Neowin Australian Open Discussions

[Wannes]

It always happens so why not this time? Read below.

The bottom section of the top half of the women's draw at Australian Open 2004 has opened up early on Day One with the defeat of Russian seeds Elena Dementieva (No.7) and Nadia Petrova (No.10) in straight sets.

With Russia having eight of the 32 women's seeds at Melbourne Park, two other Russian women - No.11 seed Vera Zvonareva and No.30 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova - have progressed to the second-round after straight sets victories.

Dementieva, 22, who reached the fourth-round at both Wimbledon and the US Open last year, crashed out to 18-year-old Jelena Jankovic 6-1 6-4 on Vodafone Arena.

Jankovic, from Serbia and Montenegro and currently ranked No.79, won the junior title at Melbourne Park in 2001 and reached the second round after qualifying for last year's main draw, her only previous Grand Slam appearance.

Petrova, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, went down to Hungarian world No.80 Aniko Kapros 6-3 6-3 on Show Court Three.

In other results, No.31 seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand was defeated by American Laura Granville 6-1 6-3.

:no:

[BroChaos Veteran]

schuttler is out on the mens side, and moya pulled out. watching andy play fernandez right now, go andy :)

[Wannes]

Just read that. :)

[Wannes]

What a start! I cannot believe this! Sheutler is gone aswell. Aggasi made it through. :rolleyes:

Rainer Schuettler, a finalist at Melbourne Park in 2003 has been eliminated on the opening day of Australian Open 2004, losing a five-set tussle to Swedish teenager Robin Soderling on Rod Laver Arena.

Schuettler, aged 27 and the No.6 seed, won the first two sets 6-4 6-4, but the Swede fought back strongly to take the next three sets 7-5 6-3 6-4.

Men's No.1 seed Andy Roddick avoided such troubles against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, the 21-year-old prevailing 6-2 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in just over two hours.

Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten also progressed to the second-round after a tough five-set battle with Dutchman John van Lottum on Vodafone Arena.

Kuerten, the No.19 seed, who has not advanced beyond the second-round in seven previous attempts at Melbourne Park, secured the victory with an 8-6 final set.

No.4 seed Andre Agassi started his title defence in routine fashion with a 6-1 6-3 6-4 win over Australian wildcard Todd Larkham. The match took one hour and 39 minutes and thankfully for Larkham, he was much more competitive in the prime-time clash than he was last year when he won just two games against Lleyton Hewitt.

Agassi has now won 22 straight matches at Melbourne Park.

Spanish No.7 seed Carlos Moya was forced to pull out of the tournament on the eve of his first-round match against American James Blake after failing to recover from an ankle injury suffered in the final of the adidas International against Lleyton Hewitt in Sydney on Saturday.

Moya was replaced in the draw by Peruvian Ivan Miranda, but his Australian Open only lasted three sets. Blake prevailed 6-1 6-4 6-4 and now faces Nicolas Lapentti, of Ecuador, in the second-round after Lapentti defeated Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-1 6-3 6-1.

Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui, who entered the tournament with a heel injury, was also forced to withdraw after being down 4-1 to Spaniard Galo Blanco on Show Court Two.

Frenchman Arnaud Clement had the unhappy distinction of being the first men's seed to be knocked out of the tournament, the No.30 beaten in five sets by Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who came from two sets down to win 6-7 (6-8) 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-2.

Davydenko's next opponent will be another Frenchman, qualifier Olivier Patience, who recorded his first Grand Slam match win, also coming from two sets down to overcome Russian Igor Andreev 4-6 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-2.

Other seeds to be eliminated included No.21 Mardy Fish, who went out to big Croatian Ivo Karlovic - the player who defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the first-round at Wimbledon last year - 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).

No.29 seed American Vincent Spadea lost to 1999 Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist in four sets and No.20 seed Spaniard Tommy Robredo went down to Argentine Gaston Gaudio.

But other winners included No.9 seed Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, who enjoyed a comfortable straight sets victory over dangerous Russian Mikhail Youzhny, 6-1 6-4 7-5, on Margaret Court Arena.

Dutchman No.16 seed Sjeng Schalken defeated Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen in straight sets.

2002 runner-up Marat Safin, on the comeback trail from an injury lay-off, overcame American Brian Vahaly 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the night match on Margaret Court Arena.

Despite his ranking currently standing at No.86, after his 2003 season was plagued by a wrist injury, Safin stated after his round-one victory that his aim was to be No.1 by the end of 2004.

