|
by Priya Prasad Quarterfinal day in Homebush Bay, and the first featured match on center court would see Martina Hingis exert her new confidence against Sandrine Testud, winning 6-4 6-2 over the familiar opponent. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin hit the court next and as expected, Kim was once again too strong for her countrywoman. Once she got her blood pumping late in the first set, she used the "home crowd" support to run away with the second. Justine seems to still be a little uncomfortable with herself at the moment, but will soon grow into her new physique and just needs to play more big matches. Meanwhile, Alexandra Stevenson failed to follow up on her big win against Meghann Shaughnessy, and the eighth seed simply had to play her percentages to send her compatriot packing to Melbourne. On the men's side, Max Mirnyi had a routine match against France's Julien Boutter, looking comfortable in his 6-4 6-2 win. Tournament organizers had been right in choosing the match between Hyung-Taik Lee and Andy Roddick for the night session instead of the more glamorous one between Roger Federer and Marcelo Rios. Neither player was particularly impressive in the match, and the crowd was disappointed by the lack of quality in the 6-7(2) 7-6(4) 6-3 win for the Swiss second seed. The match of the day had to be the one between Andy Roddick and Hyung-Taik Lee, where the youth that is invading men's tennis found a perfect showcase. Big serving and flashy shots reigned throughout the match, and Roddick had to fight with everything he had against the qualifier, who showed no signs of fatigue. The result was a match that could have ended either way, but Andy held a only just a little steadier than his opponent, taking the risk of letting his opponent go for the big shots, and came through 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5. |