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Cutting classes leads to better focus for Venus

The No. 2 seed's extra time for preparation propels her into Aussie quarterfinals.

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 21, 2002

MELBOURNE, Australia -- In Venus Williams' balancing act, less time in school means more practice time and sharper play in the Australian Open.

Sure, she had to limp through a second-round victory with left knee tendinitis. But Williams clearly has recovered.

She reached the quarterfinals by quickly eliminating a player who entered their match with a 2-1 record against Williams.

The 6-0, 6-3 win over 13th-seeded Magdalena Maleeva in 48 minutes Sunday set up a round-of-eight match against four-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles.

"I took less classes in the fall, so I had a lot more time to practice," Williams said. "That was the major difference."

She looked sluggish in Melbourne last year en route to the semifinals, where she won just two games against Martina Hingis.

Hingis could be her semifinal opponent again this year, as Williams tries to win her third straight Grand Slam and fifth overall.

First Williams will have to beat Seles, against whom she owns a 6-0 record.

Hingis beat No. 15 Amanda Coetzer 6-1, 6-0 in 44 minutes, and she faces unseeded Adriana Serra Zanetti.

Defending champion Jennifer Capriati struggled in her second set but advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Rita Grande 6-3, 7-6 (13-11). The second set was decided when 20th-seeded Grande double-faulted.

No. 6 seed Justine Henin advanced, beating 12th-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-3. Amelie Mauresmo beat Marlene Weingartner 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.

Williams' cutback at school was not necessarily intentional. She said she could not take any more classes in her fashion design program because she had not completed the prerequisites.

And Williams, who measures success in Slam titles, is not sure she wants to play more tournaments to climb to No. 1 in the rankings. She trails Capriati and Lindsay Davenport.

Hingis lost the No. 1 ranking after 73 weeks when an ankle injury led to surgery in October.

She bounced back to win a warmup tournament in Sydney. "Every game I play, I feel better, more secure in my shots," she said.

The eighth-seeded Seles advanced when Anabel Medina Garrigues wrenched her knee trying to reach a wide shot.

On the men's side, where the top five seeded players were gone before the third round, Jonas Bjorkman beat No. 6 Tim Henman 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Among the top 22, five were left: No. 7 Tommy Haas, No. 8 Pete Sampras, No. 9 Marat Safin, No. 11 Roger Federer and No. 16 Thomas Johansson. Sampras and Safin are the only men left in the field who have won a major title.

Sampras meets Safin, and Haas plays Federer today. Sampras has a 3-3 record against Safin, who beat him for the 2000 U.S. Open title, but lost to him in the 2001 semifinals. Safin was fined $1,000 for an audible obscenity in his third-round match against Mikhail Youzhny.

Bjorkman faces Johansson, a 6-7 (10-8), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 winner over Adrian Voinea.

Bjorkman, who ranked as high as No. 4 in 1997, has not been in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since the 1998 Australian and U.S. Opens.

The Swede had the shot of the day against Henman in the second-set tiebreaker. When Henman appeared certain to gain a set point with an overhead smash, Bjorkman leaped and sent a forehand to the sideline. Henman netted a backhand serve return to end the set.

"I'm not sure even if I've done it before," Bjorkman said. "But it was a good time to come up with those shots."

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