Notebook

McEnroe stays in the spotlight

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- John McEnroe hasn't been far from attention at the Australian Open.

First he was being threatened with physical violence by an irate coach. On Monday, he was on the TV news kicking a football Australian-style.

McEnroe, who is working for a local television broadcaster, found himself in the spotlight on Sunday when Brent Larkham, brother and coach of Australian player Todd Larkham, said he had threatened to punch the former world No. 1.

Brent was upset after McEnroe criticized Todd's performance in his straight sets loss to Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday night.

Larkham won one game in the first set and one in the third against Hewitt. McEnroe criticized some of Todd Larkham's playing as "pitiful".

On Monday, McEnroe joined the Richmond football club, a leading side in the national Australian Rules football competition.

McEnroe clowned around for the cameras and at one stage took part in a send-up of the Larkham incident, being offered boxing gloves by a TV interviewer.

The American also showed he wasn't too bad at 'Aussie Rules' as the game is called here.

In front of Richmond players, cameras and onlookers, he punted the oval-shaped ball and drew some applause from the local pros.

New look

For Shaughnessy, the up side is she gets to test her new fitness against the best in the business.

The 23-year-old American said she's been working for two years with a fitness trainer in her home state of Arizona.

"He has entirely changed my body," Shaughnessy said after beating Russia's Elena Bovina 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

"I've put on 20 pounds (nine kilograms), lost body fat, gained explosiveness, power ... its been incredible," she added.

Shaughnessy said she now tipped the scales at 150 pounds (68 kilograms). "Women's tennis has become more powerful. The more power you have the better off you'll be."

Monday's win was her 11th straight to start the year. Before the Australian, she won a warmup tournament in Canberra.

Rosewall's cake

It is a record he still holds today.

Rosewall was presented with a framed print of him playing in that year and also with a cake.

In all, Rosewall won the Australian Open four times, and as well as holding the distinction as the youngest winner, he also holds the record as the tournament's oldest male winner.

He was 37 years, 2 months when he won for the last time in 1972.

Hoping for better

Hewitt was beaten in four sets by Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a fourth round upset. The Australian played the last of the day session matches, with Belgian Clijsters then opening night proceedings against South Africa's Amanda Coetzer.

She didn't have to worry too much, the fourth-seeded Clijsters winning 6-3, 6-1 to move into a quarterfinal against Russian Anastasia Myskina of Russia.

Up to her

She practiced with Anna Kournikova when they were children and she was coached for 10 years by Marat Safin's mother Rausa Islanova.

But the person who has inspired her most was Monica Seles.

"All my life I've loved Monica," Myskina said. "Because of what she's done after her accident I think she's the best, the greatest player in the world."

Seles' "accident" was the 1993 stabbing in Hamburg which kept her out for more than a year.

"I was little when I watched her on TV and now I can even talk to her. It surprises me, it's funny," said eighth-seeded Myskina, 21.

"I watch her practice. It's a good experience to be between these great players in the dressing room."

Up to her

Heinz Buehlmann operated on Hingis in May. He told a Swiss newspaper Sunday that her ankle has healed properly.

"Martina can play again," said Buehlmann. "Martina has had this problem for four years, but the joints of her foot are absolutely OK."

Hingis said last week that she had no idea if she would return to tennis and didn't have a time-frame in mind.

Buehlmann said her barrier would be mental.

"From a medical point of view a comeback would be no problem, but Martina would have to grit her teeth. She would have to be prepared for some pain," he said.

"I know Martina very well. I know from the past that she can come back. But whether she wants that, I do not know."

 

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