Davenport goes ga ga on gondola

“I thought her speech was pretty good out there. She is always gracious to Lindsay. They have a good professional relationship,” Stubbs said after winning the mixed doubles final with American Jared Palmer.

On Friday, Stubbs and partner Lisa Raymond defeated Hingis and Mary Pierce to win the doubles Grand Slam title. Stubbs later said Hingis complained about how badly she had played.

ON THE MEND: Former No 1 Patrick Rafter is in Bermuda, hitting balls so he can be ready for a tournament in Delray Beach, Florida, at the end of February.

Rafter, who sat out the Australian Open to nurture his shoulder back to full strength after surgery in October, said he won’t try to rush his return to match play.

“I’m confident that when we crank up the workload, all of the pain in the shoulder will be gone,” he wrote in a syndicated newspaper column.

“There is still a bit of pain with the slice backhand and the volley and that is a worry,” he said. “It’s a matter of ensuring the muscles in that area are stronger and more flexible.”

PAINFUL DELIVERY: Ellis Ferreira says the “mental anguish” of playing to 18-16 in the fifth and deciding set of the men’s doubles final was “like giving birth”.

Although, the 29-year-old South African, who partnered American veteran Rick Leach to a grueling five-set victory over Andrew Kratzmann of Australia and Wayne Black of Zimbabwe, later scaled down his description to “pure torture”.

Father of one, Ferreira had two chances to win the match on Kratzmann’s second serve but the Australian survived on both occasions. Kratzmann saved three match points before skewing a backhand wide on the fourth match point.

“Rick kept me centered,” he said. “I was freaking out but he was calm — the guy is solid and that’s why he’s done so well.”

TIE-BREAKER: Jim Van Allen saw Rick Leach’s father play and then decided it was time to change the rules of tennis.

Dick Leach and Dick Dell share the all-time record for the most number of games played in a doubles set when they teamed in 1967 to defeat Len Schloss and Tom Mozur 3-6, 49-47, 22-20 at Newport Rhode Island.

Leach, who won the men’s doubles final after an 18-16 fifth set, said his father was proud of his Guinness Book of World Record entry, although it was probably the type of set which inspired Van Allen devise the tie-break.

“It took six hours and 10 minutes, Jim Van Allen was watching the match.”

The tie-break was introduced in Grand Slams in the 1970s. Previously, a player or players had to hold a two-game advantage to win a set if the scores were level at 6-6. At a Grand Slam, only the third set in women’s or the fifth set in men’s matches, if needed, are not decided on a tie-break.

PRICE RISE: By one prediction, ticket prices may rise by up to 30 per cent at next year’s Australian Open.

Tax experts expect a hike because tournament organisers will need to cover a soon to be introduced goods and services tax, or gst, on prize money. So Tennis Australia, the nation’s tennis federation, as well as players and spectators will lose out, the Sunday Herald Sun of Melbourne reported.

“Not only will tennis players be hit by a GST, but so will Tennis Australia which will lose one-eleventh of all sponsorship money to the GST,” the newspaper quoted Ray Regan, president of the National Tax and Accountants Association, as saying.

If his prediction is correct, a ticket for the men’s final — now worth $ 89 (approximately Rs 2,494) — would soar to $ 115.70 (approximately Rs 3,225) next year.