Overlooked Kournikova Rolls On Day Two
by Priya Prasad
A disappointing crowd showed up in Homebush Bay today for a
serving of first-round men's singles action, with Max Mirnyi
taking on Wayne Arthurs in a serving competition on center
court. The cool backhand down-the-line and quick net approaches made
the difference in the match, and "the Beast" (whose last name I'm
told actually means peaceful) will play against either Thai talent
Paradorn Srichapan or top seed Sebastien Grosjean. Sebastien will
certainly have to be wary of following hot on the heels of best
friend Arnaud Clement, who looked helpless on court against Wayne
Ferreira in his 6-2 6-4 defeat. Always a colourful character, the
diminutive Frenchman entertained the crowd nevertheless, actually
kissing the charm on his necklace and gesturing in mock relief when
yet another serve that flew past him was called out.
Tournament organizers had expected the second match on center court
to draw in a record crowd, and it did in a way. Rather than the
biggest attendance, it had to be the poorest
turnout for an Anna Kournikova match since the Russian turned 12. The
10,000-capacity stadium was hardly even half-filled, but that hardly
made a difference to Anna, who played better than expected of her
against Angeles Montolio. Montolio played a nervous match, but
Anna showed glimpses of her pre-baseline-hugging game, not hesitating
to move forward and playing aggressively. All-in-all, certainly a
promising performance leading up to the big second-round showdown
between the Russian bombshell and fourth-seed Serena Williams.
At the other end of tournament grounds (where, incidently, the
tournament has reinforced the barriers surrounding Court 1 following
last year's fiasco in which the barricades collapsed when the crowd
surged to get Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett's autographs), Amanda
Coetzer made mincemeat of wildcard Jaslyn Hewitt, who may well be
the only person who believes that she was awarded a wildcard based
on her performance on the ITF circuit late last year instead of her
last name. While brother Lleyton battles media scrutiny following
his possible bout of chicken pox, Jaslyn will have another easy week
hanging out on tournament grounds and having the occasional hit with
Kim Clijsters before the Open next week.
Iroda Tulyaganova had a good lead against qualifier Alexandra
Stevenson, but couldn't close it out. Alexandra has been touting
the loss of not only a potential love interest, who was working as a
fireman, in the September 11 massacre, but also a good friend from
high school. Apparently, the youngster has gained perspective from
the tragic incident, and has used that as inspiration to play good
tennis. Play well she certainly did, and Alex left her opponent
absolutely baffled by the flashy shots she managed to come up with.
Having fared as well as she could against such firepower, Iroda
didn't let the 6-1 6-7(0) 7-5 loss ruin her birthday, and will hit
the town this evening with the Russian players for a rendezvous. With
Elena Dementieva crashing out in a disgraceful performance against
Conchita Martinez and Anastasia Myskina floundering on court against
Silvia Farina-Elia, they can certainly afford to stay out late
tonight.
Around tournament grounds, the crowds once again flocked to the
practice courts to catch a glimpse of Kournikova and mother in
practice with Martina Hingis and her mom. Melanie was well in
charge of the situation, while Alla was more behind the scenes,
pushing her daughter to work harder than she already was. In an
amusing situation, I was standing outside the entrance to the
player's lounge having a conversation with a young member of the
media with Spanish radio (let's call him Jose), when Martina Hingis
sauntered in our direction just after practice. Recognizing Jose from
the previous day, when he got some trivial quotes from the Swiss, she
had a slight change of expression, sort of an "oh no, not you again"
look.
Jose: (with a big smile on his face) Don't worry! I don't want an
interview with you.
MH: (expression of mock surprise) What! You don't want an interview
with me?!
Jose: No, of course not. You're not important for me. I'm here just
for the Spanish, the Chilean players...
MH: (quite amused by now) Me?! I'm not important to you?
Jose: No, no. I couldn't care less if you won the tournament.
MH: (big smile and giggling) Well, when I win the tournament and
there's a press conference and I see you there, I will just stop the
press conference and not continue until you leave.
Jose: Well, okay, but you're not going to win the tournament.
MH: (heading into the lounge with mother and Anna) Okay, we'll make
a bet!
Needless to say, the Swiss looks very relaxed despite all the
attention, and with the announcement that Lindsay Davenport has
pulled out of the Australian Open, she may have an opportunity to
start the year well.
The men's half of the tournament, or should I say the men's third ]
of the tournament, lost yet another name when Carlos Moya fell to
Hyung-Taik Lee in a lackluster performance. Despite losing the chance
to collect some points in this weak field, the Spaniard was his usual
cheery self, joking that the chicks in Australia have failed to
impress so far. Juan Ignacio Chela became the second seed to get
through, playing a clean game to win 6-0 7-6(2) against Alberto
Costa. The lanky Argentinian will meet another strong qualifier,
Wayne Ferreira, in the next round.
A couple other notes were Daniela Hantuchova, who blew a slight
lead in the first set to eventually win 4-6 6-4 6-4 against Magdalena
Maleeva. The physical exhaustion just got to Maggie at the end,
blowing her concentration out of the water, while Daniela not only
didn't have to struggle physically in the blistering heat, but looked
glowing and fresh as a daisy after playing a doubles match a little
later. Fans of the absolute gem of a person Magui Serna will be
surprised to see her lose 6-1 6-1 to Lisa Raymond, but the Spaniard
had trouble with a sore throat and flu-like symptoms. Luckily, I am
told that she is on the tail-end of the problem, and will hopefully
be feeling better in time for Melbourne.
In the night match, Andy Roddick and Andrew Ilie gave the crowd more
than their money's worth in a match that was both fast-paced and
entertaining. Despite falling just short, the adopted Aussie was in
high spirits up into his press conference, explaining that his
on-court antics are often mistaken as being pre-planned. Not looking
disappointed at all, Andrew got his satisfaction by pleasing the
crowd, and will look to do better in his next match instead of
dwelling on this one.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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