World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne opened her season with a 6-4, 6-1 victory yesterday over Conchita Martinez and Mark Philippoussis ended embattled Greg Rusedski's run at the Adidas International.
Henin-Hardenne trailed 0-2 before she rallied to win the first set in blustery conditions. She broke the Spaniard three times in the second set, and finished with 27 winners and 35 unforced errors.
The 21-year-old Belgian, seeded No. 1 in Sydney and at next week's Australian Open, had a bye in the first round here and hadn't played on tour since her semifinal loss to Amelie Mauresmo at the season-ending championships in November.
PHOTO: AFP
"I'm very happy to win my first match -- it wasn't pretty, but the first match of the season is never easy," Henin-Hardenne said. "There were problems, but I can work on it for sure."
Mauresmo beat American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-3 after wasting a match point on serve at 5-1, while 2000 Australian Open champion Lindsay Davenport rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Vera Zvonareva and said her comeback from foot surgery last October was right on track.
In the men's second round, Wimbledon finalist Philippoussis clinched a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win over Rusedski on his third match point.
PHOTO: AFP
Two other Australians advanced to quarterfinals, with former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt reeling off nine consecutive games and coming back from 0-4 to beat Slovakian Karol Kucera 6-4, 6-1 and teenage wild card entry Todd Reid upsetting Spain's Felix Mantilla 6-4, 6-1.
Carlos Moya maintained his unbeaten run in 2004 with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Michael Llodra of France.
"Seven matches and seven wins and I've got a title already," said Moya, seeded No. 3 and winner at Madras last week. "The year so far has been perfect for me."
PHOTO: AFP
He's in an all-Spanish quarterfinal against Tommy Robredo, who saved two match points and rallied to beat Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). Paradorn completed his first-round win over Swede Jonas Bjorkman earlier yesterday after their match was rained out when he led 4-1 in the third set the previous night.
"I had my chances, two match points, but I couldn't convert them," said Paradorn. "Tennis goes like that -- he had six match points against me last week and I beat him. I'm not too disappointed because I'll get a little rest to refresh before the Australian Open."
Dutchman Martin Verkerk overcame Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-7 (0), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) and will meet Philippoussis in the quarterfinals.
In other women's matches, France's Nathalie Dechy upset eighth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 6-3 in a first-round encounter shifted to yesterday after being rained out the previous night.
She returned later on the same court and lost 6-0, 6-4 to Italian Francesca Shiavone.
Canberra Classic
Flavia Pennetta of Italy upset third-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 7-5, 6-2 yesterday in the second round of the Canberra Classic women's tennis tournament.
Tanasugarn was the second seeded player to leave the tournament yesterday after sixth-seeded Marlene Weingartner of Germany was forced to withdraw with injury.
Weingartner had been battling an abdominal strain and after undergoing a medical examination decided not to risk further aggravating the strain ahead of next week's Australian Open.
Her withdrawal allowed Spaniard Arantxa Parra to advance to the quarterfinals where she will meet top-seeded Paola Suarez, who also received a bye into the final eight after her second-round opponent, Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic, withdrew because of a virus.
Tanasugarn struggled to find rhythm as high winds buffeted the court.
Pennetta will meet Julia Vakulenko of the Ukraine in today's quarterfinals.
Emilie Loit of France moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Conchita Martinez Granados of Spain yesterday.
Commonwealth Bank International
After winning his first Grand Slam and seven other tournaments in 2003, Roger Federer knows last year will be a tough act to follow.
"For me, as soon as I started preparing for the next year, I had to start forgetting about what I've achieved," Federer said Wednesday after opening the Commonwealth Bank International exhibition tournament at Kooyong with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win over Sweden's Thomas Johansson.
Federer won Wimbledon and the Masters Cup. He also improved his ranking for the sixth successive year, finishing 2003 at No. 2 behind American Andy Roddick.
In other matches yesterday at Kooyong, Roddick beat countryman Robby Ginepri 6-1, 6-3 and Andre Agassi defeated Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-3, 6-3.
Agassi, the defending Australian Open champion, says he's in good shape for a repeat.
"I've trained hard -- my training numbers are the best they've been," Agassi said.
Agassi will be the fourth seed at Melbourne, where he's won three of the last four years.
Moorilla International
American Amy Frazier reached the semifinals of the Moorilla International tennis tournament with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win yesterday over Italy's Maria Elena Camerin.
It's the third time that Frazier has advanced to the semifinals at Hobart, including a finals appearance last year.
In a gusty wind, Frazier and Camerin traded eight breaks of serve in the opening set before the American won the tiebreaker.
Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi relied on powerful hitting in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Akiko Morigami of Japan.
Brandi, who was recently off the WTA Tour for 18 months because of wrist tendinitis, won eight games in a row at one stage to set up a semifinal with sixth-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan. Asagoe beat fourth-seeded Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia 6-2, 6-4.
Qualifier Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina beat seventh-seeded Anca Barna of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Heineken Open
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio of Argentina on yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the US$404,000 Heineken Open.
Kohlschreiber, ranked 198th in the world, beat Luis Horna of Peru in the first round and followed up with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 win over Gaudio to force his way into the Auckland tournament's final eight.
All four qualifiers who gained places in the main draw won their first-round matches Tuesday, but Kohlschreiber, 20, was the only one of the quartet to survive the second round.
The tall right-hander endured a tense first set against Gaudio, 25, who gained his seeding on an entry ranking 164 places higher than his own.
Kohlschreiber now faces a quarterfinal match with former champion Dominik Hrbaty, who advanced in a walkover when his top-seeded opponent, Guillermo Coria of Argentina, withdrew with an abdominal injury.
World No. 5 Coria visited an Auckland hospital Tuesday night after straining stomach muscles during his first-round match against Nicolas Kiefer of Germany.
Specialists recommended he should not play again at the tournament and he will now rest for three days in Auckland ahead of the Australian Open starting Monday.
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