For those who have eyes yet could not see that Venus was and is still hampered by her knee.
Back to two legs, Venus shows how she can add to her slam collection
By Lisa Dillman
It took Venus Williams about 15 minutes to realise she would have to win this third-round match on two legs, not one. One healthy knee might be adequate against players ranked outside the top 30 but Daniela Hantuchova had just enough power to force Williams out of her comfort zone.
Williams lost the first four games in 15 minutes and promptly turned into a different player, running full out and testing her aching left knee, beset with tendonitis. The second version of Williams was enough to offset the initially cautious Venus as she defeated the Slovakian teenager 3-6 6-0 6-4 yesterday.
Last night, the men's highest remaining seed, Tim Henman, survived a third-set scare to beat his British countryman Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3.
Henman finished the match in style, tipping a backhand overhead volley out of Rusedski's reach. He next meets Jonas Bjorkman.
Hantuchova meanwhile, seeded 32nd but ranked 28th, has plenty of talent but little experience at grand slam events. This was her first third-round appearance at a major.
The second-seeded Williams is the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion and the victory put her winning streak at 23 matches. Her talent and experience compensated for any physical weaknesses.
Williams's intense discomfort in the second round against Kristina Brandi cast doubt over her title run. But she skipped practice on her off day and received treatment on her knee.
Hantuchova has defeated the likes of Jelena Dokic, Amanda Coetzer and Meghann Shaughnessy and has come close against the very best, leading Jennifer Capriati 7-5 4-1 before losing to her in Canada last year.
"I was really happy with the way I played the first set," she said. "I was moving her around and my serve felt pretty good. It's a shame I started badly in the second set."
From the start of the second set, Williams won eight consecutive games, taking the set 6-0 and building a 2-0 lead in the third. She let Hantuchova back into the third and the Slovak had a point to go up 5-4 but hit a forehand wide.
Williams now meets Magdalena Maleeva, who swept past Lisa Raymond 7-5 6-1.
The biggest threat in Williams's quarter of the draw is No8 Monica Seles. The four-time Open champion defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-4.
Third seed Martina Hingis beat Barbara Rittner 6-1 6-0 to set up a clash against 15th seed Coetzer, who beat Barbara Schett 6-3 6-3.
Bjorkman upset the 12th seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-3 6-2 6-4.
American qualifier Alex Kim, who upset former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round, was outclassed by Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 6-2 6-3. Gonzalez now plays Stefan Koubek, who downed Denmark's Kristian Pless 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-3.
One set stood between wild-card Taylor Dent and the final 16 but a double-fault on break point in the sixth game of the fifth set cost him dearly against Adrian Voinea of Romania, who defeated Dent 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty brought France's Jerome Golmard, who had beaten Goran Ivanisevic in the previous round, back to earth with a 6-3 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 defeat.
Czech Jiri Novak also moved into the fourth round, beating Spain's Francisco Clavet 6-3 6-4 6-1, and 16th seed Thomas Johannson of Sweden downed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4
Los Angeles Times, and wires
****************************************************
VENUS Williams was all determination in her clash with Slovakia teenager Daniela Hantuchova yesterday. Picture: Michael Dodge.
Teenager gives Venus a torrid test
Bruce Matthews
19jan02
A RELIEVED Venus Williams at least knows now the painful left knee should carry her through the business week of the Australian Open.
The second seed survived what became a gruelling test of fitness as much as nerve on centre court yesterday to reach the fourth round.
Slovakia teenager Daniela Hantuchova was the unwitting overseer of the critical patella tendinitis examination which Williams passed with honours 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in an enthralling 107 minutes.
"You always go into a match a little nervous after having a scare. But I found I could do quite a lot more than I did the other day, so it was exciting for me," Williams said.
Who said women's matches don't get interesting until the second week of the championships? This was high drama, at times tense and often exhilarating as the pair whipped each other from side to side across Rod Laver Arena with pulverising ground strokes.
If Williams is the current standard bearer as she chases a first Australian crown, then jot down 18-year-old Hantuchova as the future.
"It has been a while since I've had such a match, 4-all in the third (set). Winning those are some of the sweetest moments in your career," Williams said.
