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Serena survives scare Hewitt, Clijsters, Safin also advance to second roundPosted: Monday January 13, 2003 11:55 PMUpdated: Tuesday January 14, 2003 9:37 AM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Serena Williams knew how close she came to being on the losing end of a first-round shocker at the Australian Open. "I think I was a bit lucky to pull that through," Williams said. "I think it was a little bit of the nerves. I had never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam." She survived a second-set tiebreaker and finally beat 56th-ranked Emilie Loit of France 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Tuesday. Men's No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was also stretched in his first-round match -- arguing close line calls throughout his 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Magnus Larsson, who was in his 11th consecutive Australian Open. In the fourth set, Larsson pounded Hewitt with a string of unplayable forehands, frustrating the young Australian, forcing errors and winning it -- with his 18th forehand winner -- in a tiebreaker. Hewitt, who breezed through the first set in 28 minutes and dropped serve only once throughout, finished it in 3 hours, 13 minutes with a backhand down the line. No Australian has won the Grand Slam on home soil since 1976 and Hewitt has never gone beyond the fourth round. He went out in the first round last year, suffering from a bout of chickenpox. "I'm feeling a lot of relief after last year," said Hewitt, the reigning Wimbledon champion. "I think the sour taste that was left after last year, I could come out here and get rid of it. I'm going to get better from here." He had 46 winners and 36 unforced errors, while Larsson produced 41 winners and 61 unforced errors. Andy Roddick led 4-1 in the first set before losing it and trailed 1-4 in the third before winning it, eventually holding on for a 6-7 (9), 6-2, 7-6 (0) 6-3 over Zeljko Krajan of Croatia. Serving for the match, he fired his 19th ace, put away an overhead and got match point with a big service winner. The 20-year-old American, seeded ninth, clinched it in 2 hours, 45 minutes with a forehand down the line. Four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles, seeded sixth, thrashed Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes in a night match on center court. Kurhajcova, 19 and ranked No. 110, raised her arms to the crowd to celebrate when she held serve in the fourth game of the second. She gave Seles the win with a wild forehand return. Williams overcame 55 unforced errors in her match. The top-ranked woman in the world had been almost unbeatable in winning the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open last year -- she did not lose even a set in taking those last two championships. But with her mother watching from the stands, Williams almost was chased from the only Grand Slam event she's never won. "This match is a heads up that everyone wants to beat me," Williams said. "This is a reminder." The left-handed Loit combined sliced backhands and spin with a forceful forehand to unsettle Williams. Regardless, Williams advanced to the second round, an improvement on last year, when she withdrew from the season-opening Grand Slam event with an ankle problem. After missing the last Australian Open, Serena recovered to defeat older sister Venus in the finals of the next three majors. Serena's vow to go 12 months unbeaten appeared in danger right away. In the second set, she was warned for making an "audible obscenity" in the ninth game, screaming at herself behind the baseline and losing the game to give back a service break. Serena jumped with glee when Loit netted a forehand on the third match point. She blew kisses to the crowd and then took a big sigh of relief. "I don't remember that," she said, when asked about the code violation. "I definitely regret the way I played today. I just had a bad day -- it's been a while since I had a bad match, I usually play well. It was one of those days." Despite being pushed by Loit, who's never won on the WTA tour, Serena said she'd never doubted what the outcome would be. "I never thought I was going to lose that match," she said. "That thought never crossed my mind. I did think it was bad -- but I never thought I would lose it." Kim Clijsters, seeded fourth and a strong chance for the Australian title after beating both Williams to win the season-ending WTA championships last November, opened with a 6-2, 6-1 win over American Samantha Reeves. No. 10 Chanda Rubin overcame Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-4, 7-5; Mary Pierce, winner of the 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open, advanced and American Amy Frazier, playing at her 56th Grand Slam, ousted Spain's Conchita Martinez Granados in 43 minutes. Other seeded women advancing were: No. 8 Anastasia Myskina, No. 11 Magdalena Maleeva, No. 14 Anna Pistolesi, No. 16 Nathalie Dechy, No. 18 Eleni Daniilidou, No. 19 Amanda Coetzer, No. 25 Meghann Shaughnessy and No. 28 Clarisa Fernandez. Austrian Barbara Schwartz ousted Russia's Elena Dementieva, seeded 17th, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Facing a Frenchman for the first time since clinching the deciding match of the Davis Cup final in Paris last month, Russian Mikhail Youzhny dropped a set before winning 3-6, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 over junior world champion Richard Gasquet. Fellow Russian Marat Safin, seeded third and a runner-up here last year, recovered from shoulder problems that sidelined him last week and beat Dutchman Raemon Sluiter in four sets. Former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten, a three-time French Open champion who now is seeded 30th, beat Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-3 and No. 6 Roger Federer beat Brazil's Flavio Saretta 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-3. Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian advanced when France's Jerome Golmard quit after three sets with a back problem. The Argentine said his recent form was a statement. "Before Wimbledon, nobody knew me. After, everybody watches me," said the 21-year-old Argentinian, who is seeded 10th here. No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over France's Julien Varlet. Last year's semifinalist, No. 7 Jiri Novak, overcame American Vincent Spadea and No. 20 Xavier Malisse of Belgium defeated Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Feliciano Lopez ousted fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja, seeded 15th, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (9), 7-6 (6), 6-3. Dutchman Richard Krajicek, 1996 Wimbledon champion, beat Australian wildcard Todd Reid 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 and No. 23 James Blake, who partnered Serena Williams in the U.S. team that won the Hopman Cup earlier in the month, beat 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
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