MELBOURNE, Australia -- Anna Kournikova advanced to her
first Grand Slam quarterfinal since 1997 by beating Barbara Rittner
6-3, 6-1 Sunday at the Australian Open, but waiting there is the defending champion, Lindsay Davenport.
|  | | Lindsay Davenport, right, of the United States, defeated Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, on Sunday 6-4, 6-0. |
The eighth-seeded Kournikova will play Lindsay Davenport, who eliminated No. 15 Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-0.
Staving off elimination was Monica Seles, who said her bid for
a fifth Australian Open title was hanging by a thread on Sunday
despite ending the 13-match winning streak of rising Belgian
star Justine Henin with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Seles, who has now won 37 out of 38 singles matches at the
Australian Open, was facing defeat when her 18-year-old opponent
established a 6-4 4-2 advantage.
But Seles called on all her resources to break back and,
although Henin again took an early lead in the decider, Seles
hit back to triumph and set up a quarterfinal showdown
with U.S. compatriot Jennifer Capriati, who overcame an early 5-1 deficit to beat Marta Marrero 7-5, 6-1.
Kournikova trailed 2-3 in the first set, then held serve in a
24-point game and dominated after that. The showing is her best in
a major tournament since Wimbledon in 1997, when she reached the
semifinals as a 16-year-old.
Conditions were sunny but milder after two days of blistering
heat. Davenport, seeded second, lost just six points on her first
serve and faced only a single break point, which she won.
"My serve really helped me," she said. "That was really the
key. It's so important if you can hold your serve and be consistent
that way. That enabled me to be a little more free on my returns."
Davenport converted only one of 10 break-point chances in the
early going. But the 17-year-old Clijsters, seeded in a Grand Slam
tournament for the first time, became increasingly shaky in her
play and committed 35 unforced errors.
"She really made a lot of errors out there, which made it
easier for me," said Davenport, who closed out the victory in 56
minutes.
"I just played very badly today," Clijsters said. "I didn't
move good out there. I couldn't move my feet like I normally
move."
Among those in the center court crowd for the first match of the
morning was Clijster's boyfriend, Lleyton Hewitt. He had a short
night's sleep after losing to Carlos Moya the final match of the
third round, 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, which ended at 1:16 a.m.
Sunday.
Seles, who won the Australian Open title in 1991, 1992,
1993 and 1996, suffered from a virus in the build-up to the
first grand slam of the season.
It left her short of practice and she said: "I'm the sort of
player who needs to hit as many balls as possible before big
events.
"It just hasn't happened this time, and I am determined not
to let this sort of situation arise again.
"But my form is at a real low point. I haven't felt like
this about my game for 18 months.
"I'm just happy and relieved to get this far. There is a lot
more work to do in a short space of time to turn all this
around."
Seles was given a let-off by Henin, the junior French Open
champion of 1997.
With Henin serving for a 5-3 lead in the second set, she
failed to put away a high defensive lob from Seles. That allowed
Seles to break back and stay in the contest.
"I was a little fortunate, because I just didn't hit the
ball well all match," said Seles.
"It was do-or-die at one point and fortunately I was able to
turn it around. I made sure I didn't get down on myself.
"I was playing really consistently throughout last year and
I hope I can get that sort of form back pretty quickly."
Henin was disappointed not to extend her winning run.
But she said: "I have felt tired throughout this tournament,
and maybe I just couldn't maintain my form at the end. But a lot
has happened to me and I can take a lot of confidence from
this."
Seles paid tribute to Henin after she equalled her previous
best grand slam performance -- a fourth-round berth at the U.S.
Open last year.
"I practiced with Justine two years ago and you could see
she was going to be a great player then," said Seles.
"She has the game to be top-10 player for years to come."
Capriati, fired up by
her anger over a disputed call, recovered from 1-5 down in the
first set to beat Marrero.
Capriati, who made the semifinals in Melbourne
last year for her best grand slam performance in nine years,
came back from the brink to win 7-5, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
The 24-year-old American was unable to find her
rhythm against the 17-year-old Marrero as the Spaniard raced to
a 5-1 lead in the first set.
But with the Spaniard, ranked No. 72 in the world, serving for
the set for a second time at 5-3, Capriati found her competitive
fires fueled when a volley from Marrero was called good during
the opening point of the game.
An incensed Capriati lost the point and stormed up to
umpire Roland Herfel of Germany, protesting loudly and slamming
her racket into the net.
The outburst proved a blessing in disguise.
With Marrero two points from the set at 30-0, the world's 14th-ranked player suddenly opened the throttle. She won the next four
points to clinch the game.
Capriati's groundstrokes began to find their range, she took
the set and raced to a 4-0 lead in the second.
Capriati said the line call had been a turning point.
"I guess it was good actually because I think that just
really pumped me up and I used that energy to come back and
start playing really well," she said.
"Sometimes it can work against me if I totally lose my
concentration. But in this case I guess it worked for me. But I
don't think it was just that.
"I really got my game together and I just started playing
well, cutting down on the errors. It wasn't just the line call."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Australian Open results
No. 3 Sampras bounced out of Australia by Martin
Shriver: Fourth-round picks
Seles, Hingis win star-studded second-round doubles match
Hingis, Williams sisters quickly win at Aussie Open
Seles, Davenport, charge forward Down Under
Williams leads charge into women's third round
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Anna Kournikova defeats Barbara Rittner 6-3, 6-1.
avi: 1186 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
