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Sharapova survives surprising struggle

Maria Kirilenko of Russia returns to American Lisa Raymond during the US Open at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, Thursday. Raymond won the match 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to advance to the third round. PHOTO: AFP

Russia's Maria Sharapova hit her shots so sharply against Jelena Jankovic, many fans at Louis Armstrong Stadium left their seats early in hopes of finding a more competitive match.

They missed seeing things get interesting at the US Open.

After breezing through the first seven games Thursday, Sharapova started bumbling. Soon after that, despite winning a 27-stroke point in the tiebreaker, the Wimbledon champion found herself again in a decisive third set.

But then, a bad omen for Jankovic: For some reason, her name began flickering on the scoreboard lights.

And so did her hopes of an upset, especially when she needed treatment for a recurring left hip strain. Sharapova ramped up and claimed 15 straight points in winning 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

"I felt that I could hit any shot from anywhere on the court," the Russian teen said. "That's a good feeling to have when you're in the third set."

Most of the top players struggled a bit.

Venus Williams got off to a slow start before beating fellow American Shikha Uberoi 7-5, 6-1, and defending Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium defeated Israeli qualifier Tzipi Obziler 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Seventh seed Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates after defeating Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in New York, Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Andre Agassi took control after an early stagger and led 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 when Florian Mayer of Germany quit with a left hamstring injury.

Playing in his 19th straight Open, the 34-year-old Agassi outlasted his 20-year-old opponent.

"I just don't want to play old. That's what I'm concerned about out there," Agassi said. "I feel like if I can still play my tennis, then I'm proud of that."

The reigning French Open champions weren't so fortunate, as No. 4 Russian Anastasia Myskina and No. 9 Gaston Gaudio of Argentina both lost.

In perhaps the most entertaining match of the day -- and night -- Olympic double gold medalist Nicolas Massu of Chile lost to Armenia's Sargis Sargian 6-7 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. At five hours, 9 minutes, it was the second-longest match by time in Open history -- Stefan Edberg beat Michael Chang in a 1992 semifinal that lasted 17 minutes more.

Massu spiced up his match by cracking his racket on a fence and later slamming it on a fence. Chair umpire Carlos Ramos docked Massu a point for his first outburst and penalized him a game in the final set for the tantrum.

"I played for five hours, I fight a lot, and this guy comes here, gives me two or three warnings. I accept the first two warnings. If I have to pay something, I accept it. But the third is unbelievable," Massu said. "This guy's unbelievable. He's never going to umpire me again."

Williams' victory made for history. For the first time at the US Open, four black women advanced to the third round.

Williams joined her sister, Serena, along with Chanda Rubin and Angela Haynes in advancing.

"The best thing is that we're all American, and this tournament represents America," Venus said.

All four players will not reach the fourth round. Venus Williams and Rubin face each other in their next match.

On Friday, Haynes plays Italy's Francesca Schiavone while Serena Williams takes on Tatiana Golovin of France.

No. 3 Carlos Moya defeated US wild card Amer Delic lost to 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Thursday's final match. The second-seeded Roddick plays Spain's Rafael Nadal on Friday.

Agassi kept rolling, and left no doubt that he was far from done. After his win moved him closer toward a ninth Grand Slam championship, he asked whether he might be thinking about leaving tennis sometime soon.

"Well, let this be a signal: I'm not considering retiring at the end of this tournament," he said.

"Let that be a big flare," he added.

Lindsay Davenport had an easy time, beating Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-4, 6-2 to win her 19th straight match.

But Myskina lost to 17-year-old Russian qualifier Anna Chakvetadze 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Gaudio fell to 2002 Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Venus Williams' victory Thursday night made for history at the US Open. For the first time at the tournament, four black women advanced to the third round.

Williams joined her sister, Serena, along with Chanda Rubin and Angela Haynes in advancing.

"The best thing is that we're all American, and this tournament represents America," Venus said.

At 19, Haynes entered as a wild card. She grew up in Compton, California, as did the Williams sisters.

"They're doing a good job with the young players," Venus said.

All four players will not reach the fourth round. Venus Williams and Rubin face each other in their next match.

On Friday, Haynes plays Francesca Schiavone while Serena Williams takes on Tatiana Golovin.

soldiering on

With top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne on the other side of the net, serving for the match, Tzipi Obziler pulled a stunner at the US Open on Thursday. The 31-year-old qualifier, making her Open debut, broke the No. 1 player in the world and then did it again to steal a set.

Henin-Hardenne went on to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory in no ordinary match. But then, Obziler is not an ordinary player.

She was the only veteran of the Israeli Army in this tournament.

"I worked in the defense department," she said. "That's the department that deals with the Lebanon issues. It was a very, very, very good experience for me. I just say every day thanks that I've been in this kind of situation in the Army. It helps a lot."

And don't for a moment think Obziler was just pushing papers.

"I shoot a gun, everything," she said.

Against Henin-Hardenne, all that experience helped.

"You have a lot of responsibility," she said. "I mean you deal with things. I mean you go over material that not everybody can actually see or know. You have to deal with many things."

Which sounds like what Henin-Hardenne had to do in their second-round match at the Open.

"She played a great match," Henin-Hardenne said, "and probably I wasn't at my best level, that's for sure. But I need to accept that and just try to be better the next day."

golden swing

Latin America's four major men's tennis tournaments will combine their efforts, pooling television rights and other commercial aspects, to promote the "Golden Swing" -- or La Gira de Oro -- of the ATP schedule beginning next year. The clay-court events in Vina del Mar, Chile, Jan. 31-Feb. 6; Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 7-13; Costa do Suipe, Brazil, Feb. 14-20; and Acapulco, Mexico, Feb. 21-27 are hoping to attract a single sponsor for the segment of the ATP tour, which commences after the conclusion of the Australian Open in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

The combined marketing effort honors and draws its name from Latin American stars like Chile's Nicolas Massu, a double gold medalist at the Olympics, and Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, the French Open champion.

The tournaments have comprised a Latin American segment of the tour since 2001, but next year's effort will mark the first time they have worked together to promote it as a group.

TENNIS ON THE TUBE

The US Open Series was a television ratings winner for the USTA.

The Series, introduced this summer, comprised 10 North American hard-court events on the ATP and WTA tours. ESPN broadcast nine hours with a 75 percent increase in overall household viewership compared with the network's coverage of the same tournaments in 2003. ESPN2, which broadcast nearly 90 hours of the Series, had an increase of 43 percent in viewership.

The JP Morgan Chase Open final with Lindsay Davenport defeating Serena Williams, was watched in 608,000 homes, the largest tennis audience in ESPN2 history.

HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES

When she was growing up, Anna Chakvetadze played the piano. One day, her mother suggested tennis. Soon, Chakvetadze made a decision.

"OK, let's stop with piano," she told her mother. ``I want to play tennis.''

It was an easy decision, said the 17-year-old, who defeated French Open champion Anastasia Myskina at the US Open on Thursday. She was not very good at the keyboard.

"I didn't like [the piano]," Chakvetadze said. "When you are eight years old, you want to move and playing games and everything. I didn't like [it]. That's why I stopped."
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