Young Australian Chris Guccione will face No.32 seed Robby Ginepri of the United States in the second-round of Australian Open 2004.

Both had straight-sets wins early on the first day of the tournament.

The big-serving 18-year-old from Melbourne was the first man through after accounting for countryman and fellow wildcard Alun Jones 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

Ginepri joined him as a first-round winner soon after with a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory over Luis Horna of Peru.

Another second-round match-up decided early will see Frenchman Jerome Golmard facing No.13 seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.

Srichaphan downed Argentine Jose Acasuso 7-5 6-4 6-0 while Golmard had a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1 win over Spaniard Albert Portas.

American Taylor Dent, the No.27 seed, will meet Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, after Dent's opponent, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, withdrew during their match.

Source: Official Australian open site

:rofl:

[Keldyn]

[Threads Merged]

Keep the discussion to one thread thanks.

[Wannes]

Sorry Keldyn, I thought I could post another thread as it's about another match. My apologies.

[Keldyn]

So you were planning to create a new thread for each match? :blink:

[OrangeSoul]

her name sounds like Dementia

[BroChaos Veteran]

yeah, we should keep it all to one thread. it'll be easier that way.

edit

i'm also kind of scared of reading this thread, cuz i don't know how it is for you guys, but a lot of the stuff is time delayed for us americans, and i hate when i accidentally read a score before the match is televised.

[trikster]

Wow...didn't hear about Moya or Dementieva. Those are big losses.

I'm looking forward to a Roddick-Dent match in 2 rounds, seeing as both men defeat their opponents in their next matches. The world's fastest serve versus the world's third-fastest serve...should be EXCITING! :woot:

[Wannes]

So you were planning to create a new thread for each match? :blink:

Not exactly, I would just put the important topics on here and the big upsets. Indeed this way is better. ;)

Maybe you could rename this topic to "Neowin Australian Open Discussions"?

More news:

Big shots go through!

No.10 seed Australian Mark Philippoussis has survived a tough first-round clash against the dangerous unseeded Swede Thomas Johansson, on a day marked by the departure of six men's seeds at the first hurdle of Australian Open 2004.

The big-serving Australian was forced to two tie-breaks in his straight sets victory over Johansson - the 2002 champion returning to the circuit after a lengthy absence due to a knee injury.

Philippoussis gave his home-town fans something to savor with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory that sets up a second-round clash with Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

"I love stepping out on this court," the Australian said about the atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena for night sessions.

Along with Philippoussis, compatriot Lleyton Hewitt, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero posted impressive first-round wins on Day Two at Melbourne Park.

No.2 seed Federer was largely untroubled, smashing 42 winners during his routine 6-3 6-4 6-0 victory over American qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jnr., who managed just nine.

The 22-year-old did not concede his opponent a break point opportunity during his 89 minutes on court and next faces another qualifier from the United States in Jeff Morrison.

Local hero Hewitt's progression was far less routine with his opponent, American Cecil Mamiit, suffering an ankle injury and unable to continue.

The No.15 seed won the first two sets 6-2 6-4, with Mamiit rolling his right ankle after crashing into the umpire's chair on set point in the second.

After a long injury time-out, Mamiit came out won the opening game of the third set on serve but had to withdraw.

The second set was locked at 4-all when the Australian upped the tempo, breaking Mamiit to love and serving it out.

"Your first match in your home Grand Slam is always tough. To come through, not waste too much energy and be through to the next round, that's nice," Hewitt told reporters after the match.

The Australian will play Karol Kucera in the next round after the Slovakian proved too strong for Belgian Xavier Malisse, winning 6-2 6-3 6-4.

It is the third time the pair will meet this year, having faced off at the Hopman Cup in Perth and Sydney's adidas International.

Ferrero lost only two games in a comprehensive defeat of fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes, taking only 66 minutes to get the job done.

The No.3 seed takes on Filippo Volandri of Italy in the second-round.

Among the other seeds, David Nalbandian (No.8) lost only seven games in a three-set win over Ricardo Mello; No. 26 seed Spaniard Albert Costa downed Briton Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-3 6-4 and No.14 seed Jiri Novak, who beat Olivier Rochus 6-3 6-3 7-5.

Rusedski revealed after his match he has been struck down with fever and gastroenteritis since Saturday and restricted to only 30 minutes of practice.

