower, Iroda didn't let the 6-1 6-7(0) 7-5 loss ruin her birthday, and will hit the town this evening with the Russian players for a rendezvous. With Elena Dementieva crashing out in a disgraceful performance against Conchita Martinez and Anastasia Myskina floundering on court against Silvia Farina-Elia, they can certainly afford to stay out late tonight. Around tournament grounds, the crowds once again flocked to the practice courts to catch a glimpse of Kournikova and mother in practice with Martina Hingis and her mom. Melanie was well in charge of the situation, while Alla was more behind the scenes, pushing her daughter to work harder than she already was. In an amusing situation, I was standing outside the entrance to the player's lounge having a conversation with a young member of the media with Spanish radio (let's call him Jose), when Martina Hingis sauntered in our direction just after practice. Recognizing Jose from the previous day, when he got some trivial quotes from the Swiss, she had a slight change of expression, sort of an "oh no, not you again" look. Jose: (with a big smile on his face) Don't worry! I don't want an interview with you. MH: (expression of mock surprise) What! You don't want an interview with me?! Jose: No, of course not. You're not important for me. I'm here just for the Spanish, the Chilean players... MH: (quite amused by now) Me?! I'm not important to you? Jose: No, no. I couldn't care less if you won the tournament. MH: (big smile and giggling) Well, when I win the tournament and there's a press conference and I see you there, I will just stop the press conference and not continue until you leave. Jose: Well, okay, but you're not going to win the tournament. MH: (heading into the lounge with mother and Anna) Okay, we'll make a bet! Needless to say, the Swiss looks very relaxed despite all the attention, and with the announcement that Lindsay Davenport has pulled out of the Australian Open, she may have an opportunity to start the year well. The men's half of the tournament, or should I say the men's third ] of the tournament, lost yet another name when Carlos Moya fell to Hyung-Taik Lee in a lackluster performance. Despite losing the chance to collect some points in this weak field, the Spaniard was his usual cheery self, joking that the chicks in Australia have failed to impress so far. Juan Ignacio Chela became the second seed to get through, playing a clean game to win 6-0 7-6(2) against Alberto Costa. The lanky Argentinian will meet another strong qualifier, Wayne Ferreira, in the next round. A couple other notes were Daniela Hantuchova, who blew a slight lead in the first set to eventually win 4-6 6-4 6-4 against Magdalena Maleeva. The physical exhaustion just got to Maggie at the end, blowing her concentration out of the water, while Daniela not only didn't have to struggle physically in the blistering heat, but looked glowing and fresh as a daisy after playing a doubles match a little later. Fans of the absolute gem of a person Magui Serna will be surprised to see her lose 6-1 6-1 to Lisa Raymond, but the Spaniard had trouble with a sore throat and flu-like symptoms. Luckily, I am told that she is on the tail-end of the problem, and will hopefully be feeling better in time for Melbourne. In the night match, Andy Roddick and Andrew Ilie gave the crowd more than their money's worth in a match that was both fast-paced and entertaining. Despite falling just short, the adopted Aussie was in high spirits up into his press conference, explaining that his on-court antics are often mistaken as being pre-planned. Not looking disappointed at all, Andrew got his satisfaction by pleasing the crowd, and will look to do better in his next match instead of dwelling on this one. |