Russian top seed Maria Sharapova survived a massive scare in
sapping heat at the Australian Open yesterday as other top names
avoided the worst of the weather to make short work of their
opponents.
On a scorching Melbourne day with temperatures touching 40
Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), the women's top seed, who needed
treatment for cramps, squeezed past unseeded Frenchwoman Camille
Pin 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 in two hours 51 mins.
In contrast, fourth seed Kim Clijsters and sixth seed Martina
Hingis were back in the locker room in under an hour and barely
raised a sweat after the roofs were closed on the Rod Laver Arena
and Vodafone Arena.
Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt fought back from two sets down to
beat American Michael Russell 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 ,6-3, 6-3.
Roared on by the crowd, Hewitt, seeded 19th, started slowly
against the 28-year-old Russell, who raised his game to ease
through the first two sets of the late match on Rod Laver
Arena.
But former world number one Hewitt dug deep and found his range
as Russell, a qualifier for the tournament ranked 114th in the
world, flagged.
Hewitt began to produce his trademark raking groundstrokes to
move Russell relentlessly around the court and the former Wimbledon
and U.S. Open champion clinched victory just after 0100 am local
time on his first match point.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal also progressed, taming
big-serving Robert Kendrick of the United States, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3,
6-2.
But the day was a draining one for Sharapova.
Red-faced, dripping sweat and swearing at the umpire, she
stumbled through the second set before a new burst of energy
carried her 5-0 clear in the third.
Extreme heat
But she was clearly feeling the pace and started cramping,
dropping the next five games. The courageous Pin fought back to
serve for the match at 7-6 before Sharapova dug deep to snatch
victory.
"It was one of the toughest matches I've played here," said
Sharapova, adding that midway through the second set she started
getting "a pinch" in her stomach.
"It's definitely not my best tennis. I was so delusional I
couldn't think. I don't think our bodies were made to do that."
She will next play fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova.
The extreme heat policy came into effect midway through her
match. While play on outside courts is halted when the mercury hits
35 Celsius, games in the Rod Laver Arena and Vodafone have to
finish before the roofs can be closed.
Men's eighth seed David Nalbandian was playing on the Vodafone
at the time and branded conditions "terrible" and "disgusting"
after his distressed opponent Janko Tipsarevic withdrew.
Nadal had an easier ride against Kendrick.
"He gave me some problems early but once I settled down I came
back well," said the Spaniard, who missed last year's Open with a
left foot injury.
Clijsters said she was "in the zone" after crushing hapless
Russian Vasilisa Bardina 6-0, 6-0, confirming she is the player to
beat here.
"You know, I felt very in the zone today," warned Clijsters, who
won the Hong Kong Champions Challenge and Sydney International in
the lead-up to Melbourne.
The Belgian is retiring at the end of the season to spend more
time at home and said she had never felt better.
"I feel like I'm fit at the moment and I've done everything
possible to get my body as ready as possible to be able to last
seven matches if I have to."
Triple champion Hingis also showed awesome form, demolishing
Nathalie Dechy of France 6-0, 6-2.
Outside, police flooded the Australian Open grounds to prevent
further clashes between Serb and Croat fans who brawled on Monday,
kicking and punching each other before around 150 were ejected.
Spectators entering the venue had to pass through metal
detectors as security staff searched for weapons but no further
trouble was reported.
Other seeds through Tuesday included Serbian teen Ana Ivanovic,
fast emerging as a challenger to Sharapova in the tennis glamour
stakes, Indian megastar Sania Mirza and Russian 12th seed Anna
Chakvetadze.
(China Daily via AFP January 17, 2007)
