HER tennis was short and clipped, as were her replies. Serena Williams departed the Australian Open yesterday in no mood to debate her increasing disillusion with the sport and a sisterly tale that once dominated its every aspect and has now become little more than an inconsequential sideshow.
The defending champion was beaten in straight sets in the third round by Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, a will o’the wisp figure who had been made in their previous three meetings to bend to the once-awesome Williams power.
It was not so on Rod Laver Arena yesterday, as Hantuchova held everything together for a 6-1, 7-6 victory that pushes her back towards a place in the top ten and accelerates Williams’s decline, which is taking on a proportion every bit as sizeable as she is.
We have to await official pronouncements, but the likelihood is that Williams will be out of the world’s top 30 by the end of these championships. She has been troubled by injuries, not least with the left knee and ankle that caused her withdrawal from seven tournaments last year and left her vulnerable to those able to work at their tennis with unalloyed commitment.
Lindsay Davenport has not looked better at the start of the season for years, Kim Clijsters may have a hip problem but is lean and strong, there has never been much weight on Justine Henin-Hardenne’s bones and Maria Sharapova — Hantuchova’s opponent in the fourth round — fits snugly into the négligée that her sponsor is asking her to wear on court.
Advertisement
By comparison, the Williams sisters are listless and lacking. Venus lost in the opening round to Tszvetana Pironkova, the Bulgarian who lost in straight sets in the second to Laura Granville, of the United States, who lost in straight sets yesterday to Virginia Ruano Pascual, of Spain. That says it all. The pair of them have flashes of inspiration but increasingly they are treated with as much reverence as one would a freak show.
Questions about their commitment are dismissed, yet they have won all that there is to win and there has to come a time when the fascination runs dry. Certainly it is no fun losing to players they would once have spun around their bejewelled fingers and they surely cannot tolerate becoming third or fourth-raters.
For the leggy Hantuchova, 22, this was a feather in the cap. Not long ago she was blighted by a weight problem the exact opposite but every bit as devastating as Serena’s, a teenager who had become terribly thin and seemed to be wasting away. Mercifully, those days are gone and she is winning matches again; her coach for a second time, Nigel Sears, of Britain, believes in her totally. Their joy was something to behold.
“When I returned to work with Daniela, she was 54 in the world and at rock bottom,” Sears said. “Now she could be back inside the top 15. This was a genuine win. Serena fought to the end, but Daniela stayed with the plan we had worked out, she served brilliantly and didn’t get frustrated when she lost three match points at 6-5. It hasn’t been easy for her to come back and who knows what good this will do her.”
At the other end of the age scale, Fabrice Santoro came through five sets in the men’s singles, a match played in unspeakable heat. The 33-year-old went to the net 135 times in five sets to defeat a grand-slam champion in Gastón Gaudio, the No 8 seed from Argentina, 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
Advertisement
Gaudio, the French Open champion of two years ago, and Santoro had just left Vodafone Arena when officials invoked the excessive heat rule, where the “absolute” temperature exceeds 35C (95F), and the roof was drawn across the subsequent proceedings.
No one condemned the decision, but the mercury was bubbling at the height of Santoro’s bravery and, as he said, the men play for five sets and “now the girls start with the roof and play for one hour”. If Andy Murray had said such a thing, imagine the indignation.
David Ferrer, the No 11 seed from Spain, stands between Santoro and a first grand-slam quarter-final.
RESULTS FROM MELBOURNE PARK
MEN: Singles: Third round: F Santoro (Fr) bt G Gaudio (Arg) 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4; D Ferrer (Sp) bt M Ancic (Cro) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; T Robredo (Sp) bt J Blake (US) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; D Nalbandian (Arg) bt J Nieminen (Fin) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5; I Ljubicic (Cro) bt F López (Sp) 7-5, 7-6, 6-0; T Johansson (Swe) bt G Simon (Fr) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1; M Baghdatis (Cyprus) bt D Gremelmayr (Ger) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; A Roddick (US) bt J Benneteau (Fr) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Doubles: Second round: J Kerr (Aus) and T Parrott (US) bt C Ball (Aus) and A Coelho (Aus) 6-3, 7-5; P Hanley (Aus) and K Ullyett (Zim) bt J Coetzee (SA) and R Wassen (Neth) 6-7, 6-3, 6-4; T Berdych (Cz) and C Suk (Cz) bt I Minar (Cz) and J Vanek (Cz) 7-5, 6-3; M Damm (Cz) and L Paes (India) bt L Dlouhy (Cz) and P Vizner (Cz) 7-5, 6-3; J Acasuso (Arg) and S Prieto (Arg) bt C Haggard (SA) and H Levy (Isr) 6-4, 6-4; J Bjorkman (Swe) and M Mirnyi (Bela) bt Y Allegro (Switz) and K Vliegen (Bel) 6-4, 6-1.
Advertisement
WOMEN: Singles: Third round: L Davenport (US) bt M Kirilenko (Russ) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; S Kuznetsova (Russ) bt M Santangelo (It) 6-3, 6-1; V Ruano Pascual (Sp) bt L Granville (US) 6-3, 6-3; J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt V Razzano (Fr) 6-4, 6-1; M Sharapova (Russ) bt J Kostanic (Cro) 6-0, 6-1; D Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt S Williams (US) 6-1, 7-6; E Vesnina (Russ) bt O Savchuk (Ukr) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4; N Petrova (Russ) bt M E Camerin (It) 6-1, 6-2. Doubles: First round: V Kutuzova (Ukr) and A Rodionova (Russ) bt E Laine (Fin) and H Sromova (Cz) 6-4, 6-3. Doubles: Second round: L Raymond (US) and S Stosur (Aus) bt M Ani (Est) and A Vanc (Rom) 6-1, 6-3; Li Ting (China) and Sun Tiantian (China) bt C Dellacqua (Aus) and T Musgrave (Aus) 7-5, 6-4; Yan Zi (China) and Zheng Jie (China) bt L Dominguez Lino (Sp) and M A Sánchez-Lorenzo (Sp) 6-4, 6-0; L Huber (SA) and F Schiavone (It) bt E Gagliardi (Switz) and K Sprem (Cro) 0-6, 6-3, 6-0; M Krajicek (Neth) and A Szavay (Hun) bt N Dechy (Fr) and T Golovin (Fr) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3; C Black (Zim) and R Stubbs (Aus) bt A Frazier (US) and J Lee (Taiwan) 6-1, 6-4.
MIXED DOUBLES: First round: F Cermak (Cz) and A-L Grönefeld (Ger) bt M Kimmich (Aus) and L McShea (Aus) 6-4, 6-1; L Friedl (Cz) and L Safarova (Cz) bt P Luczak (Aus) and C Dellacqua (Aus) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6; D Nestor (Can) and E Likhovtseva (Russ) bt J Knowle (Austria) and J Jankovic (Serbia and M) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6; J Thomas (US) and B Stewart (Aus) bt N Healey (Aus) and T Musgrave (Aus) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6; W Arthurs (Aus) and A Sugiyama (Japan) bt C Moyà (Sp) and F Pennetta (It) 6-4, 6-4; M Bhupathi (India) and M Hingis (Switz) bt Wang Yeu-tzuoo (Taiwan) and Li Na (China) 6-2, 6-2.