Two Reigning Grand Slam Champs Sent Packing
by Prip
Sunday was looking to be a Super Sunday, with the main matches of the
day being Hrbaty vs. Safin(2), Sampras(3) vs. Martin, Rafter(12) vs.
Henman(8), and Henin vs. Seles(4). With the first week close to over
and the tournament going into its second, the juniors were already
seen milling about, watching the top players (and possibly their
future opponents) in action, perhaps picking up some pointers on how
the big kids play.
As expected, Kim Clijsters couldn't do too much damage to Lindsay
Davenport, in the first match between seeded players. Lindsay took the
match 6-4 6-0, although the match was a lot closer than the score
indicates. Kim simply made too many errors, especially on the big
points, and quite basically had an off day. It appears that the
youngster might be going through some phase, or perhaps a rough patch
in her personal life. She gives the impression that she is not happy
about something, with one or two very small incidents that
indicate likewise.
Justine Henin played a
heartbreaking match against Monica Seles, in
which she had her opportunities, but blew it in the end. Choking the
match away means that the Belgian will go home early with her 13-match
streak, and that Monica is very likely to replace her in the semifinal
lineup. Standing in her way is Jennifer Capriati, who found herself
down 1-5 against Marta Marrero before the Spaniard totally fell apart,
winning only 1 game in the next 12. Monica should take the match in 2.
The men's draw has lost its two remaining top seeds. Todd Martin took
out third seed Pete Sampras, who failed to impress whatsoever in
this tournament, and needs to pick up a new attitude if he intends to
stay a contender in the game. Todd knew very well that his opponent
wasn't playing well, and stepped up to the plate. Using his extensive
past experience against his compatriot to notch only his third win in
their 20 encounters, Todd for once concentrated on playing his game,
and carried his confidence with him throughout the match instead of
getting discouraged. He played a very smart and relaxed match, not
pushing too hard, and didn't let the demons from the past haunt him at
all.
Marat Safin was the surprise of the day though, losing to Dominik
Hrbary in straight sets. Dominik has always managed to trouble the
2nd seed, and today was no different. What was different was that
Marat failed to pick up his game after a slow start, as he had in his
previous matches. Unable to make his shots and pretty much just
having a bad day, the Russian was unfortunate that his opponent was
also having a good day. Out-rallied on the baseline and reluctant to
come into net, Marat also found his opponent running after every
ball, and Dominik got to a number of incredible shots.
This has left the draw open for Pat Rafter, who won a very convincing
match against Tim Henman in what was expected to be a tough battle.
Doing an Andrew Ilie impression after the match with his yellow
Reebok shirt, Pat discovered that tearing his shirt was probably more
difficult than winning his match, and struggled with the hem before
giving up and pulling it off over his head. He should come through to
replace Marat in the men's semifinal lineup.
Andre Agassi got shellshocked
early in his match against Andrew Ilie, and had to play a
very smart game against the flamboyant Australian to get through.
Mustering all the experience he had, he managed to hold on until the
Aussie finally ran out of spinach, and won a very entertaining match
on center court to get through to the quarterfinals. Instead of having
a classic Pete match to look forward to, he will be thankful that Todd
Martin did the hard work for him, and looks increasingly good for a
title defense here in Melbourne. Magnus Norman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov
are the highest ranked players standing in his way at this point,
but I believe Carlos Moya to be the biggest remaining threat.
New projected semifinal lineup:
Men: Kafelnikov (5) vs. Moya; Agassi (6) vs. Rafter (12)
Women: Hingis (1) vs. V.Williams (6); Seles (4) vs. Davenport (2)
Projected final matchup:
Men: Moya vs. Agassi (6)
Women: Hingis (1) or V.Williams (6) vs. Davenport (2)
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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