Hewitt and Bjorkman Light Up Night Two
by Prip
Day two held more interesting match-ups for tennis fans and regulars
at the Australian Open. The first double-bagel of the tournament came
with Silvija Talaja taking out
Alicia Molik 6-0 6-0. The big surprise of the day came when Venus
Williams was stretched to three sets by Maria Jose Martinez of Spain.
The Spanish lefty, coming off a huge battle in the final qualifying round,
played very consistent tennis after the first set, and managed to
draw the errors off Venus. Perhaps struggling a lot more than she
should have with her outfit, Venus fell right into the trap, losing
the second set 6-2 before snapping out of the daze and finishing off
the third set 6-0. Sister Serena had no such problems, shutting out
Janet Lee 6-1 6-4.
All the seeds moved through easily, leaving Chanda Rubin the only
seed to fall on the first hurdle. The only thing close to becoming an
upset was when Mary Pierce went down 0-3 in the second set against
Sylvia Plischke before getting a sudden adrenaline rush and taking
the last 6 games in a row. Unseeded Amelie Mauresmo also moved through
with a handy 6-3 6-3 win over Ai Sugiyama.
"Player to Watch" Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues cruised to a 7-5 6-0 win
over Jennifer Hopkins in her first Grand Slam tournament. Meanwhile,
Jelena Kostanic stumbled against qualifier Andrea Glass, in a match
where the hordes of Croatian supporters managed to do more harm than
good. Rowdy and raucous throughout the match, they were actually told
to "shut up" by the youngster, who had enough problems concentrating
by herself. Andrea Glass managed to keep her cool despite her quick
temper, and ended up taking the match 7-6(3) 6-4.
Second "Player to Watch" Elena Bovina turned in a disappointing
performance against Nadejda Petrova. Watched by most of the Russian
players who were scattered in the stands, including Larisa
Savchenko-Neiland, who has been keeping an eye on the youngster but
was firmly in Nadejda's corner for this match. Playing very erratic
tennis, Elena held the match in her hands, but blew it 7-5 6-3.
No surprises either on the men's side, all 8 seeds getting through
comfortably. Magnus Norman played very lackadaisical tennis, still
trying to find his game, and had to fight to get back in the match
before closing it out in four sets against Stephane Huet. Gustavo
Kuerten, looking to break his terrible record here in Melbourne, took
a while to settle down, but eventually got his head on straight and
never looked back from there, defeating Gaston Gaudio in four.
Suffering from the extreme time difference, the charismatic Brazilian
said it best, "I have to play when I want to sleep, and I want to play
when I have to sleep." Hopefully Guga will be scheduled for a night
match before the week is over.
The much-anticipated match of Carlos Moya vs. Marcelo Rios failed to
deliver, as Rios was simply outplayed by the Spaniard. Despite
holding a winning record against Carlos, Marcelo simply could not get
into the match, and hardly put up a challenge. On the outside courts,
youngster Guillermo Coria came through against Fernando Gonzales
despite having to receive treatment for his foot. Old man of the tour
Gianluca Pozzi also came through, taking out qualifier Alex O'Brien
after a slow start.
While Martina Hingis totally blitzed Hungarian Katalin Marosi-Aracama
in 38 minutes, the late men's match proved the most entertaining of the
tournament so far. Two players playing at peak performances, meeting
only days after a close encounter in Sydney, Lleyton
Hewitt and Jonas Bjorkman thrilled the freezing crowd with a tense
5-setter filled with thrilling rallies and inspiring shots. The
seventh seed prevailed, and ended up taking the match 7-5 4-6 2-6 6-3
6-2. Waiting for him in the next round is another tough opponent,
Tommy Haas.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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