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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Thursday, May 17 |
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| Hingis faces Sanchez-Vicario next Associated Press | |||
ROME – Following a visit to the ancient Colosseum, Martina
Hingis beat her third-round opponent in the Italian Open Thursday
with all the speed and power of a modern gladiator.
Hingis rallied after losing the first three games in the final
set for a 6-4, 6-3 win over Russia's Elena Likhovtseva on Foro
Italico's center court.
"We had long rallies, back-and-forth," the top-seeded Hingis
said after her sixth win in six matches against Likhovtseva. "It
was very physical."
Other third-round winners Thursday were No. 3 Conchita Martinez,
No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, No. 14 Jelena
Dokic, Paola Suarez and Joannette Kruger.
With a day off Wednesday, Hingis took a trip inside the
2,000-year-old sports complex.
"I'm used to playing in these big stadiums," the five-time
Grand Slam champion said. "But seeing (the Colosseum) on the
inside is impressive ... You can imagine the crowd screaming."
Hingis, the tournament winner in 1998, said the ancient
structure was exciting to visit after having seen the movie,
"Gladiator."
"I remember the line from the movie, 'You gotta get the crowd
on your side,' " she said, smiling. "It's like that sometimes.
Every loss is a death match ... Well, maybe not as tragic."
Her next match is against Spain's Sanchez-Vicario in Friday's
quarterfinals of the $1.185 million tournament.
Sanchez-Vicario beat Russia's Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1, 6-2 in
Thursday's third round.
Hingis had beaten Sanchez-Vicario in their first 15 meetings,
before losing at Amelia Island earlier this year. She rebounded
last week to beat Sanchez-Vicario in the quarterfinals at the
German Open.
A three-time French Open champion, with 27 career tournament
wins, Sanchez-Vicario never has won the Italian Open. Twice she
reached the final, losing to Gabriela Sabatini in 1989 and Martinez
in 1995.
On Thursday, Martinez beat Denisa Chladkova of the Czech
Republic 6-0, 6-1. Mauresmo defeated Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova
6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Mauresmo will face Argentina's Suarez, who beat Switzerland's
Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4, 6-2.
Mauresmo is coming off her fourth title of the year, having
beaten Jennifer Capriati last week in the German Open.
Mauresmo lost in the final here last year and will try later
this month to follow the example of Mary Pierce, who last year was
the first Frenchwoman to win the French Open since 1967.
Dokic, seeded 14th, defeated Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis 6-3, 6-3.
It was the first meeting between the two since Dokic came under
fire during last year's Australian Open when she lost her first
round match to Kuti Kis, then insisted that her opponent "is not a
player and never will be a player."
Dokic said after the match that both players had "put that
behind us."
"We're talking to each other, we see each other at
tournaments," Dokic said. "She's very nice."
Dokic's quarterfinal opponent will be South Africa's Kruger, who
beat Gala Leon Garcia of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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ALSO SEE Thursday's results Capriati fades, exits early in Rome tourney | |
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