Martin triumphs in battle of `nice guys’

The match had been billed by organisers as the “battle of the nice guys” — both players being former recipients of the ATP Tour’s “Stefan Edberg Award” for sportsmanship.

But Corretja enlivened proceedings with a little bit of naughtiness. Angered by an umpire’s warning for slow serving at the start of the second set, the 24-year-old slammed his racquet against the netting after losing a rally in the next game, and then practised hissoccer technique with a tennis ball as martin waited to serve.

World No 1 Lindsay Davenport heads into next week’s Australian Open on a high note after blasting past Switzerland’s Martina Hingis in the women’s final today with a 6-4, 6-3 win in just under an hour.

Rubin triumphs

HOBART: America’s Chanda Rubin scored a confidence-boosting straight-sets win over Italy’s Rita Grande in the final of the Tasmanian International women’s tennis tournament today.

Fifth-seeded Rubin needed just 77 minutes to beat the unseeded Grande 6-2, 6-3 in a one-sided final.

Schalken supreme

AUCKLAND: Sjeng Schalken marked the third anniversary of his brother’s death from leukemia by winning the Auckland Heineken Tennis Open today.The unseeded Dutchman beat fifth seed Tommy Haas from Germany 6-4, 6-4 to complete a tournament that saw the big names regularly dispatched by the underdogs.

Enqvist conquest

MELBOURNE: Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist waltzed past Australian Mark Philippoussis today to winthe Colonial Classic Exhibition Trophy.

In the warm-up for the Australian Open, he aced the local favourite on the last point to seal the match at 6-4, 6-1 in 52 minutes.

Australian Open Draw (Jan 18, 1999)

MEN: 1-Marcelo Rios (Chi) vs Gianluca Pozzi (Ita), Albert Portas (Spa) v Lionel Roux (Fra), Wayne Black (Zim) v Adrian Voinea (Rom), Andrei Medvedev (Ukr) v Qualifier, Petr Korda (Cze) v Galo Blanco (Spa), Julian Alonso (Spa) v Sebastien Lareau (Can), Carlos Costa (Spa) v Hendrik Dreekmann (Ger), Fernando Meligeni (Bra) v 15-Todd Martin (US), 10-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus) v Jonas Bjorkman (Swe), Qualifier v Jason Stoltenberg (Aus), Peter Wessels (Net) v Jim Courier (US), Felix Mantilla (Spa) v Younes El Aynaoui (Mor), Qualifier v Arnaud Di Pasquale (Fra), Andrei Pavel (Rom) v qualifier, Neth Carlsen (Den) v Qualifier, Diper (Aus) v 8-Greg Rusedski (Bri), 4-Carlos Moya (Spa) v Nicolas Kiefer (Ger), Qualifier v Stefan Koubek (Aut), Alberto Martin (Spa) v Guillaume Raoux (Fra), Qualifier vFabrice Santoro (Fra), Daniel Nestor (Can) v Qualifier, Thomas Muster (Aut) v Sjeng Schalken (Net), Tommy Haas (Ger) v Michael Kohlmann (Ger), Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) v 13-Cedric Pioline (Fra), 12-Albert Costa (Spa) v Martin Damm (Cze Republic), Jan Siemerink (Net) v Sargis Sargsian (Arm), Ramon Delgado (Par) v Vincent Spadea (US), Franco Squillari (Arg) v Qualifier, Steve Campbell (US) v Arnaud Clement (Fra), Jiri Novak (Cze) v Francisco Clavet (Spa), Slava Dosedel (Cze) v Dinu Pescariu (Rom), Hernan Gumy (Arg) v 5-Andre Agassi (US), 6-Tim Henman (Bri) v Karim Alami (Mor), Guillermo Canas (Arg) v Sandon Stolle (Aus), Todd Woodbridge (Aus) v Marc Rosset (Swi), Wayne Arthurs (Aus) v Jens Knippschild (Ger), Michael Tebbutt (Aus) v Paul Haarhuis (Net), Jeff Tarango (US) v Alberto Berasategui (Spa) Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze Rep) v Sebastien Grosjean (Fra), Qualifier v 11-Goran Ivanisevic (Cro), 14-Mark Philippoussis (Aus) v Geoff Grant (US), Michael Chang (US) v Brett Steven (NZ), Juan Antonio Marin (Costa Rica) v JanKroslak (Slo), Mariano Puerta (Arg) v Qualifier, Toby Mitchell (Aus) v Byron Black (Zim), Thomas Enqvist (Swe) v Jan-Michael Gambill (US), Mark Draper (Aus) v Mark Woodforde (Aus), Oliver Gross (Ger) v 3-Patrick Rafter (Aus), 7-Karol Kucera (Slo) v Fernando Vicente (Spa), Leander Paes (India) v Davide Sanguinetti (Italy), Marat Safin (Rus) v David Prinosil (Ger), Qualifier v Gustavo Kuerten (Bra), Wayne Ferreira (SA) v Qualifier, Dominik Hrbaty (Slo) v Daniel Vacek (Cze), Joseph Sirianni (Aus) v Mariano Zabaleta (Arg), Hicham Arazi (Mor) v 9-Richard Krajicek (Net), 16-Thomas Johansson (Swe) v Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador), John Van Lottum (Net) v Magnus Norman (Swe), Mikael Tillstrom (Swe) v Laurence Tieleman (Ita), Justin Gimelstob (US) v Qualifier, Qualifier v Andrew Ilie (Aus), Jerome Golmard (Fra) v Qualifier, Arnold Lucas (Arg) v Christian Ruud (Nor), Takao Suzuki (Jap) v 2-Alex Corretja (Spa)

