SportingNews.com - Tennis : Davenport reaches quarterfinals at Open

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Davenport reaches quarterfinals at Open
August 31, 2003

NEW YORK -- Lindsay Davenport hunched over with her hands on her head, in the most trouble yet at the U.S. Open -- and her problems had little to do with her ailing foot.

Davenport, extended to three sets for the first time in the tournament, defeated hard-serving Russian Nadia Petrova 6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-2 Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

The third-seeded Davenport, the only former Open champion in the field, spent 1 hour, 52 minutes on the court in the fourth-round match. She had won her first three matches in less than three hours.

"Gosh, it was tough," she said. "I started off playing the first set so well, exactly how I wanted to play. As the match wore on, I got less aggressive. I'm just happy to pull it out. I should have probably won it in the second set."

In a thrilling third-round men's match, 22nd-seeded Younes El Aynaoui outlasted No. 10 Jiri Novak 7-6 (1), 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) before a packed house on the Grandstand court.

Novak trailed 5-3 in the tiebreaker when he smacked his seventh and final ace of the match. He tied it at 5 when he hit a backhand winner down the line after chasing down a short drop shot. El Aynaoui hit a passing shot of his own on the next point and Novak's backhand volley on match point sailed wide.

El Aynaoui, a real crowd pleaser, threw his racket in delight, jumped against the wall and into the arms of a friend, then stripped off his shirt and slung it into the stands. He held up a Moroccan flag and draped it over his shoulder to sign autographs. To top things off, he hoisted his racket into the seats.

The 31-year-old El Aynaoui is accustomed to late-match excitement. He lost 21-19 to Andy Roddick in the Australian Open quarterfinals this year in the longest fifth set in Grand Slam tournament history.

Andre Agassi finished his 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory against No. 28 Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a match that began Saturday but was suspended by rain with Agassi leading one set to love and down a game in the second set.

"I think a lot of things went well," said Agassi, at 33 the oldest No. 1-seeded player in the Open era. "I was able to break right away, got back into that set and got my teeth into the match. I managed to squeak out a second-set tiebreaker and was off to the races."

In other men's action, No. 7 Carlos Moya beat Nicolas Massu 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Davenport's body language gave it all away: The woman with the most hard court wins of all time was uncomfortable with her game. She even threw her racket to the ground, though it bounced back up into her hand.

After breezing through the opening set in 22 minutes, Davenport began having trouble with the No. 19 Petrova's serve, which consistently came in at 106 mph or more. Her own serve failed her, too.

There were four straight games in the second set when neither player held serve. After breaking back to close within 5-4, Davenport held for 5-5. In the tiebreaker, she led 5-2 before Petrova tied it at 5. Petrova made it 6-5 when Davenport's second serve clipped the net and sailed long.

Davenport saved two set points before Petrova finished it. Davenport had more unforced errors than winners, 33-22.

Late in the third set, Davenport limped to the sideline for the final changeover, clearly bothered by the lingering nerve problem in the toes of her left foot. After the final point, she slowly made her way to the net to shake hands, then smiled and gave a friendly wave to the energetic crowd.

This kind of test is exactly what Davenport hoped to avoid during the first week. It will be interesting to see how she holds up from here. The foot will require surgery after the Open.

The crowd stuck by her through the struggles.

A tiny group of fans hollered "Let's go Lindsay," and nearly everyone in Arthur Ashe Stadium participated in the ensuing clapping.

Also set to play Sunday were fourth-seeded Andy Roddick; reigning Wimbledon champion Roger Federer against American James Blake; world No. 1 Kim Clijsters vs. American Meghann Shaughnessy; and fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo against Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.