|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Avoiding the upset Hingis holds out against tough Dementieva
Updated: Thursday October 26, 2000 11:35 PM
MOSCOW (AP) -- U.S. Open champion Marat Safin got a scare from Italian Gianluca Pozzi - a pro almost as long as Safin has been out of diapers - before beating him 6-1, 7-5 Thursday in the Kremlin Cup. The top-seeded Russian closed the first set against the Italian in just 28 minutes, cruising on serves clocking faster than 120 mph, but Pozzi fought back in the second set. In the end, Safin won their second-round match 6-1, 7-5. "He turned pro in 1984 and is playing old-fashioned tennis; it was difficult for me to get used to him," the 20-year-old Safin said of his 35-year-old opponent. "I scared myself." On the women's side, top-ranked Martina Hingis breezed past Olympic silver medalist Elena Dementieva in just 14 minutes in the first set Thursday, but labored in the next two before advancing to the semifinals. The Swiss player won 6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-5. Also advancing in the $2.5 million tournament was fourth-seeded Anna Kournikova of Russia, who beat wild-card compatriot Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (4), 6-4, to reach the tournament's quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. Unseeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria scored a second-round upset of third-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain 6-3, 6-2, and Amelie Mauresmo of France beat American Lisa Raymond 6-2, 6-4. Dementieva of Russia broke Hingis' serve in the fourth game of the second set, then broke it again to go ahead 4-2. They traded games before Hingis fought back to force a tiebreaker, which she lost on a wide return. The Russian went down love-15 in the 12th game of the final set, then double-faulted twice and sent a forehand wide. "At 4-4 in the decisive set, I was waiting for Hingis' faults, and it was my worst mistake in the match," Dementieva said. Kournikova, currently ranked 11th, lost the two opening games at love, then came back from love-40 to break her unheralded opponent in the next game only to lose her serve in the sixth game. "I saw no problems in the match, and could afford myself such things which I would never do in a match with a strong opponent," Kournikova said. In other second-round men's play, David Prinosil of Germany fired 12 aces to dispose of Harel Levy of Israel 6-3, 6-0, and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden upset sixth-seeded Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
