Agassi falls to Spadea
Top six men's seeds out; Graf, Seles to meet in quarters
Posted: Monday January 25, 1999 11:23 AM
| |
The last of the men's top six seeds fell when Agassi lost to Vincent Spadea AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Vincent Spadea dumped listless
fellow American Andre Agassi out of the Australian Open on Monday,
robbing the men's draw of is last glamor player.
While the men's competition has lost its luster, the women set
up some sparkling quarterfinal clashes, including Tuesday's battle
between No.1 Lindsay Davenport and No. 5 Venus Williams and a
reunion of Monica Seles and Steffi Graf six years after their last
match.
Agassi hadn't lost a set in reaching the fourth round but was in
trouble from the start as the 24-year-old Spadea won 6-1, 7-5, 6-7
(3-7), 6-3.
"I certainly didn't feel good out there," Agassi said. "I felt way out of my rhythm. Grand Slams are an opportunity to do something great and it's always disappointing when you lose."
With fifth-seeded Agassi gone, the men's draw lacks stars and
seeds, with only three seeds through to the last eight.
Spadea, who beat Agassi the last time they played in Cincinnati
last year, looked like a mirror-image of his older rival. They both
have two-fisted backhands, play mostly from the baseline, and take
the ball early, trying to move opponents around. Spadea had the
edge in every department, and Agassi seemed out of sorts all the
way.
"I guess it's the biggest accomplishment to date," said
Spadea, who admitted Agassi had been a role model for him.
No. 7-ranked Slovakian Karol Kucera is the highest ranked player
still in the draw while Russian No. 10 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the 1996
French Open champion, is the only man left with a Grand Slam title.
Spadea will play Germany's Tommy Haas in the quarters after his
6-2, 6-3, 7-5 win over Fabrice Santoro.
American No. 15 seed Todd Martin will meet Kafelnikov in the
only quarterfinal between two seeded players. Martin beat
Zimbabwe's Wayne Black 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 in their fourth-round
match while Kafelnikov had to battle all the way against No.
53-ranked Romanian Andrei Pavel.
Kafelnikov was two sets up and then served for the match at 5-3
in the fifth before he was broken. He then broke back immediately
to end the match after three hours, 33 minutes.
Four-time winners Graf and Seles stayed fresh for their
sentimental quarterfinal showdown by winning fourth-round matches
with ridiculous ease.
No. 7 Mary Pierce set up a meeting with No. 2 Martina Hingis by
ending Anna Kournikova's misery 6-0, 6-4 Monday night.
Closing in: Graf is three wins away from her fifth career Australian Open crown AP |
|
Kournikova needed shoulder treatment after losing the opening
nine games and then won her first service game after the stoppage
and added two breaks. But her powder-puff serve, which yielded 68
double faults in the opening three rounds and a further five
Monday, let her down again in the 10th game as Pierce broke for the
sixth time in the match.
Seles and Graf, former No.1 players, had virtual training
sessions on Center Court. They both won in 47 minutes, and left
plenty in the tank for their 15th career clash on Wednesday.
Second-ranked Hingis got a tough workout from South African Amanda
Coetzer before winning 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1. Hingis struggled with
the heat and took a 10-minute break, allowed nder the rules, when
the temperature topped 28 C (82 F).
"I had pretty much control of the match the whole time but she
just ran forever. I had to run her to death," said Hingis.
Graf and Seles are both on the way back towards the summit after
dominating the game in the late 1980s and early 90s.
"Both of us started playing again because we love it," Seles
said. "I think we both want challenges like we'll have on
Wednesday."
Graf has released herself from internal pressure this year in a
omeback after a string of serious injuries, and Austrian Barbara
Schett failed to put her under any external stress.
"I'm still as hungry as five years ago or 10 years ago. The joy
and freshness for the sport are still very much there," Graf said.
"The little difference is that I've have had a lot of injuries and
had to come back quite a few times and I'm maybe taking things just
a little bit easier."
Graf, a winner of 21 Grand Slam titles, had everything easy
Monday, finishing the match 6-1, 6-1 in just 47 minutes.
Seles extended her unbeaten streak to 32 matches at the
Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Sandrine Testud of France.
After struggling through a third-round victory over Sabine
Appelmans, Seles got her discipline and power back Monday, ending
the match with a crunching forehand down the line.
Graf holds a 9-4 lead over Seles in a rivalry which includes six
finals at Grand Slam level. They are 3-3 in those matches after
Seles won their last Australian Open clash in 1993.
"I look forward to it," Seles said of Wednesday's match.
"Steffi is just playing some great tennis and I haven't beaten her
in a long time."
Seles, seeded sixth, has never dropped a match at the tournament
in winning the 1991, '92, '93 and '96 titles. Graf, seeded 10th,
won in 1989, '90, 91, and '94.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