The Wimbledon and US Open champion gave indirect thanks to Hantuchova for preparing her for the tougher second week. And not merely for providing the test for the tendinitis which threatened to halt her Down Under campaign.
"Actually, I enjoy playing against her. She puts a challenge to you. She makes you realise the places where you have to work a little bit harder," Williams said.
"As long as you're winning easy, things seem like a piece of cake and you don't really see your flaws. So as long as there's players out there testing you and pushing you, it helps, not only me, it helps everybody."
William's 181km/h cannonball serve on the first point of the match became the unlikely forerunner to a tentative start as the tournament favourite cautiously moved for the wide balls, unsure how the left knee wearing a distinctive white strip bandage would withstand the strain. Her confidence rose each time she stretched to put full weight on the left knee and didn't feel any pain.
****************************************************
CNNSI.com's Marc Lancaster breaks down the stats and strategies from Venus Williams' 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Daniela Hantuchova.
Venus Williams has now won 23 consecutive matches dating back to last year. Mark Dadswell/Getty Images
After a disastrous first set, Williams came out firing in the second, reeling off six games in a row to even the match. Hantuchova was serving to begin the third, and she raced to a 40-0 lead. But Williams chipped her way back into it and, after a few deuces, broke the young Slovak to win the game. Williams held serve in the next game, bringing her total run to eight consecutive games and giving her the momentum she needed to close out the match.
Hantuchova didn't seem fazed by Williams' serve, but she couldn't take advantage of it by holding her own serve. You don't see many players break Williams five times and still lose. But Williams broke Hantuchova seven times, so things more than evened out. The lanky Hantuchova clearly has the skills (she lost a total of six games in her first two matches), but she needs a little more strength and patience to hang with the elite players.
Things get much tougher now for Williams. She next faces the always-tough Magdalena Maleeva before a possible quarterfinal showdown with Monica Seles, who is playing very well. As long as her knee problems don't continue to flare up, though, Williams should be fine. Even at less than 100 percent, she's still the best player in the game.
Do you want further evidence that some see only what they chooce
Back to two legs, Venus shows how she can add to her slam collection
By Lisa Dillman
It took Venus Williams about 15 minutes to realise she would have to win this third-round match on two legs, not one. One healthy knee might be adequate against players ranked outside the top 30 but Daniela Hantuchova had just enough power to force Williams out of her comfort zone.
Williams lost the first four games in 15 minutes and promptly turned into a different player, running full out and testing her aching left knee, beset with tendonitis. The second version of Williams was enough to offset the initially cautious Venus as she defeated the Slovakian teenager 3-6 6-0 6-4 yesterday.
Last night, the men's highest remaining seed, Tim Henman, survived a third-set scare to beat his British countryman Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3.
Henman finished the match in style, tipping a backhand overhead volley out of Rusedski's reach. He next meets Jonas Bjorkman.
Hantuchova meanwhile, seeded 32nd but ranked 28th, has plenty of talent but little experience at grand slam events. This was her first third-round appearance at a major.
The second-seeded Williams is the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champion and the victory put her winning streak at 23 matches. Her talent and experience compensated for any physical weaknesses.
Williams's intense discomfort in the second round against Kristina Brandi cast doubt over her title run. But she skipped practice on her off day and received treatment on her knee.
Hantuchova has defeated the likes of Jelena Dokic, Amanda Coetzer and Meghann Shaughnessy and has come close against the very best, leading Jennifer Capriati 7-5 4-1 before losing to her in Canada last year.
"I was really happy with the way I played the first set," she said. "I was moving her around and my serve felt pretty good. It's a shame I started badly in the second set."
From the start of the second set, Williams won eight consecutive games, taking the set 6-0 and building a 2-0 lead in the third. She let Hantuchova back into the third and the Slovak had a point to go up 5-4 but hit a forehand wide.
Williams now meets Magdalena Maleeva, who swept past Lisa Raymond 7-5 6-1.
The biggest threat in Williams's quarter of the draw is No8 Monica Seles. The four-time Open champion defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-4.
