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| January 17, 2003 | Friday | Ziqa'ad 13, 1423 |
Clijsters, Hewitt turn ruthless
MELBOURNE, Jan 16: Kim Clijsters dropped the smiles and the giggles for just 33 devastating minutes on Thursday but it was long enough to thrash Petra Mandula 6-0, 6-0 and reach the third round of the Australian Open.
Her boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, in turn, left his fist-pumping in the locker room to thunder past qualifier Todd Larkham, a qualifier ranked 234 places below the world number one.
The Australian top seed’s 74-minute 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 victory was revenge for the last time the pair met.
In 1996 Larkham soundly beat a 15-year-old Hewitt at a small event in a Melbourne suburb. Seven years on Hewitt showed the qualifier no mercy at all, allowing 28-year-old Larkham just 30 points in the entire match.
The ruthless manner of his victory was matched only by that of Clijsters’s whitewashing of Hungary’s Mandula in the quickest contest of the week by far.
Mandula, a solid player who last year counted world number nine Jelena Dokic among her scalps, was simply overwhelmed by the intensity of the Belgian’s baseline aggression.
The one-sided thrashing also sent a clear message to world number one Serena Williams, still a little off her best, as she looks to bag the only grand slam not in her possession.
On Thursday, Williams put her nervy first-round three-set victory behind her to crush Els Callens of Belgium 6-4, 6-0.
But while Clijsters, one of the friendliest and most laid back players on the tour, was a picture of breezy confidence following her brief run-out, the American admitted to feeling the strain.
Marat Safin, last week’s shoulder injury a faint memory, bulldozed his way into the third round seeing off Spain’s Albert Montanes 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
But perennial Open under-performer Gustavo Kuerten, seeded 30, was beaten. The former world number one from Brazil went down 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to Czech Radek Stepanek and has now failed to progress beyond the second round at Melbourne Park in seven visits.
Kuerten was joined on the sidelines by a hobbling Monica Seles. The American was knocked out of the Open by Czech qualifier Klara Koukalova after twisting her ankle at the start of their second-round match.
The former world number one crashed to a 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 defeat despite bravely playing on with a heavily strapped left ankle.
It was just the second time since Seles made her grand slam debut in 1989 that she failed to make it past the second round of one of the four majors.
Thursday’s second round results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles: 25-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Joseph Sirianni (Australia) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; 7-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) bt Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 4-6, 6-3; 6-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Lars Burgsmuller (Germany) 6-3, 6-0, 6-3; 9-Andy Roddick (US) bt Andre Voinea (Romania) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Fernando Vicente (Spain) 19-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; 3-Marat Safin (Russia) bt Albert Montanes (Spain) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt 30-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; 20-Xavier Malisse (Belgium) bt Anthony Dupuis (France) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; Alberto Martin (Spain) bt Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); 10-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Jaymon Crabb (Australia) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; 18-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) bt Vadim Kutsenko (Uzbekistan) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4; 23-James Blake (US) bt Jose Acasuso (Argentina) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Robby Ginepri (US) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; 31-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) bt Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Andreas Vinciguerra (Sweden) bt Julian Knowle (Austria) 6-2, 0-1 — retired.
Women’s singles: Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) bt 6-Monica Seles (US) 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-3; 8-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) 5-7, 6-2, 6-0; 19-Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) bt Jelena Jankovic (Yugoslavia) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; 10-Chanda Rubin (US) bt Mary Pierce (France) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2; 11-Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) bt Cho Yoon-jeong (South Korea) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; 18-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Amy Frazier (US) 6-1, 6-2; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Petra Mandula (Hungary) 6-0, 6-0; 14-Anna Pistolesi (Israel) bt Maja Matevzic (Slovenia) 5-1 — retired; 26-Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Alina Jidkova (Russia) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) bt Cristina Torrens Valero (Spain) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; 1-Serena Williams (US) bt Els Callens (Belgium) 6-4, 6-0; 25-Meghann Shaughnessy (US) bt Ludmila Cervanova (Slovakia) 6-1, 6-1; 28-Clarisa Fernandez (Argentina) bt Magui Serna (Spain) 6-3, 6-4; 16-Nathalie Dechy (France) bt Daja Bedanova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-3; 20-Elena Bovina (Russia) bt Rita Grande (Italy) 6-1, 6-2; Barbara Schwartz (Austria) bt Antonella Serra Zanetti (Italy) 6-1, 6-2.—Reuters
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