Wounded Former Champions Prepare For Grand Battle
The Age
Tuesday January 24, 2006
JON Leach is recently arrived in Melbourne from Laguna Beach, California, no doubt hoping to see his wife Lindsay Davenport sweep to a second Australian Open title, or at the very least a second consecutive final. Today, Leach will be courtside for the final that isn't; the quarter-final that - injury permitting - would be a worthy women's decider.
Davenport, the world No. 1, plays Justine Henin-Hardenne, a former inhabitant of the top spot, the French Open champion and 2004 Australian Open winner who has fallen to sixth in the rankings after a year that started with a knee problem and ended with a hamstring injury that cost her the last two months of the season.Yet it is Davenport's body that is the more newsworthy subject ahead of the match between two of the big four title favourites. The American rolled her ankle in round three and jarred it during Sunday's defeat of Svetlana Kuznetsova. Scans cleared the American of structural damage, but she is officially listed as only a "probable" starter, and spent yesterday away from the practice court, treating a swollen left ankle that was packed in ice.Which is a shame because Davenport was in particularly fine fettle in the first set against Kuznetsova, while no woman has won more matches in Australia this summer than Sydney titleholder Henin-Hardenne. Davenport will need all the mobility she can muster against the Belgian star, with whom she shares an interesting history: Davenport won the first five matches, and Henin-Hardenne the past four, including at Melbourne Park in 2003 and 2004."She's just a phenomenal player," Davenport said before the quarter-final rematch. "I mean, the difference from when I played her in the beginning of her career and how she's gotten better over the years is quite outstanding. There's no question, no matter what her ranking is, she's always a very feared opponent."I think she's gotten more aggressive against me. I think in the beginning of her career, her forehand was more of a liability. Now I think she considers it more of a weapon. She's obviously an extremely strong and physical player, and has improved that over the years. I think also the confidence she developed in 2002, 2003, helped her a lot."The winner will play either fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova or No. 6 Nadia Petrova, the top-ranked duo among the 11 Russians in the top 40 drawn to play their third consecutive grand slam tournament quarter-final.Sharapova prevailed at both Wimbledon and the US Open, and it would be a surprise if the tournament's third favourite failed to do so again. But Petrova is a worthy opponent, who in 2005 broke through to win her first title after seven years on the tour, the last four spent inside the top 15.There is a slightly juicy subplot to this match, and it involves - what else? - the entourages. When the pair first met, in Los Angeles in 2003, it was reported that Sharapova pumped her fist at the start of the third set, to which her father Yuri Sharapov claimed Petrova responded with an obscene gesture.Yuri then taunted Petrova from the stands and, afterwards, Petrova's then-coach, Glen Schapp, accosted Yuri and dumped him into a rubbish bin before security guards intervened. After this tournament, Petrova plans to dump her current coach, Alexander Mityaev - although not physically, it is to be hoped.
© 2006 The Age
