Australian Open Round-up:There will be no room for sentiment after Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters booked a tantalising quarter-final date at the Australian Open today.
The two good friends remained on a collision course while men's
fifth seed James Blake suffered a crash of a different sort as he
went down in straight sets to dashing Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.
Three-times former champion Hingis withstood a fierce barrage
from Li Na just as the Chinese looked set to become her country's
first singles quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park.
Li held the upper hand for a set until she withered away
under sunny skies to exit 4-6 6-3 6-0.
Clijsters had proved to be a roadblock for Daniela Hantuchova
on eight previous occasions and the slender Slovakian again found
the title favourite an impenetrable obstacle.
The Belgian romped to a 6-1 7-5 win in 79 minutes after a
wild crosscourt error sealed Hantuchova's fate.
Fans scrambled for their earplugs on Rod Laver Arena as top
seed Maria Sharapova shrieked to a 7-5 6-4 win in a Russian
catfight against Vera Zvonareva.
Clijsters, Hingis and Sharapova restored calm at the Open a
day after five women's seeds, including defending champion Amelie
Mauresmo, were bounced out.
Blake and David Nalbandian, however, appeared to have caught
the losing feeling.
A razor will be top of Blake's shopping list after he lost
out on a potential last-eight matchup against double French Open
champion Rafael Nadal.
The American who grows a beard whenever he is on a winning
run will be enjoying a close shave for the first time in over two
weeks after his 7-5 6-4 7-6 humbling by Olympic doubles champion
Gonzalez.
Argentine marathon man Nalbandian finally ran out of steam,
wilting to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 defeat by Germany's Tommy Haas.
Nalbandian had already been on court for more than nine hours
before Monday's contest proved to be a road too far.
Haas has been down this road before though, having reached
the semi-finals twice, the first time in 1999 at the age of 21.
Li used her searing backhands to flummox Swiss tactician
Hingis during the early stages.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a 100 per cent success rate on her
serve until the final game of the first set. With Hingis unable to
get a look in on a second serve, Li stormed ahead but she was
eventually undone by her erratic choice of shots which produced
69 unforced errors.
"She came out on fire... thank God after the first set I played
better," Hingis said.
After fulfilling her side of the deal for a repeat of last
year's quarter-final against Clijsters, the Swiss had a message for
her friend.
"Kim better win, I'll be waiting, I'll be watching," she said
courtside after her one hour 51 minute win.
Clijsters duly obliged.
"It's always a pleasure to play against her (Hingis), she's
such a great champion," said Clijsters, playing her last Australian
Open.
Anna Chakvetadze avoided the fate of her Russian compatriots
Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva, who were knocked out on
Sunday, when she reached her first grand slam quarters with a 6-4
6-1 win over eighth seed Patty Schnyder. Up next is
Sharapova.
Third seed Nikolay Davydenko will be hoping his run to the
latter stages here will give him the exposure he needs to secure a
long-overdue clothing sponsor. The only man in the top 10 without a
shirt deal, he wore down Czech Tomas Berdych 5-7 6-4 6-1 7-6.
Later today, Melbourne will witness a battle between the only
two men to have beaten world number one Roger Federer in 2006.
Nadal faces Andy Murray across the net for the first time in
what should be the opening instalment of an enthralling rivalry
between two of the sport's young guns.