Third seed Martina Hingis beat Barbara Rittner 6-1 6-0 to set up a clash against 15th seed Coetzer, who beat Barbara Schett 6-3 6-3.
Bjorkman upset the 12th seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-3 6-2 6-4.
American qualifier Alex Kim, who upset former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round, was outclassed by Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 6-2 6-3. Gonzalez now plays Stefan Koubek, who downed Denmark's Kristian Pless 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-3.
One set stood between wild-card Taylor Dent and the final 16 but a double-fault on break point in the sixth game of the fifth set cost him dearly against Adrian Voinea of Romania, who defeated Dent 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty brought France's Jerome Golmard, who had beaten Goran Ivanisevic in the previous round, back to earth with a 6-3 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 defeat.
Czech Jiri Novak also moved into the fourth round, beating Spain's Francisco Clavet 6-3 6-4 6-1, and 16th seed Thomas Johannson of Sweden downed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4
Los Angeles Times, and wires
****************************************************
VENUS Williams was all determination in her clash with Slovakia teenager Daniela Hantuchova yesterday. Picture: Michael Dodge.
Teenager gives Venus a torrid test
Bruce Matthews
19jan02
A RELIEVED Venus Williams at least knows now the painful left knee should carry her through the business week of the Australian Open.
The second seed survived what became a gruelling test of fitness as much as nerve on centre court yesterday to reach the fourth round.
Slovakia teenager Daniela Hantuchova was the unwitting overseer of the critical patella tendinitis examination which Williams passed with honours 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in an enthralling 107 minutes.
"You always go into a match a little nervous after having a scare. But I found I could do quite a lot more than I did the other day, so it was exciting for me," Williams said.
Who said women's matches don't get interesting until the second week of the championships? This was high drama, at times tense and often exhilarating as the pair whipped each other from side to side across Rod Laver Arena with pulverising ground strokes.
If Williams is the current standard bearer as she chases a first Australian crown, then jot down 18-year-old Hantuchova as the future.
"It has been a while since I've had such a match, 4-all in the third (set). Winning those are some of the sweetest moments in your career," Williams said.
The Wimbledon and US Open champion gave indirect thanks to Hantuchova for preparing her for the tougher second week. And not merely for providing the test for the tendinitis which threatened to halt her Down Under campaign.
"Actually, I enjoy playing against her. She puts a challenge to you. She makes you realise the places where you have to work a little bit harder," Williams said.
"As long as you're winning easy, things seem like a piece of cake and you don't really see your flaws. So as long as there's players out there testing you and pushing you, it helps, not only me, it helps everybody."
William's 181km/h cannonball serve on the first point of the match became the unlikely forerunner to a tentative start as the tournament favourite cautiously moved for the wide balls, unsure how the left knee wearing a distinctive white strip bandage would withstand the strain. Her confidence rose each time she stretched to put full weight on the left knee and didn't feel any pain.
****************************************************
CNNSI.com's Marc Lancaster breaks down the stats and strategies from Venus Williams' 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Daniela Hantuchova.
Venus Williams has now won 23 consecutive matches dating back to last year. Mark Dadswell/Getty Images
After a disastrous first set, Williams came out firing in the second, reeling off six games in a row to even the match. Hantuchova was serving to begin the third, and she raced to a 40-0 lead. But Williams chipped her way back into it and, after a few deuces, broke the young Slovak to win the game. Williams held serve in the next game, bringing her total run to eight consecutive games and giving her the momentum she needed to close out the match.
Hantuchova didn't seem fazed by Williams' serve, but she couldn't take advantage of it by holding her own serve. You don't see many players break Williams five times and still lose. But Williams broke Hantuchova seven times, so things more than evened out. The lanky Hantuchova clearly has the skills (she lost a total of six games in her first two matches), but she needs a little more strength and patience to hang with the elite players.
Things get much tougher now for Williams. She next faces the always-tough Magdalena Maleeva before a possible quarterfinal showdown with Monica Seles, who is playing very well. As long as her knee problems don't continue to flare up, though, Williams should be fine. Even at less than 100 percent, she's still the best player in the game.
Do you want further evidence that some see only what they chooce