Davenport In Fine Nick After Illness
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday January 19, 2005
World No.1 Lindsay Davenport made the perfect start to her Australian Open campaign with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Conchita Martinez last night.
The No.1 seed showed no mercy against the seasoned Spaniard as she raced to victory in just 48 minutes on centre court.Martinez, Wimbledon champion in 1994 and an Australian Open finalist in 1998, won just seven points in the second set.Davenport said she was still feeling the after-effects of the bronchitis that had forced her to pull out of last week's Sydney International but was confident it had almost cleared. Also yesterday, Venus Williams took less than 23 minutes to take the opening set from Greek Eleni Daniilidou on her way to a 6-1, 7-5 win. The No.8 seed, on her way back from stomach surgery this time last year, settled quickly at the baseline and moved comfortably. She joined fellow seeds Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder and Nathalie Dechy in the second round. No.3 seed Myskina beat Kveta Peschke 6-1, 6-4 and was one of 14 Russian women to reach the second round. Daniela Hantuchova, Jelena Jankovic, Karolina Sprem, Tatiana Golovin and Francesca Schiavone were among the other seeds to advance yesterday.
© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald
