NEW YORK, 27 August 2003 — French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium advanced to the second round of the US Open with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Hungary’s Aniko Kapros here yesterday, as compatriot Kim Clijsters began justifying her status as the top player in women’s tennis and boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt began climbing back to the top with impressive first-round victories here Monday
The second seed Henin-Hardenne needed 88 minutes to subdue the determined 19-year-old, who was unable to stop Henin-Hardenne from dominating at the net. Henin-Hardenne, 21, has reached the fourth round here each of the past three years. She will next face Croatia’s Silvija Talaja, who defeated Madagascar’s Dally Randriantefy 6-3, 6-0.
Serbian star Jelena Dokic wants tennis fans who ogle Anna Kournikova to start loving the sport’s sex symbols for their skill with a racket as much as their looks. The 20-year-old blonde beauty from Belgrade beat Italy’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4, 6-2 here Monday to reach the second round at the US Open, then begged fans to look beyond such poor-playing cuties as Anna Kournikova.
“People should stop looking for a babe,” Dokic said. “They should look at tennis players first. There are plenty of good looking girls out here besides Anna. “Anna hasn’t played for a long time. Tennis is definitely looking for someone else and has a lot of better players, some of them good-looking girls. Everyone has definitely found some good looking girls out here other than her.”
In another encounter yesterday, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan struggled with congestion that hindered his breathing but the 11th seed rallied to defeat France’s Cyril Saulnier in a first-round match.
Paradorn beat 101st-ranked Saulnier 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7 4) and will try to advance past the second round here for the first time against a familiar foe, 53rd-ranked Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia. Hrbaty, who ousted American Justin Gimelstob, lost a five-set thriller to Paradorn in the first round at Wimbledon after winning in four sets in the first round of the French Open.
On Monday, the year’s final Grand Slam tournament began with early exits for Britain’s Greg Rusedski, eighth seed Chanda Rubin and ninth seed Sebastien Grosjean plus solid triumphs by French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero and Lindsay Davenport.
An emotional retirement ceremony for 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras stole some of the limelight, but intense matches and upsets served notice that a fortnight of suspense could be in store.
Top seed Clijsters beat American Amber Liu 6-2, 6-3. The Belgian star took the top ranking because 2002 US Open champion Serena Williams is out with a knee injury, becoming the first women’s No. 1 without a Grand Slam title.
“I think it would be better to win a Grand Slam than to be No. 1,” Ferrero said. “So maybe the ranking system, it’s a little bit of a mistake.”
Clijsters shrugs off such snubs while downplaying her favorite’s role. “It’s nice if you can have the respect, but that doesn’t mean because people think I’m No. 1 I will get there like nothing,” she said. “I still have to work hard and play my best tennis.”
Sixth seed Hewitt, the speedy Australian who won the 2001 title here and last year’s Wimbledon crown, needed just 91 minutes to open with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Romania’s 84th-ranked Victor Hanescu. “This was a good one to get under my belt.” Hewitt said. “I wanted to get off to a good start and put him under some pressure early. For me to take care of him that quickly, I was pretty pleased.”
Hewitt, top seeded at the past seven Slams, has fallen on hard times since becoming the first Open Era champion ousted in the first round at Wimbledon, falling to qualifier Ivo Karlovic in late June. He is only 32-11 in 2003.
“I feel like I’m hitting the ball a lot better in practice,” Hewitt said. “I just have to have that translate into matches. I’m trying to work on little areas of my game. It’s just trying to piece it all together for two weeks.”
Spanish third seed Ferrero bounced Czech Jan Vacek 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 while the man he beat in the Roland Garros final, Dutch 16th seed Martin Verkerk, won 7-6 (7 4), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (11 9), 1-0 when American Alex Bogomolov cramped and collapsed on the court.
“It was scary,” Verkerk said. “He was looking real bad.”
Rusedski, the 1997 runner-up here, lost to 100th-rated Gregory Carraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. The Frenchman fired 22 aces, the last on match point, to hand Rusedski’s his fastest exit here since 1996.
“I took the wrong approach,” Rusedski said. “I should have been more consistent.”
Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado ousted France’s Grosjean 6-4, 6-7 (3 7), 4-6, 7-6 (9 7), 6-4 after four hours and 13 minutes while Venezuela’s Maria Vento-Kabchi beat Rubin 6-4, 6-4. Grosjean squandered two match points in the fourth set and wasted 60 winners with 57 unforced errors. Delgado won despite just 43 winners and 64 unforced errors, thanks largely to a 68-percent success rate on his first serves. Grosjean, with a sore left elbow, hit only 46 percent.
“I’m really frustrated,” Grosjean said. “I was very bad with my first serve because of my elbow.”
Refusing to join the early exodus was third seed Davenport, who showed no sign of the severe nerve pain in her left foot in beating Belgium’s Els Callens 6-1, 6-0 in just 47 minutes. “It doesn’t feel 100 percent all the time,” Davenport said. “Hopefully it will stay subsided for the next two weeks.”
Davenport, the only past US Open women’s winner here, withdrew from a WTA final Saturday and took a cortizone injection to reduce the pain, although she was uncertain about her fitness.
French fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo took only 62 minutes to beat Indonesia’s Angelique Widjaja 6-0, 6-2. After missing four months with a sore right knee, Mauresmo pulled out of a WTA semifinal last week with food poisoning. “I’m still not 100 percent,” Mauresmo said. “I need some energy back.”
