Sania enters third round of Australian Open

India’s top tennis player Sania Mirza on Thursday sailed into the third round of the Australian Open tennis tournament here with a three-set win over unseeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.

World number 31 Sania won 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in one hour and 44 minutes. She prevailed despite committing six double faults, though her first serve was quite successful. The Hyderabadi won 35 points out of 52 on her first serve for a 67 per cent success rate.

Venus overcomes glitches to reach Australian Open second round

Venus Williams overcame a rash of mistakes to post her first victory at the Australian Open in three years, downing China’s Yan Zi 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday.

The eighth-seeded Williams, who lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2006 and was out last year with injuries before starting a comeback that included the Wimbledon title, was her own worst enemy.

She gave Yan two break points with a pair of double-faults in the first set, then virtually handed the Chinese doubles specialist an early break in the second with a string of unforced errors. Williams, forced to run from side to side, finished with 29 unforced errors and only 19 winners.

Williams shrugged off her mistakes, saying: “Errors happen. That’s tennis.”

Fortunately for Williams, Yan didn’t have enough offense and was content to slug it out from the baseline _ she finished with only five winners.

Williams, constantly fighting inconsistency, ran off five consecutive games from 0-2 in the second set. Serving for the match at 5-3, she double-faulted twice while getting broken at love. But Williams joined sister Serena, the defending champion, in the second round when she broke for the match as Yan netted a string of groundstrokes.

“I felt good out there,” Williams said. “Had a lot of fun. Got to hit a lot of balls, which I felt was good. She definitely made me play some balls that I wasn’t expecting to come back. It was definitely challenging.”

The tournament experienced its first crowd violence problem as Greece’s Konstantinos Economidis played last year’s losing finalist, seventh-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

Tournament officials said play in the match was interrupted for five minutes while police sprayed three people with pepper spray. Five were evicted. Gonzalez won in straight sets. Top-ranked Roger Federer, aiming for a third consecutive Australian title and claiming to be 100 percent recovered from a stomach virus that interrupted his preparation, was playing in the final night match against Diego Hartfield of Argentina. Third-ranked Novak Djokovic showed he has recovered from the exhaustion that plagued him at the end of last year, when he played 87 matches, more than any other men’s player. The 20-year-old Serbian star looked refreshed, sharp and hungry again as he beat Benjamin Becker 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

His brief off-season consisted of … nothing. “I tried not to do anything. That’s a real rest,” said Djokovic, seeded third after coming in at No. 16 last year. “I needed really to take it easy.”

The results?

“Physically I’m ready, and mentally as well,” he said. “I have a lot of motivation to do well this season, especially here in the Australian Open.”

After the match, the television commentator implored Djokovic to do one of his impressions of another player _ specifically Maria Sharapova _ that have generated huge attention on Youtube. At first, he resisted _ “I don’t want to offend anybody,” he said _ before giving in and doing a good impersonation, right down to the Russian player’s tendency to brush strands of her long blonde hair back over her ears.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation, but it was clear that the reception in the locker room has been less positive. “I didn’t want to do any of the other tennis players,” Djokovic said, explaining that Sharapova doesn’t mind his take on her habits. “I wasn’t really trying to make fun of anybody or offend anybody. It’s something that I think brings up some positive energy and something different.”

No. 10 David Nalbandian, who beat Federer and Rafael Nadal at consecutive tournaments to win the Madrid and Paris titles, recovered from back spasms that forced him out of last week’s Kooyong exhibition to oust Australian Robert Smeets. Former U.S. Open and Wimbledon winner Lleyton Hewitt started his 12th bid to become the first homegrown winner of the national championship since 1976 by downing Steve Darcis of Belgium. No. 12 James Blake beat Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 and Marcos Baghdatis, who lost the 2006 final to Federer, defeated 2002 champion Thomas Johansson.

Marat Safin, who lost the 2002 final but made amends with the title here in 2005, will meet Baghdatis in the next round after a 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis. Fifth-ranked David Ferrer ousted Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, but No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic lost to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

France’s 35-year-old Fabrice Santoro broke Andre Agassi’s record for most appearances at Grand Slam events in the Open era when he beat American John Isner in straight sets to kick off his 62nd major, including 38 in a row.

