Venus Williams and Andre Agassi both had easy first round victories on the opening day of the Australian Open in Melbourne today.
Second seed Williams fought back from 3-0 down in the first set before finally overwhelming Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 on the Rod Laver Arena. "I think I'm doing well," said the second-seeded American superstar, who added that halting sister Serena's charge towards a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title was not her driving motivation: "I wouldn't exactly say that's my goal. My goal is to be the best. I guess if Serena wins a Slam, then I'll be there congratulating her."
Agassi, meanwhile, indicated that he is going to cause problems for top seed Lleyton Hewitt, aiming to become the first Australian to win in Melbourne since Mark Edmondson in 1976. Looking lean and sharp, and with wife Steffi Graf watching in the stands, second seed Agassi disposed of American compatriot Brian Vahaly with a minimum of fuss, winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. "I felt nervous going out there today, it's been a bit longer than I would have liked," said Agassi, making his first appearance at the Australian Open for two years after injury ruled him out in 2002. "My focus is not so much being ranked number one, but finishing number one at the end of each Grand Slam tournament," he added.
Agassi and Williams' victories were typical of the early matches on Monday, with little in the way of upsets. Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan had been given the honour of playing the opening match on the main court, and returned the favour by beating Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0. The win set up a possible second round encounter with Australian Mark Philippoussis, who was playing later today. Men's fifth seed Carlos Moya also got away smoothly, beating Belgium's Dick Norman 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 despite being bothered by a sore elbow. There were wins too for compatriot and fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Franco Squillari, 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and eighth seed Albert Costa, who defeated Germany's David Prinosil in four sets.
In the women's singles, hard-hitting Belgian Justin Henin-Hardenne, seeded five, overcame Switzerland's Myriam Casanova in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour. About the closest thing to an upset occurred in Russian glamour-girl Anna Kournikova's match - she won. Kournikova fell at the first hurdle in all four Grand Slams last season, living up to her reputation for being a tennis player who is more style than substance. But world number 42 was never challenged on her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova. She now faces Henin-Hardenne in the second round on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Jennifer Capriati today became the first defending champion to ever be knocked out at the first round stage. The American went down 2-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 to unseeded German Marlene Weingartner.
Capriati looked to be on her way to the second round and was cruising when she led by a set and 4-1, but as the desperate Weingartner threw everything she has at Capriati, the American's game went to pieces. Weingartner forced the second set into a tie-break, won that 8/6 and then broke in the final game to clinch a shock victory.
Filed by James Boylan.
