Hantuchova Upsets Molik at U.S. Open
Wed Sep 1, 1:19 PM ET
By HAL BOCK, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK
Daniela Hantuchova took another step back up the tennis rankings ladder
Wednesday, defeating No. 17 Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-3 at the U.S. Open
Ranked as high as No. 5 in the world last year, Hantuchova had tumbled to No.32
and was facing a formidable opponent in Molik, who came into the Open with the
bronze medal from the Athens Olympics.
But Hantuchova, a runner-up at Eastbourne and a quarterfinalist at the Open
warmup in New Haven, used effective drop shots and played confident, aggressive
tennis to pull off the upset. She was almost flawless on her approaches to the
net, winning 17 of 20 points.
Beaten by Patty Schnyder at Athens, Hantuchova looked steadier than she had in
her first-round match, when she dropped the first set and then came from behind
to defeat Camille Pin, winning the last two sets in tiebreakers.
There was no need for those kind of dramatics against Molik.
Hantuchova next plays No. 15 Schnyder, who defeated Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1.
In other early matches, No. 31 Maria Vento-Kabchi defeated Julia Schruff 6-1,
2-6, 6-2 and No. 12 Ai Sugiyama defeated Gisela Dulko 6-2, 6-4. Dulko beat
Martina Navratilova at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
Third-seeded Serena Williams and second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo play second-rou
nd matches in the day session Wednesday, and eighth-seeded Jennifer Capriati
faces Magui Sema of Spain at night.
On the men's side, fourth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt sees his first action with a
match against Wayne Ferreira, playing his record 55th straight Grand Slam
tournament, and No. 1 Roger Federer takes on Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the
late match.
Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick won center court matches Tuesday night,
joining former champions Venus Williams (news - web sites), Lindsay Davenport,
Justine Henin-Hardenne as second day winners. Tim Henman and Juan Carlos
Ferrero also advanced in five-set matches.
Sharapova found herself one game from becoming the first reigning Wimbledon
women's champion to lose in the first round of the Open. But she won 12 of the
last 14 points against Laura Granville in a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory.
"My game went off for a while. I went to La-La Land," the 17-year-old star said,
"but I came back to Earth."
Defending Open champion Roddick sent a quick message to the men's side with a
U.S. Open-record 152 mph serve in his first service game against 17-year-old
Scoville Jenkins.
Roddick breezed through the first set in 16 minutes and wrapped up a 6-0, 6-2,
6-2 win with overpowering groundstrokes and 12 aces.
"I just wanted to welcome him to the court," Roddick said of the serve. "I knew
he was a little bit nervous, so I thought that I'd go at him and show him
something early on."
Williams defeated Petra Mandula 6-3, 7-6 (3) in near obscurity in Louis
Armstrong Stadium in a day match that didn't start until after 8:30 p.m. That
was because Ferrero, the 2003 runner-up, was taken to five sets by 28-year-old
qualifier Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic. Beset by illness and injury most of
the year, the seventh-seed Ferrero struggled to a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4),
6-3 victory.
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