Hingis and Seles Battle the Williams Sisters
by Prip
The first featured match of the day drew the biggest crowds to the
stadium so far, despite it being a working day. The crowds, mostly
high school and university students on their summer break, thronged
to see Anna Kournikova take on qualifier Elena Bovina. Anna came into
the match knowing her opponent's strong points, and had her game plan
set. With the wind causing a bit of trouble on one side of the court,
the more experienced Russian managed to adjust a little better. The
slightest lapse in concentration from Anna could have resulted in
disaster, but she did well to keep focus, and came through 6-4 6-4.
The next hurdle for her though would be the media. More than familiar
with the ways of the press, Anna handled questions about rumours that
her breakup with doubles partner Martina Hingis ended in tears very
calmly, despite pretty much being asked the same question 9 times.
Out on Court 1, Todd Martin was prepared but not looking forward to
playing Tommy Haas. Todd, playing in his first tournament since
marrying Amy Barbato, tried to play a smart game, but had few answers
to the German 7th seed's performance. When he stayed on the baseline,
he was run around the court silly, and when he came in, he got passed
more often than not. Tommy's serve alone gave him more than enough
free points. No surprises as Tommy Haas drove Todd Martin into
frustration and cruised to a 6-3 6-2 win. Waiting for him in the next
round is Rainer Schuttler who took out Slava Dosedel 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Tommy should come through comfortably in that all-German affair.
Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt was
having problems. Drawn against fellow Aussie Wayne Arthurs for
the second straight week, this time didn't prove as easy. Lleyton was
having trouble returning the big serves being blasted at him from the
Aussie, and only narrowly managed to escape a first round defeat in
his to defend the title. Battling respiratory problems, Lleyton
eventually took the tension-filled match 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2. Magnus
Norman came through comfortably against Romanian Andrei Pavel, winning
6-3 7-5 and coming one step closer to potentially meeting Hewitt in
the final.
Third seed Wayne Ferreira became the first major casualty of the
men's draw, falling to Switzerland's Roger Federer, who's on a roll after
claiming the Hopman Cup trophy with Martina Hingis last week. Ferreira's serve
let him down and Federer managed to stay in focus well
throughout the match instead of drifting in and out. Having gained
confidence in being grouped together with the likes of Tommy Haas and
Lleyton Hewitt in the ATP's new marketing scheme, "New Balls, Please"
Roger played a mature game and took the match 6-3 6-4, setting a date
with compatriot Marc Rosset, yet another match with players from the
same country. Meanwhile, Bohdan Ulihrach became the first casualty for
real, retiring at 6-1 3-0 against Frenchman Arnaud Clement. Ulihrach
cited fatigue as his reason for failing to finish the match.
In the very next match in the same court, fourth seed Cedric Pioline
fell to Jonas Bjorkman 7-6(2) 6-2. The Frenchman, coming off a
quarterfinal appearance the week before, couldn't break the stronghold
Jonas has on him, and the Swede extended his win-loss record against
him to 4-0. Qualifier Christophe Rochus managed to send Max "The Beast"
Mirnyi packing with a quick 6-3 6-1 upset. Jeff Tarango, on the other
hand, let the crowd get to him and simply made too many unforced
errors against Todd Woodbridge. Pushing shot after shot long, at one
point in the second set, he simply yelled to himself, "How can they
be going so far out!!!" Frustration for the feisty American as wild
card Woodbridge advanced in straight sets.
The women's draw held no surprises, and Monica Seles dispatched
Nicole Pratt 3-6 6-4 6-1, Nicole taking advantage of a rather cold
start from Monica but not managing to pull off taking the match.
Amelie Mauresmo also got through, defeating Anne Kremer 6-1 6-4 to
take her one step closer to a repeat of last year's performance here.
Conchita Martinez played Alicia Molik in a match that seemed to last
forever and then some more, but eventually came through with a 6-4
6-7(8) 6-3 win. Slovenia's Tina Pisnik found her run ended by Kim
Clijsters, leaving Brie Rippner to be the only qualifier left in the
main draw.
The most amusing match of the day must have been the doubles match
between Italians Tathiana Garbin and Silvia Farina, and Conchita
Martinez and Patricia Tarabini. The match had already been delayed
by a day, and was suspended a total of 4 times due to rainfall. The
players played most of the match in a light drizzle, but their
on-court demeanour was enough to warm up the fans. Tathiana was her
usual dynamic self on court, and had a very strong presence
in her first doubles match in ages, while Silvia looked more calm and
confident than usual, probably because she'd reached the final in the
previous week. Patricia had all sorts of funny expressions going,
reminding long-time tennis fans of the Argentine's entertaining
on-court antics, while Conchita looked, well, like Conchita.
In more doubles action, second seeds Kournikova and Schett won easily
against Jelena Kostanic and Erika de Lone, hardly breaking a sweat in
their 6-1 6-2 win. The highlight of the day though was the evening
match, where Martina Hingis and Monica Seles
took on Venus and Serena Williams. It is a rare occasion indeed
when you see four Grand Slam singles winners on court at the same time,
and they didn't fail to live up to the crowd's expectation. In a match
that featured plenty of action and thrilling rallies, Martina and
Monica came out the victors, winning 6-4 3-6 7-6(2).
Women's Singles first round
- Kim Clijsters def. Tina Pisnik (Q) 6-3 6-1
- Serena Williams (5) def. Lilia Osterloh 6-3 7-6(6)
- Anna Kournikova (6) def. Elena Bovina (Q) 6-4 6-4
- Amanda Coetzer (7) def. Denisa Chladkova 3-6 6-2 6-2
- Amelie Mauresmo def. Anne Kremer 6-1 6-4
Women's Singles second round
- Conchita Martinez (4) def. Alicia Molik 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3
- Monica Seles (3) def. Nicole Pratt 6-4 6-2
Men's Singles first round
- Magnus Norman (1) def. Andrei Pavel 6-3 7-5
- Todd Woodbridge def. Jeff Tarango (Q) 7-6(5) 6-2
- Georg Bastl def. Carlos Moya 6-1 7-6(4)
- Arnaud Clement (5) def. Bohdan Uhlirach 6-1 3-0 ret.
- Jonas Bjorkman def. Cedric Pioline (4) 7-6(2) 6-2
- Jason Stoltenberg def. Scott Draper (Q) 7-5 4-6 6-4
- Tommy Haas (7) def. Todd Martin 6-3 6-2
- Sebastien Grosjean (6) def. Richard Fromberg (WC) 7-6(3) 6-2
- Christophe Rochus (Q) def. Max Mirnyi 6-3 6-1
- Roger Federer def. Wayne Ferriera (3) 6-3 6-4
- Andrew Ilie def. Michael Chang 6-4 6-3
- Lleyton Hewitt (2) def. Wayne Arthurs 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2
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The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine.
https://tennis-ontheline.com/01syd05.htm © 2025
Last updated 26 September 2015
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