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by Priya Prasad Once again showcasing the quality of the women's draw, the first round match-up featured on center court had Justine Henin in action against Barbara Schett. The heat was once again soaring, and had conditions been a little milder, the Belgian would surely have been in deeper trouble against Babsi. As it was, the Austrian looked like her feet were cemented to the ground towards the end of the match, and gave up after having fought so hard in the first. Justine is still yet to find her form, and with the changes she's been making over the last weeks, she might need a good handful of tournaments more to settle down. One worries if her attention to gaining strength will draw from the qualities that have gotten her thus far, as had happened with Martina Hingis. Whatever comes in the following months, though, we can be assured of Justine's enthusiasm for her tennis. Speaking of the Swiss Miss, Martina Hingis was on court next against Lisa Raymond, one of the handful of players who had actually beaten her in her golden year (1997). Martina dropped only two games in her first match since undergoing knee surgery, and looked a renewed person in the press conference. Flashing her brilliant smile and accommodating every question with a sunny disposition, Martina expressed her happiness with the lack of expectation of her, and once again felt the thrill of doing the hunting instead of being the hunted. The break has given her time to think, and in the smartest move she's made in recent times, the Swiss has decided to concentrate on building her game, concentrating on her strokes and her tennis, what got her to #1 in the first place, instead of her obsession with hitting the ball harder. Her one regret: she couldn't go skiing following her knee surgery, and once she had actually recovered enough to go skiing, it was too late. I for one wish her the best of luck in her bid to rediscover the tennis that will save us from the muscle contest that is taking over the game. Meanwhile, the elder of the Lapentti brothers crashed out of the draw against Bohdan Ulihrach, who is unlikely to get past Andy Roddick in the next round. Every point was a struggle for Marcelo Rios against big-serving Ivan Ljubicic, but the Chilean has plenty of mustard on his own serve to get through 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(1) in yet another match that depended on the first-serve percentage of both players. Unfortunately for the Croat, he tried to push too hard and missed going for the big shots, giving the match to the surly Rios. While the Chilean has been excellent in obliging fans for photos and autographs, he still has yet to develop a stomach for the media. Out on center court, Sebastien Grosjean did indeed follow hot on the heels of his best buddy Arnaud, bowing out to top Asian Paradorn Srichaphan in two quick sets. The young Thai, riding high on the success of the previous week, played without any pressure at all against a rather tight Grosjean, and got the deserving 6-2 6-3 win. That opens up the top half of the draw for either Max Mirnyi or Guillermo Canas. Having done the hard work, Paradorn will probably be too tired to make it through himself. Qualifier Ramon Delgado played hard against fourth seed Guillermo Canas, but couldn't finish off the match, and the Argentine only had to hold steady against Delgado, who got shaken and fell apart after losing the second set. To complete the men's second-round lineup, Roger Federer only marginally escaped with a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) win over Tommy Robredo in the second night match, following Xavier Malisse's 6-3 win over Hicham Arazi, who then had to pull out of the tournament. The second half of the draw is certainly the one to watch, with Federer likely to meet Marcelo Rios in the quarterfinals and the winner of that one to meet Roddick in the semis. In the top half, Max Mirnyi looks good to make a relatively easy run to the final. The feature match of the day had to be the one between Anna Kournikova and Serena Williams, although attendance was still poor at the site of the 2000 Olympic Games. While Anna showed up in the same aquamarine shorts with white belt and top as the previous day, photographers were still more focused on the Russian than on Serena, who donned a red one-piece with gold trim and gold shoes to match her now blonde hair, an outfit only marginally harsher on the eyes than her lurid fuchsia number from last year. The American played strong in the first set, almost as if to put her opponent in her place, but her service started to let her down in the second set. Anna herself was doing well to be aggressive, not giving an inch of ground to Serena's waning serve, and once again showcased the tennis that had gotten her to the semifinals of Wimbledon at such a young age. Not having any trouble with the pace and showing her usual superb conditioning, Anna had no trouble running down balls and did her best to play aggressive tennis, absolutely frustrating her opponent. Serena got frustrated and couldn't believe it when her serve got broken a second time after she had gotten an early break back, to lose the second set 6-4. The Williams sisters have never been really warmly received by the Aussie crowd, and this year was no different. Suddenly aware that they actually had a match on their hands, men, women, boys and girls alike started cheering loudly for the Russian, hoping for her to prove the critics wrong. Neither player was visibly affected by the crowd, but Serena continued to struggle to hold the pieces together, while Anna stuck with the relentless attack. Unfortunately for the Russian, she started making absolutely heartbreaking errors, sending too many shots long with her flat groundstrokes, including three from inside the service line. Anna was in the driver's seat, but couldn't finish off the points and had to be content with her strong performance in the 2-6 6-4 3-6 loss. Serena, on the other hand, while maintaining her aloof demeanor, will have plenty to think about before her potential match against Amelie Mauresmo. In a final note, Tina Pisnik lost nine straight games before finally getting on the scoreboard against Sandrine Testud. Always one to wear her emotions on her sleeve, the Slovenian raised her hands in the air, smile on her face and pumping her fist at finally winning a game. Playing an atrocious game against Sandrine (who had done well in shaking off the cobwebs after her wakeup call the previous week), the Slovenian will appreciate some time to recover from her run. There was no animosity between the two, though, and Sandrine had a few words of encouragement for the youngster at the end of the match. Testud next meets Henrieta Nagyova, who played against Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in a match that would have seemed less out of place had it taken place 20 years ago. Both players played like someone had tied them to the back of the court, hitting the ball to and fro in a three-set torture session in which Henrieta's "aggressiveness" eventually won her the match 6-1 2-6 6-3. A bleak performance from both players, especially Nagyova who has constantly battled various injuries in the last few years and is determined to climb back up the rankings. In an interesting note, in her doubles match the night before, Arantxa, who was playing with Daniela Hantuchova, had constantly looked over to her support group between points, looking not only for encouragement, but reinforcement, while her young partner was totally focused on her game. The Slovak is eager to learn how to play doubles from the best, and has done well in her steep learning curve so far. Tomorrow will see second round action in both draws, and the action promises to hot up with an all-star lineup due on center court. |