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Journalism of Courage
Jjames Blake hopes his beard is big and bushy by the end of next week. The superstitious Blake, who doesn8217;t shave as long as he8217;s still alive in a tournament, advanced to the third round of the Australian Open by beating hitting partner Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 Thursday.
Now he faces another buddy, Robby Ginepri, who beat German qualifier Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-5, 6-1. Two other friends 8212; Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis 8212; raced to see who could finish their match first and took another step toward a possible quarterfinals showdown.
None of them was as fast as Maria Sharapova. The top women8217;s seed, who endured three hours of broiling heat in her first-round match Tuesday, needed only 58 minutes to beat fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova 6-0, 6-3.
8220;My brain cells were restored today,8221; said Sharapova, who described herself as delusional in her last match. 8220;It was nice to get a quick one in there today.8221;
Men8217;s No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko had later matches. There were no surprises when the fifth-seeded Blake faced off against the 216th-ranked Kuznetsov, who was playing with a titanium rod in his right leg 8212; the result of a car accident less than two years ago.
For three games, it looked like an upset could happen. Blake came out a little flat while Kuznetsov, who survived three rounds of qualifying and a five-set first-rounder that didn8217;t end until 2 a.m. Wednesday, was hot. 8220;Alex played great,8221; Blake said. 8220;He was cracking returns.8221;
Kuznetsov, who was born in the Ukraine and moved to the US with his family when he was 3, took two quick service breaks before Blake, refusing to panic, pulled himself together and started ripping winners. Blake, who won five titles last year and finished 2006 with a run to the Masters Cup final, had only 13 unforced errors to go with 26 winners.
Clijsters extended the winning start to her farewell tour, beating Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0 in 59 minutes. Joking that she and Clijsters were racing to finish their matches, Hingis continued to build momentum in her comeback after three years away with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva.
The 23-year-old Clijsters, who has announced she is retiring at the end of this season to start a family, recovered from an inconsistent opening set to run through the second. 8220;I won in two pretty easy sets, so I8217;m not complaining,8221; she said.
She finished nine minutes faster than Hingis, who lost a little time when she was broken while serving for the match at 5-1. Sixth-seeded Hingis won three straight Australian titles from 1997 and then lost three consecutive finals before quitting the tour because of nagging foot and ankle problems.
Her comeback to the Australian Open in 2006 ended in a quarterfinal loss to Clijsters. Also advancing on the women8217;s side were ninth-seed Dinara Safina, No. 12 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 13 Ana Ivanovic, No. 15 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 19 Li Na, No. 22 Vera Zvonareva, No. 29 Alona Bondarenko and No. 30 Tathiana Garbin. No. 17 Anna-Lena Groenefeld lost to American Ashley Harkleroad.
Men8217;s winners included eighth-seeded David Nalbandian, No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 13 Tomas Berdych, No. 15 Andy Murray, No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 21 Dmitry Tursunov and No. 28 Sebastien Grosjean. Light rain caused delays on outside courts in the morning, with matches held up by 90 minutes.