Other seeds to advance included South African veteran Wayne Ferreira (No.31) and Argentine Agustin Calleri, seeded at No.22.

Of the seeds to fall, Frenchman Cyril Saulnier claimed the biggest scalp of the day, eliminating No.5 seed Guillermo Coria 7-6 6-2 6-4; Sargis Sargsian ended popular Swede and No.25 seed Jonas Bjorkman's 2004 tournament with a 6-2 6-3 6-1 result and No.23 Felix Mantilla, who lost 7-5 6-1 7-6 (7-3) to Frenchman Thierry Ascione

Dutchman and No. 17 seed Martin Verkerk, Max Mirnyi (No. 24) and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who was seeded No.28, all suffered first-round defeats.

Australians to progress included Todd Reid and Wayne Arthurs.

Reid advanced to the second-round of with a straight-sets 6-3 6-2 6-3 victory over Uzbekistan's Vadim Kutsenko.

The No.148-ranked Australian, who received a wildcard into the main draw, coped best in the hot and windy conditions, breaking his opponent's serve on six occasions and committing only 17 unforced errors compared to Kutsenko's 38.

Arthurs was ahead by two sets and had two break-point opportunities at four-all in the third against qualifier Roko Karanusic, but was unable to convert and dropped the next two sets in tie-breaks. But the 32-year-old hung tough, prevailing 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-2 in a match lasting more than three hours.

[BroChaos Veteran]

man, it sucks that mammit got hurt. i was hoping he could come back and beat lleyton. lleyton wasn't on top of his game. i remember when mammit touched my hat for good luck when he was playing in the boys nationals. i was the ballrunner :p

[wildliquid]

Phillipousis played rather well to beat Johanson.. i think he can get better throughout the tourny though

[Wannes]

man, it sucks that mammit got hurt. i was hoping he could come back and beat lleyton. lleyton wasn't on top of his game. i remember when mammit touched my hat for good luck when he was playing in the boys nationals. i was the ballrunner :p

Were you really? Very nice. Did you enjoy it?

[Wannes]

Wow!!! :laugh:

Bye bye Venus!

American No.25 seed Lisa Raymond has knocked last year's runner-up, No.3 seed Venus Williams, out of Australian Open 2004 with a straight-sets third-round win.

It is only the fourth time in her career that the elder Williams sister has failed to make at least the fourth-round of a Grand Slam and the first time since the 2001 French Open.

She has not played a full WTA tournament since losing last year's Wimbledon final to her sister, Serena, after which she was sidelined with an abdominal injury.

The 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win was Raymond's first over Williams in four attempts. Her fourth-round opponent will be French teenager Tatiana Golovin.

[Keldyn]

Did anyone see Leyton Hewitt play the spaniard, Raphael Nadal? What a game! He may be only 17 but he proved to be one hell of a challenge for the aussie. It was toe to toe until the last set with Leyton winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-2. (Y)

[yanman]

I missed that, I heard from a friend that it was good match. But for some reason, I get the feeling that Andre Agassi is going to win this year?

[Keldyn]

Yeah. It would not surprise me. At 33 years of age, he is playing some phenomenal tennis.

[Wannes]

Did anyone see Leyton Hewitt play the spaniard, Raphael Nadal? What a game! He may be only 17 but he proved to be one hell of a challenge for the aussie. It was toe to toe until the last set with Leyton winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-2. (Y)

Saw that one. Great game. Unbelievable!! :D

[yanman]

Yeah. It would not surprise me. At 33 years of age, he is playing some phenomenal tennis.

Also, it's probably just me, but since the Open started, I realise he is all relaxed and always smiling. So he is very confident and confidence is one of the keys to success.

I've seen him play in the past, and dare I say, some matches with Pete Sampras, he sucked, but most of the matches with Pete Sampras was unbelievable. But I've never seen him smile and signs of confidence like this Open.

[Wannes]

Indeed, this open is a crazy open and you see a lot of things happen. Some good some bad. :)

[yanman]

Very unpredicatable, yet predictable somehow? ROFL

[Dallas]

been watching the Agassi vs Srichaphan game and it looked good till i the remote got took over by dad

[futb0l]

Mauresmo edges Molik

Amelie Mauresmo, the No.4 seed at Australian Open 2004, has become the first player through to the quarter-finals after a hard-fought 7-5 7-5 win over Australian Alicia Molik.

i thought molik could have won

[Wannes]

Agassi won, but Shrich was injured.