MELBOURNE, Australia - Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova and Justine
Henin-Hardenne all moved into the round of 16 while Serena Williams fell
victim to Daniela Hantuchova, as the top half of the women's singles draw
contested third round action on Friday afternoon at the 2006 Australian Open.
Davenport, ranked and seeded No.1, dropped the middle set to No.25 seed Maria
Kirilenko but was able to regroup in the third, posting a 64 46 62 victory
over the Russian teenager in two hours, 19 minutes. After capturing the first
set, thinks looked headed for a tight finish to the second set with Davenport
serving 4-5, but Kirilenko broke open the match with some gutsy aggressive play,
forcing consecutive errors with some penetrating groundstrokes to win that
10th game and push the match to a third. The 29-year-old American regained
control after a 10-minute heat rule break, however. She quickly raced out to
a 2-0 lead, at which point her opponent took a medical timeout for a blister on
her left big toe, and then cruised the rest of the way en route to her 12th
consecutive round of 16 berth at the Australian Open.
"It was really an up and down performance by me," said Davenport, who was
playing Kirilenko for the first time. "I was making a lot of errors but I was
doing well to control the points in the first set. Then in the second set I
kind of fell apart with making way too many errors. She was doing a good job
of keeping a lot of balls in. In the third set I started playing aggressive but
with better margins and a little bit more contained. I'm happy I ended the
match on a positive note."
Next up for Davenport will be No.14 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who breezed
past aggressive Italian player Mara Santangelo 63 61 in 56 minutes. After
recording a phenomenal season in 2004, capturing the US Open title and reaching
the world's Top 5, Kuznetsova suffered a sophomore slump in 2005, reaching just
one Tour singles final and at one point nearly dropping out of the Top 20.
However, the 20-year-old Russian has kicked off her 2006 season in fine form,
reaching her first Tour singles semifinal in six months just last week in
Sydney, and winning three consecutive matches here in Melbourne. Kuznetsova's
numbers against Santangelo were more than impressive, finishing with 34 winners
(including 10 aces) and only 10 unforced errors, and a 64% first serve
percentage.
"Great, great player," said Davenport, who has won two of three career
encounters with the Russian. "Obviously had such a great year in 2004. Not a
fantastic year last year. But she has the ability to be very dangerous. She's
got a big forehand and a big serve. Again, I'm going to have to try and get a
little better. But it's gonna be a tough, grueling match, that's for sure."
Sharapova, ranked and seeded No.4, was also in impressive form on Friday,
routing Croatia's Jelena Kostanic 60 61 in one hour, eight minutes. The Russian
teenager completely dominated play from all areas, finishing with five more
winners than unforced errors and winning nearly twice as many points as her
overmatched opponent.
"I think it took a little while to get used to the conditions, but other than
that, it felt pretty good," said Sharapova, who moves into the round of 16 for
the second straight year in Melbourne. "[Kostanic] is a lefty, she's a very
tricky player. You just have to be very patient. It was the first day that was
really hot out there today, so I just had to be extra patient. I knew that she
wouldn't just give up the match, that I had to work for it. I was happy that
I fought till the end."
Next up for Sharapova will be No.17 seed Hantuchova, a 61 76(5) victor over
No.13 seed and defending Australian Open champion Williams. Hantuchova took
it to Williams in the first set, dictating play with sharp, penetrating
groundstrokes, as the former world No.1 showed some signs of aggravation at the
Slovak's at-times lengthy pauses between points. Williams kicked off the
second set in impressive form, breaking serve in the fifth game en route to a
4-2 lead, but Hantuchova broke back, and with Williams serving 5-6 found
herself at triple match point. The seven-time Grand Slam champion fought hard,
erasing the first with a swinging forehand volley winner, the second with an
error-forcing backhand that clipped the back of the baseline, and the third
with a big ace. The two went to a tie-break, where both seemed to hit their
stride, but it was Hantuchova who built a 6-4 lead, and after squandering one
more match point she finally converted on her fifth with a huge serve down the
middle that forced a wide return from Williams. It was the first time in four
career meetings that Hantuchova had even won a set against the American.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2004 Australian Open champion and No.8 seed this year,
struggled early on but after finding her form was in complete control of a 64 61
victory over talented Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano. Razzano was quick out of
the blocks, holding twice and then breaking serve for a 3-1 lead, but the
early scare seemed to inspire Henin-Hardenne into action, as the four-time
Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 dropped just two more games en route
to the one-hour, 22-minute win.
"I was a little bit scared about this match because I know she can be a
dangerous player if you let her play, if you give her a lot of rhythm," said
Henin-Hardenne, who will next face Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual, a 63 63
winner over American Laura Granville. "[Ruano Pascual] is a dangerous player.
She's very, very consistent. Once in a year she's playing very well in a
Grand Slam usually. She has a game, very special game. She is playing a lot of
slices, and that doesn't give too much rhythm. A lot of topspin in her
forehand and a lot of slices on her backhand side. I'll have to be very focused,
very patient, and try to bend my game as I did today and better than I did my
last match."
The final fourth round match on the top half will be an all-Russian duel, as
No.6 seed Nadia Petrova faces unseeded 19-year-old Elena Vesnina. Petrova moved
through to her seventh consecutive Grand Slam round of 16 with an easy 61 62
victory over Italy's Maria Elena Camerin, while Vesnina continued to impress
in her Grand Slam debut, taking out Ukrainian qualifier Olga Savchuk 57 62 64.
The two compatriots will be playing each other for the first time.
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