MELBOURNE, Australia -- For once Anna Kournikova has
been upstaged in the fashion stakes, but the 'upsets' did not
follow her onto the court at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
|  | | Anna Kornikova of Russia celebrates her win over Hungary's Rita Kuta Kis in their women's singles match on Wednesday. |
The glamour girl of women's tennis eased into the third
round of the season-opening Grand Slam with a 6-3 6-4 win over
Hungarian Rita Kuti Kis.
The eighth seed, wearing black shorts and matching gold
T-shirt and shoes, came back from a break down in each set.
She collected the last five games after trailing 4-1 in the
second set and now faces doubles partner Barbara Schett after
the Austrian beat Maria Alejandro Vento of Venezuela.
Against Kuti Kis, a tour battler ranked 56 in the world,
Kournikova was troubled by the number of mistakes that flowed
from her racket early in the second set.
"I started to make too many mistakes and got frustrated a
bit in the first game," she said.
"I was still confident. I knew if I continued to play the
way I did in the first set I would win."
Kournikova's standing as the fashion queen of the tennis
circuit is as well known as her failure to win a professional
singles title.
Though her ability is unquestioned, Kournikova's poster-girl
standing has swelled her bank account and earned her more
headlines than her tennis triumphs.
But at this Australian Open she has had to play second
fiddle to Wimbledon and U.S Open champion Venus Williams, who
has created headlines with a revealing new outfit, a
blue-and-black, combination bra and low-cut top.
Kournikova preferred to keep her mind on tennis and became
tetchy when questioned on what she needed to do to beat the big
guns consistently and break through for her first title.
"Well, I don't necessarily understand what that means," she
said of the question. "I think I'm playing really well right
now.
"I think I'm continuing to play well from last year, the end
of last year."
Kournikova and Schett are scheduled to play a doubles match
on Thursday against American Dawn Beth and Tina Hergold of
Slovakia before doing battle the following day.
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