On the women’s side, second-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat Nathalie Dechy of France, while another Russian, No. 6-seeded Anna Chakvetadze, only played six points before Germany’s Andrea Petkovic retired with a leg injury.

Also reaching the second round were No. 4 Ana Ivanovic, No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova and No. 14 Nadia Petrova. Tenth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France became the highest-ranked female to lose, the Wimbledon finalist falling to Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.

Hewitt says Federer’s dominance forced him to change

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt said the brilliance of Roger Federer over the past few years has forced him to change his game in a bid to match the Swiss.

The Australian, runner-up in 2005, is bidding to become the first home winner of the men’s singles at the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson in 1976.

Under the tutelage of his new coach Tony Roche, the world number 21 has been working on becoming more aggressive in a bid to get back into the top 10 and try to add to his two grand-slam titles.

“The game’s always changing,” Hewitt told reporters on Sunday.

“Roger Federer’s obviously the guy that’s taken the game to a new level. You’ve got to look at little ways of improving your game to be able to match it with the best players.

“And being slightly a bit more aggressive and maybe not so predictable is maybe one way of doing that.”

STILL CONSISTENT

Hewitt’s former Davis Cup team mate Wayne Arthurs suggested in the Australian press on Sunday that the efforts to become more aggressive may have cost him the consistency that helped him reach the top.

Early defeats in the warm-up events in Adelaide and Sydney suggested he may be struggling to find the balance, but Hewitt said he was still tough to beat.

“I’m still pretty consistent, though, compared to most guys out there, still play the percentages a lot better than most guys out there,” he said.

Hewitt begins his campaign against Belgian Steve Darcis, while he could play former champion Marat Safin or 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis in the third round.

The Australian said he was just focusing on his first-round match but said he still believed he could win the title.

“Every year (he doesn’t win) is another year down the drain, I guess,” he said.

“(But) I’m only 26 at the moment. The body’s been feeling really good the last couple of months. You need a little bit of luck in any grand slam to win it.

“For me right at the moment, it’s just a matter of trying to survive the first week. If I put myself in a position deep in the second week, I’ve got as good a chance as anyone.”

Serena stunned by new mum Davenport’s comeback

Former World No.1 Serena Williams confessed that her female ego has been slightly bruised as she watches new mum Lindsay Davenport storm through a comeback that has carried the 31-year-old back to the Australian Open.
 
Davenport, who had earlier retired from tennis, gave birth in June only to rediscover her love for the game. The American had won titles at three of the four events she has played since September.
 
“I’m speechless,” said Williams who has slimmed down by six kilograms prior to the start of her title defence, which starts Monday.

“She looks better than me, and she’s seven months out of having a baby. I’m convinced if I had a baby, seven months later I’d probably still be in the hospital trying to get over the pain.”
 
Williams also called Davenport as her ultimate role model.
 
“I am really so motivated,” said last week’s Hopman Cup winner. “She’s just taken it to a new level.”
 
Williams has done some hard yards of her own, arriving in Australia at the New Year for the Hopman mixed teams event in Perth, and then training this week at Melbourne Park.
 
She has pulled her ranking back to seventh from the 80s a year ago, and goes into her opening match against Jarmila Gajdosova, a newly naturalised Australian.
 
“I don’t feel any pressure at all. I feel just excited to be here. I don’t feel like, Oh, my God, I have to win, win, win,” said Williams. “I just feel like I’m having so much fun every day.”
 
She played her usual light autumn schedule in 2007, competing in only 10 matches after losing a New York quarterfinal to Justine Henin.
 
But even with the chance to move back toward the number one ranking she once held, Williams is not keen on over-playing.
 
“If I play well in a solid amount of tournaments, I’ll be able to take that ranking. I’ve never been the type of player that has to play 20 tournaments to get to number one, or 30.”
 
However, she warned: “My body will allow anything, really. It’s ready for anything.”

Team still in Sydney hotel, waits for BCCI response

Even at this moment, the Indian cricket team bus is parked out the team hotel here and the Indian players are waiting to hear from the BCCI as to whether their Australia tour will continue or not. The players are furious about the events of the past few days, especially the racism charges on Harbhajan Singh and the three-match ban handed to the off-spinner on Sunday night.

