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| January 4, 2002 | Friday | Shawwal 19, 1422 |
Belgians end French hopes
PERTH, Australia, Jan 3: Xavier Malisse fought back to beat Arnaud Clement 3-6 6-3 6-3 and seal fourth-seeded Belgium’s victory over France in the Hopman Cup Thursday.
Malisse’s win gave Belgium an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Group A match after Kim Clijsters had earlier swept aside Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-2 in less than an hour at the Western Australian Burswood Dome venue.
Although they can not now reach Saturday’s final, the French pair salvaged some pride with a 1-6 6-3 7-6 (10-6) victory in the mixed doubles to go down 2-1.
Clijsters’s polished performance was overshadowed by news that her boyfriend and world number one Australian Lleyton Hewitt had contracted chicken pox forcing him to withdraw from the mixed team event.
Belgium, Italy and the number one-seeded U.S. can all still finish top of that group.
Clearly unaffected by the virus which has struck Hewitt, Clijsters was back to her best after an uncharacteristic slip-up earlier in the week against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.
Motoring tirelessly around the indoor court at Burswood Dome, Clijsters ripped through the first set, pounding winners from the baseline past the lunging Frenchwoman.
The world number five refused to let up on Razzano in the second set and jumped into a 3-0 lead before the 72nd-ranked 18-year-old could get on the scoreboard.
Razzano could only win two games in the second set as Clijsters imposed her superiority.
Malisse, at 33 in the world, is ranked 16 places behind Australian Open runner-up Clement, but went into the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against the Frenchman.
Two of those victories were in three sets on an indoor court and the match followed that pattern once again, Malisse coming back from a set down to claim victory.
Results from the Hopman Cup mixed team tennis tournament Thursday:
Group B
Argentina lost to Switzerland 2-1 (Argentine names first) Paola Suarez beat Miroslava Vavrinec 6-2 3-6 6-2; Mariano Zabaleta lost to Roger Federer 6-2 6-3; * Zabaleta/Suarez lost to Federer/Vavrinec 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (10-4) super-tiebreak
Group A
4-Belgium beat France 2-1 (Belgian names first) Kim Clijsters beat Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-2 Xavier Malisse beat Arnaud Clement 3-6 6-3 6-3 Malisse/Clijsters lost to Clement/Razzano 1-6 6-3 7-6 (10-6) super-tiebreak
Exhibition match Alicia Molik (Australia) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 2-6 6-3 6-4
GOLD COAST: World number three Venus Williams faces a possible walkover in Friday’s Australian women’s hardcourt championships semifinals after a straight sets victory in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The American’s scheduled opponent, Russia’s world number 39 Nadia Petrova, overcame a shoulder injury to beat fifth-seeded Italian and world number 14 Silvia Farina-Elia 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in their quarter-final on Thursday.
Petrova battled on bravely after dropping the first three games of the second set and receiving court-side treatment on her injured right shoulder.
Top seed Williams fired off nine aces as she beat Japan’s eighth seed Ai Sugiyama 6-2 6-4.
Williams said she had room for improvement, pointing to her nine double faults. it is that bad.”
Seventh-seeded Czech Daja Bedanova beat Slovenia’s Tina Pisnik 6-1 3-0 after Pisnik retired with a thigh muscle strain.
Second seed and defending champion Belgian Justine Henin, the world number seven, overpowered German Anca Barna 6-2 6-1.
HONG KONG: World number two Jennifer Capriati blasted past rising Indonesian star Angelique Widjaja to take her place in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Ladies Challenge Thursday.
Capriati, the French and Australian Open champion, proved far too strong for the talented 17-year-old Widjaja, speeding to a 6-0, 6-1 win in just 34 minutes.
The American saved three break points in the opening game and that was as good as it got for Widjaja as Capriati blitzed the young Indonesian with a devastating display of power tennis to sweep through the opening set in just 15 minutes.
Widjaja, the 2001 junior Wimbledon champion, broke serve in the first game of the second set but she failed to bridge the gulf in power, and Capriati continued to dictate the rallies with thumping forehands and ended Widjaja’s misery with another booming service winner.
Results:
Jennifer Capriati (USA) bt Angelique Widjaja (Ina) 6-0, 6-1; Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Quarterfinals:
Silvija Talaja (Croatia) beat Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) 6-4 7-5; Anna Kournikova (Russia) beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) 2-6 6-4 7-5; Anna Smashnova (Israel) beat Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-2 6-2.
DOHA:
Quarterfinals: Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze x5) bt Fernando Vicente (Spa) 6-1, 6-1; Felix Mantilla (Spa x8) bt Radek Stepanek (Cze) 6-3, 6-3; Rainer Schuttler (Ger x7) bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus x1) 7-5, 6-4; Younes El Aynaoui (Mar x6) bt Jiri Novak (Cze x 4) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4—Reuters
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