The first Grand Slam tournament of 2004 has come without the familiar names of past champions Jennifer Capriati, Mary Pierce, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams. This, along with Venus Williams’ third round loss to fellow American Lisa Raymond, opens the door for the rest of the field.
With five days left of play in the Australian Open, the men’s and women’s singles events are into the quarterfinals. No. 1 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated American Lindsay Davenport in straight sets to secure a spot in the semifinals.
Since Davenport was the last former champion in the women’s draw, the Open will be crowning a first time champion on Sunday. Fabiola Zuluaga, the virtually unheard of 32nd seed, moved into the semis after Amelie Mauresmo of France withdrew from their quarterfinal match because of a pulled muscle in her back.
Last night, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland defeated Raymond, and sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina lost in a tough match against the second seed, Kim Clijsters. Both matches were played late Tuesday night.
On the men’s side, American sensation Andy Roddick took on Marat Safin in the quarters, but the first seed could not prevail, losing in five sets. Roddick still has the fastest serve so far on the men’s side, notching a 140 mph bomb in an earlier round. No. 4 Andre Agassi won a set over ninth-seed Sebastien Grosjean before Grosjean had to retire due to a pulled muscle. Agassi has now won 26 straight matches at the Australian Open, continuing to increase his Open era record.
2003 Wimbledon champion Roger Federer played David Nalbandian Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, and Juan Carlos Ferrero matched up with Hicham Arazi—the man who knocked off Australian Mark Philippoussis in straight sets in the fourth round.
The only Americans left in the men’s doubles draw are Bob and Mike Bryan. The first-seeded brothers are through to the semifinals. The only American in the mixed doubles draw, Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes are still going strong, and are set to play a pair of Australians in the quarterfinals.
Americans James Blake and Todd Martin lost to Safin, while fellow Americans Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri lost to Roddick and Grosjean, respectively. Federer defeated Lleyton Hewitt, the last Australian remaining in the men’s draw, to deny Australia a home-country hero for another year.
