American tennis players did not fare well this year at the Australian Open. On the men’s side, unseeded Marat Safin defeated five Americans all by himself: Brian Vahaly and James Blake in four sets and Todd Martin, Andy Roddick, and Andre Agassi in five sets. On the women’s side, the best American hope, Lindsay Davenport, lost to the eventual winner, Justine Henin-Hardenne in the quarterfinals.
Twins Bob and Mike Bryan dominated in the men’s doubles, only dropping two sets on their way to the finals. However, the defending champions, Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro of France, were victorious over the Bryans in straight sets.
The last American to play in the tournament was Martina Navratilova. Playing with Leander Paes of India, Navratilova made it to the finals of the mixed doubles. The pair lost in straight sets to Nenad Zimonjic and Elena Bovina in what Navratilova says was her last Australian Open.
The women’s singles final was another Belgian affair, with first seed Henin-Hardenne and second seed Kim Clijsters. Henin-Hardenne benefited on a couple of close calls and was able to beat her fellow countrywoman in three sets. Henin-Hardenne currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles.
Second-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland met Safin in the men’s final. Federer, who took over the No. 1 ranking from Roddick with his semifinal win over Juan-Carlos Ferrero, won the first set in a tie breaker after each player broke serve twice.
Safin fell apart early in the second set, and was not able to recover, and Federer finished in a straight set victory 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2.
The new ATP rankings have moved both Federer and Ferrero ahead of Roddick, who now sits third, while Agassi is ranked fifth.
