Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Hewitt misses perfect score by one game

Associated Press

MELBOURNE - Australia Lleyton Hewitt has won two tournaments and 12 matches in a row. In his latest feat, the Australian teen-ager came within one game of a triple bagel in a Grand Slam tennis tournament.

Hewitt led 6-0, 6-0, 4-0 before Spain's Alex Corretja, ranked as high as No. 2 last year, put together enough good shots to win one game today in their second-round match at the Australian Open.

Only five triple bagels have been recorded at Grand Slams in the 32-year-old open era, and none at the Australian Open. The most recent came when Sergi Bruguera shut out Thierry Champion at the 1993 French Open.

The 18-year-old Hewitt has given local fans hope that either he or 16th-seeded Mark Philippoussis can become the first Australian man to win the nation's major tournament since Mark Edmondson did it in 1976.

He also has been a bright spot in a tournament where nine of the 16 seeded men and three of the 1999 Australian's final four were gone before the third round. Five of the seeded women also have lost.

''If I had known, maybe I would have loved to be in the history,'' Corretja joked about his brush with being the first triple-bagel loser in tournament history.

''When you are playing the worst match of your life, it's better to laugh,'' said the 1998 French Open runner-up, who ended last year ranked 26th, four spots behind Hewitt.

At the same time, he said, ''it is clear Hewitt is playing great, he is motivated. ... Especially in this part of the draw I think he has a good chance to go far.''

No. 7 Nicolas Lapentti and No. 10 Tommy Haas, both semifinalists here last year, became the latest seeds to lose in Hewitt's half of the draw.

Lapentti, fighting a cold and feeling sluggish on the fast courts, quit with France's Arnaud Clement leading 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 4-1. Haas, complaining of a rib injury, lost 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui.

But defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, seeded second, fought off three break points in the seventh game and won 13 games in a row on his way to a 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Czech player Daniel Vacek.

No. 1 Andre Agassi and No. 3 Pete Sampras are in the other half.

''I know Kafelnikov is lurking around,'' said Hewitt, who added that he is not looking past his next opponent, 98th-ranked Adrian Voinea of Romania. Hewitt beat Kafelnikov in a Davis Cup meeting last September.

Still, Hewitt said, ''it's hard to be feeling any better or any more self-confident out there on the court.''

At the end today, he told Corretja, ''Bad luck, mate.''

''I wouldn't like to be in that situation. I think anyone could imagine on center court against a guy playing in front of a home crowd, it's probably a little embarrassing,'' Hewitt said later.

In his tournament victories earlier this year, Hewitt beat 1999 Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist in the Adelaide final and defeated Corretja 6-4, 6-4 in the Sydney semifinal.

Also advancing to the third round were No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer, a 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-2 winner over fellow German Tomas Behrend, and No. 12 Magnus Norman, who beat Italy's Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

In women's matches, three-time champion Martina Hingis beat 17-year-old Belgian Justine Henin 6-3, 6-3 in a one-hour match. Henin showed promise, however, when she won three straight games after falling behind 4-0 in the second set. She won one long, sizzling rally with a forehand crosscourt past the top seed.

U.S. Open champion Serena Williams suddenly shook off her early sloppiness and beat Australian Nicole Pratt 7-5, 6-1.

''I'm definitely getting my timing back,'' Williams said. ''I finally played a decent match in the second set. If I want to stay for the whole fortnight, I'm definitely going to have to improve my game, and I know I can.''

In a narrow first-round escape and in today's first set, the third-seeded Williams showed the effects of arriving in Melbourne just a few days before the tournament and not playing a match since Oct. 4.

But in the second set, she cut her unforced errors to 10 from 32 in the first set and began pouncing on short shots and going for the lines.

The fifth seeded woman to lose was No. 8 Amanda Coetzer, who fell 6-1, 6-3 to Kristina Brandi, an American ranked No. 54.

No. 6 Barbara Schett advanced to the third round by beating Switzerland's Miroslava Vavrinec 6-4, 6-4; No. 10 Conchita Martinez defeated Olga Barabanschikova of Belarus 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; No. 12 Sandrine Testud beat Mexico's Angelica Gavaldon 6-1, 6-2; No. 13 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario overcame American Lisa Raymond 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; and No. 16 Elena Likhovtseva defeated American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 7-5.