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| September 2, 2005 | Friday | Rajab 27, 1426 |
Nadal wins teen battle as top guns move ahead
NEW YORK, Sept 1: Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal withstood the determined challenge of a fellow teenager to keep his US Open bid intact on Wednesday. American 18-year-old Scoville Jenkins, ranked 350 places below Nadal and playing only his third Grand Slam match, forced the fist-pumping French Open champion to fight surprisingly hard for a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 second round victory.
The blustery remnants of Hurricane Katrina proved more troublesome than any on-court opponent for Maria Sharapova and the other title contenders.
Women’s top seed Sharapova, fourth seed Kim Clijsters and the Williams sisters Venus and Serena were all unruffled, sweeping into round three without the loss of a single set.
Men’s third seed Lleyton Hewitt hurried through to the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 victory over former French Open champion Albert Costa.
Gusts of up to 65 kph turned the ball sideways on occasions at Flushing Meadows but for 18-year-old Russian Sharapova, it was a cakewalk.
She adapted quickly to thrash Madagascan opponent Dally Randriantefy 6-1, 6-0.
The slender Russian has only dropped three games in her two matches so far.
Hewitt served superbly in his first match at the Open to outplay Spaniard Costa from start to finish on Arthur Ashe Court.
The Australian, who lost last year’s final to Roger Federer, wrapped up victory over the world number 104 in 80 minutes with a crunching backhand service return winner.
Following the late withdrawal through injury of Marat Safin and the exit of British 12th seed Tim Henman on Tuesday, Slovakian 15th seed Dominik Hrbaty is the highest seed left in Hewitt’s quarter of the draw.
The 2001 champion could, however, face top seed Federer in the semifinals.
Clijsters initially found the weather and Colombian opponent Fabiola Zuluaga more difficult to cope with before earning a 7-5, 6-0 second-round win.
The Belgian, who has six titles to her name this year but is still seeking her maiden Grand Slam title, threw away a 4-1 lead to trail 5-4 in the first set.
Clijsters recovered her rhythm to break to love at 5-5 and she romped through the second set.
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3 to move a step closer to a possible fourth round showdown with younger sister Serena, like her, a two-time former champion at Flushing Meadows.
Venus plays Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.
Eighth seed Serena, still feeling her way back after knee and ankle trouble, was not at her best but did not need to be to beat Colombia’s Catalina Castano 6-2, 6-2.
Russia’s Nadia Petrova, seeded nine, also eased through 6-2, 6-0 against Japan’s Aiko Nakamura.
In the men’s draw Australian Mark Philippoussis’s disappointing year continued in depressing fashion.
The 1998 US Open runner-up lost 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 to Slovakia’s Karol Kucera in the first round.
Russian Ekaterina Bychkova, who knocked out defending women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round, lost 7-5, 6-1 to Croatian qualifier Ivana Lisjak.
Wednesday’s results:
Men’s singles:
Second round: 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Scoville Jenkins (US) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
First round: 17-David Ferrer (Spain) bt Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1 6-1; Karol Kucera (Slovakia) bt Mark Philippoussis (Australia) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5; Jose Acasuso (Argentina) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11); Nicolas Almagro (Spain) bt Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-4; Michael Lammer (Switzerland) bt Kevin Kim (US) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; 15-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) bt Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2; 25-Taylor Dent (US) bt Lars Burgsmueller (Germany) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; 3-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Albert Costa (Spain) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.
Women’s singles:
Second round: 8-Serena Williams (US) bt Catalina Castano (Colombia) 6-2, 6-2; Laura Granville (US) bt Nicole Pratt (Australia) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; 25-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) bt Emma Laine (Finland) 6-2, 6-2; 20-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Maria Emilia Salerni (Argentina) 6-1, 6-0; 30-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Michaela Pastikova (Czech Republic) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; 10-Venus Williams (US) bt Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-1, 6-3; Shahar Peer (Israel) bt 33-Vera Douchevina (Russia) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Sania Mirza (India) bt Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4; Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) bt 18-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Dally Randriantefy (Madagascar) 6-1, 6-0; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) 7-5, 6-0; Marion Bartoli (France) bt Shenay Perry (US) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0; Ivana Lisjak (Croatia) bt Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) 7-5, 6-1; 26-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) bt Jie Zheng (China) 6-3, 6-0; 9-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-2, 6-0; Julia Schruff (Germany) bt Lisa Raymond (US) 6-2 6-3.—Reuters
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