Australian Open
Davenport advances to semifinals MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport advanced to the Australian Open semifinals, overcoming local hope Alicia Molik 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Davenport twice served for the match, in the 10th game and at 8-7, when she saved two break points before holding on to close with a powerful forehand that Molik couldn’t reach.
Davenport will next meet 19th-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France, who rallied back to beat Patty Schnyder 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.
Top-ranked Roger Federer had a lot less trouble advancing, playing so perfectly that he made Andre Agassi look average on Tuesday.
Defending champion Federer beat the eight-time major winner 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, taking the punch right out of the best counter-puncher on the circuit.
The other men’s quarterfinals are No. 2 Andy Roddick vs. No. 26 Nikolay Davydenko, and No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt vs. No. 9 David Nalbandian.
Agassi, who withstood a record 51 aces by Joachim Johansson in the fourth round, had some answers for Federer’s serve.
But eventually the relentless forehands and half-volleys that Federer peppered from all parts of the court were simply too much.
“I came with high expectations. I wanted tonight to be memorable, but it’s one I’d probably prefer to forget,” Agassi said. “I never got my teeth into it, and when I don’t get my teeth into a match, I can look pretty ordinary.”
There was no high drama, nothing like the U.S. Open quarterfinal last September, when Federer won a five-set epic that spanned two days because of a rain delay and ended in high winds.
“I have no secrets,” Federer said. “It’s like roulette. I always pick the right numbers.”
“I served perfectly – he never broke me. So I think that’s what made me win.”
Federer’s 11 titles in 2004 included three Grand Slam events, making him the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win a trio of majors in a season. Now he’s trying to become the first to win three straight Slams since Pete Sampras added the 1994 Australian Open to his wins at the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1993.
Serena Williams once won four straight majors – from the 2002 French Open through the 2003 Australian Open – but she hasn’t played that well lately. She’ll face Maria Sharapova in the Australian semifinals in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final.
Williams eliminated No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-2, while Sharapova was on the verge of exhaustion when she clinched a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 over U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2 hours, 17 minutes in the baking sun.
“I thought I couldn’t go any more,” Sharapova said.
“I had just enough to win that match point. That’s it.”