PERTH, Australia, 8 January 2004 — Lleyton Hewitt dug deep to lead Australia into the Hopman Cup final yesterday after his fiancée Kim Clijsters had earlier limped out of the tournament with an ankle injury.
Belgian world No. 2 Clijsters quit after hurting her left ankle while leading Hewitt’s Australian teammate Alicia Molik 6-3, 6-7, 3-2 in the opening singles. A scan revealed she had bruising on her ankle bone and she later withdrew from the tournament.
The injury casts a shadow over her hopes for the upcoming Australian Open with medical experts only prepared to say they were “cautiously optimistic” she would be fit in time for the Jan. 19 start of the grand slam.
Hewitt followed Clijsters onto court at the Burswood Dome and recovered from a loose first set to beat her Belgian teammate Xavier Malisse 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
In an ironic twist, Hewitt also needed treatment after turning his left ankle in the third set of his match, but after applying additional strapping he continued and completed the victory.
With Clijsters unable to take part in the eagerly-anticipated “love match” mixed doubles against her fiancé, Australia were handed a 3-0 victory.
In the first match of the evening session, Lindsay Davenport belied her claims of being “underdone” entering the season when she beat world number four Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4.
James Blake then gave his side an unbeatable 2-0 lead when he sailed past Fabrice Santoro 6-3 6-4 before the American team clinched the mixed doubles 7-5 6-1 for a clean sweep.
Ferreira Leads Exodus of
Seeds in Adelaide
In Melbourne, top seed Wayne Ferreira was knocked out of the first round of the Australian men’s hardcourt championship yesterday, thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by local teenager Todd Reid.
Fourth seeded American Robby Ginepri was another first-round casualty, going down 6-3, 6-4 to Frenchman Cyril Saulnier.
Saulnier’s compatriot Arnaud Clement, seeded third, was another victim of the cull when he was clattered 6-4, 6-3 by Sweden’s Thomas Johansson in one of the day’s second-round ties.
In another second-round match, eighth seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by France’s Michael Llodra, while only second seeded American Vincent Spadea bucked the underdog trend by overcoming Australian Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to reach the third round.
Rain No Problem as Bartoli
Makes Auckland Quarterfinals
Top seed Paola Suarez swept into the quarterfinals of the Auckland Classic women’s tennis tournament on a rain-interrupted third day yesterday.
Not wishing to waste any time, the Argentinian raced to a straight two-set victory over Lindsay Lee-Waters of the United States 6-1, 6-3.
In contrast, it took 19-year-old Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli more than four hours to pull off a surprisingly comfortable win over Cara Black.
The first three and a half hours were spent waiting to get on court, but once the game began Bartoli quickly hit her stride and beat the 24-year-old Zimbabwean 6-1, 6-1.
In two other completed matches to determine the quarterfinalists, Kristina Brandi from Puerto Rico won a third set tiebreak 8-6 to beat Amy Frazier of the United States 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8 6), while in another three-setter Shenay Perry of the United States beat Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 2-6, 6-1.
