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 Wednesday, January 26
Norman happy with his decision
 
Associated Press

  MELBOURNE, Australia -- Bandy or tennis. Tennis or bandy. Magnus Norman had to make a choice about his sporting career at age 16, deciding whether to continue with his winter pursuit, bandy, a sport similar to hockey, or concentrate on tennis.

The choice came down to lifestyle.

"It was quite funny actually because I got an invitation from the Swedish Bandy Federation to go with a Swedish team to Russia. The same day I got this letter from the Swedish Tennis Federation asking me to go to Florida, so I chose between Moscow and Florida."

And after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, the 12th-seeded Norman said he was happy with his decision.

"Sometimes I get the chance" to play bandy, he said. "Actually, I practiced with the best team in Sweden during the Stockholm Open and it was a lot of fun and, yeah, something that I'd like to do when I get the time off."

Inches away
Fourth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer says he's only inches away from a breakthrough into a Grand Slam final.

After bowing out in the quarterfinals to Sweden's Magnus Norman, Kiefer was asked what was holding him back.

Holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart, he indicated that he was just about that far away. The big-serving German was referring to the number of shots that just missed the sidelines and were called out, instead of being a fraction closer and being called in.

"I think I'm knocking at the door to go very far in a Grand Slam," he said. "It can happen this year but it can happen next year or in two years. I try to improve my game, I think positive. It try to stay in and it's just a question of the time."

Ticketless
About 500 angry tennis fans were reportedly planning a mass sit-in Thursday night at Melbourne Park after an organizational bungle made their tickets invalid for the men's semifinal between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

The fans, mainly from Australia's interstate capitals, each bought airline packages which also included tickets for four days of tennis and, reportedly, the night session for the men's semifinal.

The mixup was discovered when some of the fans received an apology letter instead of their seats.

After negotiations between Open organizers and the airline, the 500 fans were offered a refund of the ticket price plus light refreshments and a seat to watch the semifinal on a big screen at Melbourne Park.

But the fans want to see the match live.

Lisa Basile, who traveled from the Gold Coast in Queensland, told the Herald Sun newspaper of Melbourne that she'd paid 1,370 Australian dollars, or $891, for her package

"I was offended," she said of the compensation offer. "I could have stayed in Brisbane," to watch it on television."

Go figure
Jennifer Capriati would like to see her ranking improve considerably after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal in nine years.

But it won't. Under the WTA tour rankings system, she'll be outpaced in the rankings jump by players who were ousted in the earlier rounds.

Capriati, 21st, will move to No. 17 after losing to No. 2 Lindsay Davenport in the semis.

Nathalie Tauziet will go from No. 8 to a career-high No. 6 despite losing in the second round and Russian Anna Kournikova will go from 12th to a career-high ninth after reaching the round of 16.

Conchita Martinez will improve from 13th to seventh by virtue of reaching the semis.

The biggest loser will be Amelie Mauresmo, a finalist here last year but an early casualty this year, who will drop eight spots to 14th.

The men's tour revamped its ranking system this year, installing the Champions' Race, which wipes the slate clean every year and allocates points for the leading players in each tournament.
 


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