Sunday, Jun 01, 2003
Sunday, Jun 01, 2003 |
| Sport | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Tennis
American Jennifer Capriati serves during her match against Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine in the third round of the French Open in Paris on Saturday.
On another warm, humid day in Paris, No. 2-seeded Clijsters beat Argentina's Paola Suarez 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour. Suarez, seeded 30th, had six double faults and 45 unforced errors. No. 3 Venus Williams had six aces and beat No. 26 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes. No. 6 Lindsay Davenport also advanced, defeating No. 25 Nathalie Dechy of France 6-3, 7-5, while No. 7 Jennifer Capriati took advantage of a shaky showing by Ukrainian qualifier Julia Vakulenko to win 6-1, 6-2. Venus lost a set in the second round, but Clijsters and Capriati have each dropped only nine games in three matches. Those advancing on Saturday are hoping to end the reign of defending champion Serena Williams, who beat Barbara Schett 6-0, 6-0 on Friday. Capriati said she wasn't fazed by that lopsided score. ``I don't think anyone cares about those results,'' she said. ``I just think people care about who's the winner of the tournament.'' Capriati lost the first game and then won eight in a row. Vakulenko, playing in her first Grand Slam event, double-faulted nine times, committed 40 unforced errors and lost in 57 minutes. ``It didn't seem like I hit a ball the whole match,'' Capriati said. ``Sometimes that easy is difficult, because you have to work so hard on your concentration.'' Capriati improved to 15-1 at Roland Garros since 2001, when she won the French title Davenport, bidding for her fourth Grand Slam championship and her first since 2000, said her title chances are slim compared with the Williams sisters and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo. ``I consider myself for sure an outsider,'' Davenport said. ``Those girls are much better than me on clay and move better and hit the ball better. It's not my favourite surface. I just come out here and do the best I can, and I'm happy to be in the round of 16.'' Davenport will next play No. 24 Conchita Martinez, who swept Tina Pisnik 6-3, 6-3. That put the Spaniard in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the 14th time, but the first time since 2000. No. 22 Vera Zvonareva eliminated Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-3, 6-4. The tournament is the first for Williams since an abdominal strain forced her to stop playing during a final May 4 in Warsaw, Poland. ``I'm doing OK,'' Williams said. ``I'm really icing a lot to prevent any huge flare-ups. Each day I'm able to serve more in practice and hit more overheads and be more ambitious, so it's nice.'' Davenport needed to have a toe on her left foot treated by a trainer midway through the second set. ``It's a problem I've had for like the last month,'' Davenport said. ``I just have this nerve in my foot that's very irritated. It's day to day. I never know when it comes up. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.'' In men's play, No. 32 Arnaud Clement won an all-French showdown on centre court, beating qualifier Nicolas Coutelot 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. ``It wasn't a great match, a tight match that the fans would have liked to have seen,'' Coutelot said. With temperatures near 30 degrees Celsius (in the low 80s), No. 12 Sjeng Schalken quit trailing No. 19 Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (4), 6-3, 3-1. Schalken said he has been bothered by a virus. ``Every time I had to run to one side, my heartbeat was 200, and that's not good,'' he said.
Bhupathi-Mirnyi in round three
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus moved into the third round of the men's doubles event with a straight sets victory against the French pair of Thierry Asciione and Julien Varlet in Paris today. The second seeded Bhupathi and Mirnyi won their second round match 6-3 6-4. They will take on the 14th seeds Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl of the Czech Republic in the next round.
Paes-Navratilova advance
On Friday Martina Navratilova teamed up with Leander Paes to beat Patricia Wartusch and Joshua Eagle in the first round, 6-1, 6-3. The results: Women: singles: third round: 7-Jennifer Capriati (U.S.) bt Julia Vakulenko (Ukr) 6-1, 6-2; Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Marissa Irvin (U.S.) 6-1, 6-1; 2-Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt 30-Paola Suarez (Arg) 6-2, 6-1; 22-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Esp) 6-3, 6-4; 3-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt 26-Silvia Farina Elia (Ita) 6-1, 6-2; 24-Conchita Martinez (Esp) bt Tina Pisnik (Slv) 6-3, 6-3; 6-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) bt 25-Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-3 7-5. Men: singles: third round: 19-Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt 12-Sjeng Schalken (Ned) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 3-1 (retd); Arnaud Clement (32), France, def. Nicolas Coutelot, France, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Friday's results: Men: singles (third round): 2-Andre Agassi (U.S.) bt 26-Xavier Malisse (Bel) 6-4, 7-5, 7-5; Flavio Saretta (Bra) bt Galo Blanco (Eso) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 2-2 retd. 13-Jiri Novak (Cze) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; 4-Carlos Moya (Esp) bt 31-Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3. Women: singles (third round): Petra Mandula (Hun) bt Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-2, 6-4; 8-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) bt 31-Laura Granville (U.S.) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; Magui Serna (Esp) bt Ashley Harkleroad (U.S.) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; 15-Magdalena Maleeva (Bul) bt Rita Grande 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