The emergency team meeting this morning did not include the coach, the support staff or managers. The players wanted to talk about the dramatic events of Sunday night and reach a consensus on what their plan of action would be. 

Most of the players were asleep by the time Anil Kumble, Harbhajan and Sachin Tendulkar returned to the team hotel after the hearing at 2:30 am local time. Many of them woke up to the news that Harbhajan was banned for three matches on racism charges. There was shock and disbelief write large on their faces as they gathered in the hotel lobby.

The team was supposed to leave by road by 10:30 am, but the time came and went. Even as their wives and families, among other people, waited in the lobby, the players had their “Council of War” in a room leading off the main lobby.

The players are waiting for a detailed written order from the match referee on what exactly all the racism charges were. A senior player told Hindustan Times in the hotel lobby: “After the initial heat of the moment when emotions were running high, we decided we would wait ad see what exactly the statement from the match referee was.” 

He said that at this point, from what they gathered, the tour is likely to continue, but they were waiting to hear about certain conditions they had asked for. “In any case,” he said, “the decision whether tours will continue or not is not up to us, since the repercussions are bigger than cricket or this tour. The players are keen to play cricket because we want to play fair and square, and once things settle down in the next few days, we can go back to the game itself.”

Harbhajan Singh banned for three Tests

SYDNEY: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was on Sunday banned for three Test matches after the ICC Match Referee Mike Procter upheld the Australian charge that he had racially abused their all-rounder Andrew Symonds, a decision against which the Indian team will appeal within 24 hours.

Procter gave a marathon six-and-a-half hour hearing to Harbhajan, who denied the charge and was supported by skipper Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, manager Chetan Chauhan and media manager MV Sridhar during the deliberations.

Procter also heard Symonds, who was backed by Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke along with team manager Steve Bernard, who attended the hearing to testify against the Indian spinner.

After the hearing, there was no official word about the verdict but sources said that the three-Test ban was being slapped on Harbhajan, who is fully backed by the BCCI and the team.

The appeal will be made to the Commissioner of Appeals and pending the appeal, the off-spinner can continue to play.

After the hearing, Sridhar had said that they had not ruled out returning home, but the BCCI later played down the threat.

Meanwhile, the Indians have also filed a complaint against Australian spinner Brad Hogg for using abusive language during the ill-tempered second Test.

The Indian team lodged the complaint against Hogg during the hearing, giving a new twist to the simmering feud between the two sides.

BCCI officials promptly said that they would appeal against the three-match ban imposed on Harbhajan. Board vice-president Rajiv Shukla said they had not yet received any communication from the International Cricket Council regarding the ban.

“Nothing has been communicated to us yet. But if a ban is imposed, we will appeal against it within 24 hours. Harbhajan will appeal and the BCCI will also appeal,” Shukla said.

BCCI’s chief administrative manager Ratnakar Shetty said it was an “unfortunate” development.

“There was no evidence against Harbhajan so I don’t know how they could arrive at such a conclusion.”

When asked what the Aussies brought to the hearing which resulted in a verdict in their favour, Shetty said “we are not concerned about what the Australians think.”

Harbhajan was charged under rule 3.3 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct that deals with using language or gestures that insults a person on the basis of race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.

The off-spinner vehemently denied saying anything racial during the altercation.

Sridhar said both sides were together during the hearing into the alleged racial abuse.

“We are extremely disappointed since we feel that there is no evidence against Harbhajan,” Sridhar said after the hearing.

The three-match ban came as a surprise for the Indians as both the on-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson had gone on record as saying that they had not heard anything offensive being said. The hearing was originally scheduled for Saturday but Procter agreed to a request by the Indian management to defer it by a day.

Harbhajan was charged last night under Level 3 of the International Cricket Council’s Code of Conduct following his run-in with Andrew Symonds at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The charge was laid by match umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor after the third day’s play following a complaint from Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

The complaint was made by Ponting after the 116th over of India’s first innings, prior to which Harbhajan is alleged to have made a racist comment directed at Symonds.