| | Results
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Yevgeny
Kafelnikov, public enemy No. 1 to Australian tennis fans, lay on
the court grimacing in pain on the verge of a first-round knockout.
For all the sparse crowd cared, the second-seeded Russian could
have stayed down and slipped out of town Tuesday.
|  | | No. 5 Gustavo Kuerten became the highest seed to fall when he lost Tuesday. |
But after several minutes of treatment by a trainer for a groin
pull at 5-4 in the second set, Kafelnikov rose as if in defiance of
those who wished him gone. He then won five straight games and went
on to a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Germany's Jens
Knippschild.
Goran Ivanisevic is another player who displayed some grit on Tuesday, ousting 13th seed Cedric Pioline in the first round.
Ivanisevic served 13 of his 32 aces in the final set in his 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 9-7 victory.
Ivanisevic -- who could do well on the fast surface here -- will at least be more accepted by Australian fans.
Kafelnikov had riled Australians during the Davis Cup last
September by badmouthing popular teen-ager Lleyton Hewitt, before
and after losing to him, and comparing the court in Brisbane to a
"potato field."
Kafelnikov would like to forget that, but knows Australians
won't.
"I don't remember what happened in the Davis Cup, although I do
remember," he said.
He preferred to attribute the virtual boycott of his match
against Knippschild to the poor quality of play rather than
lingering hard feelings. Kafelnikov was suffering both from a back
injury that hit him last week and the groin pull that occurred in
this match.
"It wasn't a pretty match. In fact, it was an ugly match,"
said Kafelnikov, who watched 20 aces zip past him while he
benefitted from 74 unforced errors by Knippschild. "I can play
three or four times better. It's a matter of timing, when I will
get back in form. I had a lot of pain in my back and I had to tough
it out and I did. I'm very proud of myself."
Kafelnikov then joined in the chorus of complaints about the
Australian Open's souped-up courts, calling them "ridiculously
fast compared to last year."
Compounding the problem, he said, were balls that have been
pumped with more pressure.
"The ball is traveling through the air a lot quicker than it
was last year," he said. "So it definitely favors the big-serve
players like Sampras, Philippoussis, Krajicek."
Pete Sampras says the resurfaced Melbourne Park hard courts are
playing like grass, and Ivanisevic has had his best Grand Slam
results on that surface, finishing as runner-up three times at
Wimbledon.
"It is fast like Wimbledon, which is OK for me," Ivanisevic
said.
Ivanisevic saved three break points in the final set's ninth
game, and four in the 13th, where he came back from 0-40 with two
aces and a service winner, and closed the game with another ace and
service winner.
He broke Pioline in the final game at love, finishing with a
forehand serve return winner.
"I just need to get my confidence back, my ranking back," said
Ivanisevic, who climbed as high as No. 2 in 1994. "Every match
that I win is good for me, for my confidence. ... I just think I
still belong up there somewhere and I still can play good tennis,
so hopefully I can prove that."
Last year, he said, there were so many first-round losses "you
go crazy."
"I can beat anybody when I play good, when I think that I can,
but I lost that kind of feeling. When I come on the court I am
struggling too much," he said.
The next seed he might meet would be No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer in the
round of 16. Kiefer reached the second round with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Guillermo Canas.
Pioline, a U.S. Open semifinalist last year, said Ivanisevic is
a frustrating opponent when he is playing well.
"It seems he is taking all the risk and making the right shot,
and it is not very funny when you play him," Pioline said.
Pioline was among three men's seeds who lost today.
Lleyton Hewitt, an 18-year-old who had won two warm-up tournaments
this year, extended his winning streak for the year to 11 matches
by overcoming American Paul Goldstein 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The match ended at nearly 2 a.m.
No. 5 Gustavo Kuerten had three match points in the fourth-set
tiebreaker before losing 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-4 to Spain's
Albert Portas.
Belgium's Christophe Rochus ousted No. 15 Albert Costa 6-3, 6-7
(8), 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3 Sampras, No. 9 Richard Krajicek and No. 16 Mark
Philippoussis all won their first-round matches Monday.
Michael Chang, runner-up here and at the U.S. Open in 1996, lost
6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5). | |
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