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| 22 Jan 2003 | |
| Top seeds steady the ship at the Australian Open |
Strycova strikes again
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2003-01-22T13:24:00Z
2003-01-22T13:34:00Z
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434
2475
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20
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3039
9.2720
By Eleanor Preston
After a string of upsets in the
first two days of the Australian Open junior tournament, top seeds Barbora
Strycova and Marcos Baghdatis secured places in the third round.
Baghdatis, who made the final of the
boys’ US Open last year, was made to work hard for his three-set win over
unseeded Czech Lukas Rosol. The Cypriot eventually prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded third,
knocked out local boy Adam Feeney 6-2, 6-3, while Horia Tecau of Romania also
moved through to round three. Beier Ko
and Andrea Hlavackova, both seeded, progressed in the girls’ draw.
The day was not without incident in
the boys’ draw though, with two seeds joining the list of casualties from the
early stages of the tournament. In-form French boy Josselin Ouanna took another
notable scalp in the shape of 13th seed Jarrett Chirico and will be
a tough proposition for Baghdatis. Sergiy Stakhovsky caused another upset by
beating tenth seed Jose Luis Muguruza 6-1, 6-2.
Emma Laine of Finland sprung a
surprise in the girls’ draw, outlasting seventh seed Katerina Bohmova 6-2, 4-6,
6-3. Kristina Czakfikova was the other big name to fall, she was beaten 2-6,
7-6, 7-5 by Australia’s Adriana Szilli.
Strycova romped through to the last
sixteen in emphatic style, beating Sandy Gumulya 6-2, 6-1. It wasn’t all smooth
sailing for the defending champion though. When Strycova went 0-2 in the first
set it looked like Gumulya might be on course for a shock but the Czech, who
was World Champion last year, turned things around and allowed the Indonesian
just one more game.
“I was down 0-2 because of the wind
and the fact that I didn’t feel good on the court,” said Strycova.
“When I was down I felt it was going to be tough but then I started playing
normal, focused for the set and concentrated on my serve.”
Strycova revealed that she is struggling with an
ankle injury, which will make her task against Virag Nemeth in the next round
even more difficult. “I have a big pain in my ankle and so I can’t play
100%,” she said. “The doctor says it is an inflammation in my foot and I am
trying to protect it. When I move it’s really hurts, so I just play and try but it is on my mind. I don’t feel well on the court because my ankle is really hurting.”
Nemeth will hold no surprises for Strycova since the
pair have played three times, with the Czech winning their last encounter.
Strycova has been keeping her eye on Nemeth’s progress in recent weeks. “It’s
going to be tough because she won a tournament last week and she is playing
well,” she said. “I saw her match and it was really good. Even though she isn’t
seeded I think it will be difficult. I am looking forward to playing a big
match because I know in my mind that I can win it.”
Strycova, too, must deal with the inherent pressures
that come with success, but she is determined not to allow expectations to get
the better of her. Instead she is hoping to be inspired by her warm memories of
Melbourne.
Photographs by Ron Angle
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