| | MELBOURNE, Australia -- Start calling her Tsunami Sugiyama.
Ai Sugiyama overcame gusty winds at the Australian Open in
Melbourne Park and upset No. 4 seeded Mary Pierce 7-5, 6-4 Sunday,
advancing to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the
first time.
"I tried to be aggressive and hit balls as I hard as I can,"
said the Japanese No. 1, who finished last year ranked No. 24. She
reached the fourth round at the French Open in 1995, at Wimbledon
in '96 and at the Australian Open in '98 but never had reached the
final eight.
|  | | Ai Sugiyama had never made the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. |
Sugiyama scored her first break in the fourth game, helped by a
lucky net cord at 30-40, and took a 3-1 lead.
After a marathon deuce game at 4-3, when Pierce had six break
points, Sugiyama held serve for a 5-3 lead. She then had a
set-point at 5-4 before Pierce broke back to 5-5.
But Sugiyama won the next game with a scorching crosscourt
backhand before serving out the set.
Sugiyama broke twice for a 5-2 lead in the second set and had
match-point on serve before Pierce again broke back to 5-4.
Serving for the match, Sugiyama saved two break points, then set
up her second match point with a deftly angled forehand volley at
the net away from a desperate Pierce. She clinched her quarterfinal
berth when Pierce hit a return into the net.
It was the third time in their last four meetings that Sugiyama
has beaten the 1995 Australian Open champion.
Last year, she beat Pierce at San Diego and Moscow, but lost on
hardcourt at Los Angeles.
"She's a quick player," Pierce said. "She has very solid serve returns and groundstrokes. She moves well around the court."
Pierce said there were two mistaken line calls in the first set
that "made a big difference, ... especially when you're not
playing well. I made too many unforced errors, especially on my
backhand, and wasn't moving well."
Sugiyama is prepared for a tough match against her next
opponent, Jennifer Capriati.
"She's hitting the ball so hard," Sugiyama said. "We've been
practicing. I have to play so good."
Sugiyama also reached the doubles quarterfinals. She and
France's Julie Halard-Decugis, the 10th-seeded pair, rallied from
2-5 in the final set and beat the seventh-seeded team, Amanda
Coetzer of South Africa and Russia's Elena Likhovtseva, 4-6, 6-1,
7-5. | |
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