WOMEN: 1-Lindsay Davenport (US) v Gala Leon Garcia (Spa), Florencia Labat (Arg) v Yayuk Basuki (Ino), ParkSung-Hee (S Kor) v Karina Habsudova (Slo), Lisa Raymond (US) v Lea Ghirardi (Fra), Laurence Courtois (Fra) v Rachel McQuillan (Aus), Qualifier v Yuka Yoshida (Jap), Kveta Hrdlickova (Cze) v Sylvia Plischke (Aus), Anke Huber (Ger) v 13-Irina Spirlea (Rom), 15-Natasha Zvereva (Bel) v Katarina Studenikova (Slo), Kimberley Po (US) v Meilen Tu (US), Chanda Rubin (US) v Marlene Weingartner (Ger), Christina Papadaki (Gre) v Elena Wagner (Ger), Karin Miller (US) v Ruxandra Dragomir (Rom), Annabel Ellwood (Aus) v Jane Chi (US), Cristina Torrens Valero (Spa) v Asa Carlsson (Swe), Silvija Talaja (Cro) v 5-Venus Williams (US), 3-Jana Novotna (Cze) v Anne-Gaelle Sidot (Fra), Henrieta Nagyova (Slo) v Kristie Boogert (Net), Jennifer Capriati (US) v Evie Dominikovic (Aus), Sandra Cacic (US) v Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo (Spa), Cara Black (Zim) v Catalina Cristea (Rom), Jana Nejedly (Can) v Pavlina Stoyanova (Bul), Seda Noorlander (Net) v Miriam Oremans (Net), Qualifier v 11-Dominique Van Roost (Bel), 9-Conchita Martinez(Spa) v Adriana Gersi (Cze), Nathalie Dechy (Fra) v Brie Rippner (US), Anna Smashnova (Isr) v Elena Tatarkova (Ukr), Emilie Loit (Fra) v Mirjana Lucic (Cro), Nicole Pratt (Aus) v Maria Alejandra Vento (Ven), Samantha Smith (Bri) v Larisa Neiland (Lat), Corina Morariu (US) v Amelie Mauresmo (Fra), Qualifier v 8-Patty Schnyder (Swi), 6-Monica Seles (US) v Qualifier, Denisa Chladkova (Cze) v Alexia Dechaume-Balleret (Fra), Adriana Serra-Zanetti (Ita) v Mariana Diaz-Oliva (Arg), Sabine Appelmans (Bel) v Conchita Granados (Spa), Sarah Pitkowski (Fra) v Magui Serna (Spa), Serena Williams (US) v Raluca Sandu (Rom), Wang Shi-Ting (Tai) v Els Callens (Bel), Tara Snyder (US) v 14-Sandrine Testud (Fra), 10-Steffi Graf (Ger) v Paola Suarez (Arg), Meghann Shaughnessy (US) v Barbara Schwartz (Aus), Laura Golarsa (Ita) v Mary Joe Fernandez (US), Amy Frazier (US) v Ai Sugiyama (Jap), Radka Bobkova (Cze) v Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa), Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) v Nana Miyagi (Jap), Barbara Schett (Aus) v Jana Kandarr (Ger),Mariaan de Swardt v 4-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spa), 7-Mary Pierce (Fra) v Cindy Watson (Aus), Anne Kremer (Lux) v Catherine Barclay (Aus), Rita Kuti Kis (Hun) v Li Fang (Chi), Tathiana Garbin (Ita) v Rita Grande (Ita), Silvia Farina (Ita) v Andrea Glass (Ger), Tatiana Panova (Rus) v Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha), Sonya Jeyaseelan (Can) v Miho Saeki (Jap), Qualifier v 12-Anna Kournikova (Rus), 16-Amanda Coetzer (SA) v Qualifier, Julie Halard-Decugis (Fra) v Alicia Molik (Aus), Janet Lee (Tai) v Qualifier, Flora Perfetti (Ita) v Samantha Reeves (US), Elena Makarova (Rus) v Jelena Dokic (Aus), Kristina Brandi (US) v Amelie Cocheteux, Qualifier v Gloria Pizzichini (Ita), Lilia Osterloh (US) v 2-Martina Hingis (Swi).