Andy Roddick kept his head while Marat Safin and all around him
were losing theirs to win the titanic showdown of the third round
at the Australian Open on Friday.
As the Russian raged at the match referee and chair umpire,
Roddick, under the watchful eye of coach Jimmy Connors, dismantled
his opponent's confidence with a 7-6 2-6 6-4 7-6 win to book a
last-16 tie against Croatia's Mario Ancic.
Defending champions Roger Federer and Amelie Mauresmo safely
booked their places in round four while two-time former champion
Serena Williams staged a remarkable comeback to secure hers.
But the day was all about the showdown between powerhouse
Roddick and 2005 champion Safin, who was unable to defend his title
last year due to injury.
"When I saw the draw I said, no not me," jubilant sixth seed
Roddick said.
"I knew I would have to play well or I'd be going home. You come
out and get matches like this and to get through a tough one like
this is what it's all about".
The quality of the tennis may not have matched the intensity of
the pre-match hype, but Roddick's furious chasing, bizarre
officiating and Safin's volcanic temper provided a dynamic
spectacle.
DECISION OVERTURNED
Safin scowled at chair umpire Pascal Maria at 1-1 in the fourth
set when the French official called a serve long only to have his
own decision overturned when the Russian referred the call to
Hawk-eye.
He had been stewing since a verbal obscenity warning after a
tirade with tournament referee Wayne McKewen and while Safin fumed,
Roddick won more of the baseline rallies when it mattered and
quietly watched as the Russian imploded to end his nine-match
winning streak at Melbourne Park.
"They have been so pathetic on this subject," Safin raged to
reporters when asked about McKewen's decision to continue play so
quickly after a short rain delay at the end of the third set.
"I really am just so disappointed that people are so blind, they
don't want to see anything ... it's a nonsense for me."
After rain earlier caused a four-hour delay at the start of the
day, it was left to Williams and Federer to lifted dampened
spirits.
Williams looked dead and buried against fifth seed Nadia Petrova
at a set and 5-4 down with the Russian serving for a place in round
four.
But the American dug deep for a 1-6 7-5 6-3 victory and a match
against red-hot Serb Jelena Jankovic.
She was seen mouthing 'Hi Dad, call me' to the cameras as she
celebrated her win and revealed afterwards that it was a plea to
her father Richard to get in touch.
"I'm trying to reach my dad, I haven't been able to reach him
for a few days. Whenever I call him my number doesn't come up. It's
so frustrating."
'NONSENSE' HAWK-EYE
Federer inflicted technical frustrations of a different sort on
Mikhail Youzhny, using the Hawk-eye system he had earlier in the
week derided as 'nonsense' to help him pass the Russian 25th
seed.
At set point in the opener, a Federer serve was called out but
the Swiss referred the call to the instant replay technology and
the decision was overruled.
A string of disputed calls in the third set left the Swiss
bereft of challenges and another decision irked him in the closing
stages of a tense tiebreak, but he went to on to seal a
fourth-round tie with Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3 7-6.
"I wish I had none (challenges) all the time, nothing has
changed," an unforgiving Federer blasted after his eighth
successive win over the Russian.
Serb prodigy Djokovic, the 14th seed, dropped his first set of
the week when coming through in four against Thailand's Danai
Udomchoke, the last Asian representative in the men's draw.
Home hopes suffered in heartbreaking fashion when veteran Wayne
Arthurs reacted to a painkilling injection in his leg and was
forced to bow out of his third-round match after three games
against American Mardy Fish.
Richard Gasquet won the battle of the 20-year-old Frenchmen 6-0
4-6 7-5 6-3 against Gael Monfils and faces seventh seed Tommy
Robredo of Spain after his four-set disposal of 19-year-old
American Sam Querrey.
CZECH OUT
Czech 20th seed Radek Stepanek will have more time to cheer on
fiancee Martina Hingis after he crashed 6-7 4-6 6-0 6-4 6-3 in a
marathon three hour 51 minute epic to Spain's David Ferrer.
Ancic booked his fourth-round berth courtesy of a 6-3 6-2 6-1
rout of Slovak 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty.
Mauresmo happily strolled into a last-16 place against unseeded
Czech Lucie Safarova after a 6-3 6-1 win over another Czech, world
number 83 Eva Birnerova.
Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova bustled her way through at the
expense of fellow Russian and 26th seed Maria Kirilenko 6-1
6-4.
(China Daily via Reuters January 20, 2007)