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Showdown Hingis, Serena to get re-acquainted in Sydney
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Top-ranked Martina Hingis swept Kim Clijsters in straight sets Wednesday to advance to a quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Serena Williams at the Adidas International. In second-round upsets at the Australian Open tuneup, Corina Morariu of the United States erased sixth-seeded Anna Kournikova 6-2, 6-1 and Lisa Raymond ousted fellow American Jennifer Capriati 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Hingis complained of feeling "a little lame," saying her first-round doubles win late Tuesday night against Venus and Serena Williams had been physically taxing. Playing singles for the first time here after getting a first-round bye, Hingis admitted she wasn't at her best against Clijsters, although she was surprised to receive a caution from the chair umpire for coaching. The world No. 1 denied receiving any advice from her mother and coach Melanie Molitor, who was sitting in the stands, but said it was natural for people to yell support. Hingis trailed 2-4 with Clijsters serving before she reeled off four successive games to take the first set. She saved two break points at 3-4 in the second to draw level and then broke Clijsters before closing out on serve. Hingis said she now felt like she had an edge over Serena Williams because she'd played more tournaments recently. Williams crushed compatriot Brie Rippner 6-1, 6-2 in 58 minutes to set up the showdown with Hingis, who had partnered Monica Seles to end the Williams sisters' 22-match winning stretch in doubles. The 19-year-old American said a tough match against Hingis was ideal preparation for the season-opening Grand Slam. "Obviously we're both great competitors ... we're going to bring our best out so we can see where we need to improve for next week," she said. Morariu, who defeated Kournikova in 46 minutes, said she was surprised to beat a top 10 player so easily. "I went out there and stayed aggressive," she said. "I sensed she was a bit tentative, so I really took advantage of that." Asked how the win rated in career terms, the No. 52-ranked Morariu said Kournikova was "such a big name" that beating her gave any rival notoriety. "It's one of biggest wins you can have," she said. Kournikova said it just wasn't her day and she'd played really badly. "Maybe that's good to give me a couple of days just to practice," the 19-year-old Russian said. Capriati was on target for a quarterfinals berth -- serving for the match at 5-4 in the third -- before she lost three consecutive games to surrender the match. "I'm disappointed not to have done better," said the No. 8 seed. "But the same thing happened to me last year and it worked it pretty well in Melbourne afterwards, so maybe it's a good thing." In other second-round singles matches, No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport defeated Austria's Barbara Schett 6-3, 6-3, while defending titlist Amelie Mauresmo overcame South Africa's Amanda Coetzer 7-5, 7-5. Coetzer served for the first set at 5-2 and 5-4 before Mauresmo responded with six successive games. Coetzer held set points in the second before the Frenchwoman produced another five-game winning streak to seal the result. Mauresmo now meets No. 3 seed Seles in the quarterfinals, while Morariu takes on No. 4 seed Conchita Martinez of Spain and Davenport is against Raymond. In the men's draw, top-seeded Magnus Norman defeated Australia's Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 6-1 to advance to a quarterfinal against Switzerland's George Bastl, who ousted No. 5 seed Arnaud Clement 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Defending titlist Lleyton Hewitt had a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over fellow Australian Andrew Ilie. The world No. 7 dropped just 10 points in a second-set demolition to move into a quarterfinal showdown against Fabrice Santoro of France, who overcame Italian Gianluca Pozzi 7-5, 7-5. Sebastien Grosjean of France defeated Belgian Christophe Rochus 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will meet Roger Federer in the next phase. Federer had a 6-1, 6-2 win over Swiss compatriot Marc Rosset.
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