Williams Sisters, Hingis Move On to Quarterfinals

M E L B O U R N E, Australia, Jan. 22, 2001 -- Next time, Venus Williams says, she

needs a better game plan.

"At the end, I really just went for the gold and got lucky,"was her explanation of how she beat Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 3-6, 6-3today to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

After suffering through a midmatch flurry of wild hitting,Williams was serving for the match at 5-3.

Mauresmo ended a 26-shot rally with stunning backhand down theline for a break point before Williams, the Wimbledon, U.S. Openand Olympic champion, came back with a forehand winner and twoaces.

"I guess we weren't really sure about what we were going todo," said the No. 3 seed. "I'd better walk out with a better gameplan next time."

Hingis, Williams Advance to Quarterfinals

Williams' younger sister, Serena, was more overpowering in a6-2, 6-2 victory over Daja Bedanova, the 17-year-old Czech who hadknocked out Olympic silver medalist and U.S. Open semifinalistElena Dementieva.

Top seed Martina Hingis, the most prominent obstacle to aWilliams sisters semifinal, advanced to a quarterfinal meeting withSerena by beating Rita Grande 6-0, 6-3.

With nearly 6,000 people watching a doubles match involving AnnaKournikova on Court 1, play was briefly interrupted when a15-year-old boy threw a smoking orange flare on the court. Securityapprehended him.

"I was hitting the ball and suddenly something dropped in frontof me," Kournikova said. "I just walked away."

A streaker interrupted one of Kournikova's doubles matches atWimbledon last year.

Venus Loses Serve But Pulls Through

Venus Williams received plenty of help from 1999 Australianrunner-up Mauresmo, who committed 44 unforced errors to 43 by Venusin the 1-hour, 41-minute slugfest.

Venus charged the net against Mauresmo's first serve of thematch and took the point with two quick volleys. She stayed incommand long enough to break serve in the second set's third game.

Then she lost serve in a game with six errors, including twodouble faults, and was broken again to give Mauresmo a 4-2 leadthanks to four more errors, including her seventh of 10 doublefaults for the match.

Venus broke in the final set's second game, was broken back inthe seventh and gained her decisive break for 5-3, setting up the"going for the gold" finish.

Next up for Venus is No. 10 Amanda Coetzer, a 6-1, 6-4 winnerover Argentina's Paola Suarez.

"I've been through a lot of ups and downs in my career," Venussaid. "I know how to deal with certain situations. Luckily enoughI was able to pull through."

In the second set, Venus said her sister said, "'Come on Venus,do your best.' That really helped out a lot."

Hingis Trying for Fourth Open Title

Venus and defending champion Lindsay Davenport, the No. 2 seed,were mentioned when Hingis was discussing possible obstacles to herfirst major tournament title in two years.

"There is Serena, too," Hingis said of the sister who isseeded sixth and beat her in the 1999 U.S. Open final.

Serena has lost only 19 games in four matches here so far, butHingis has lost only 12.

"I think if I'm playing well, I have the chance to beat anybodyout there," said Hingis, who beat Serena 6-4, 7-5 in thequarterfinals of a warm-up tournament two weeks ago.

Hingis also has an excellent record in the Australian Open,where she has won three of her five Grand Slam tournament titles.She lost here to Davenport in last year's final, however, and hasnot won a Slam since the Australian in 1999.

Hingis was seeking perfection in her match, and threw her racketwhen Grande started doing better in the second set.

"She was upset because she missed two balls," Grande said.

"I kept lobbing her and she kept hitting overheads," Hingissaid. "I was like, 'OK, one more and I kill myself."'

Serena said she already had prepared for her match againstHingis before she landed in Australia.

"I play enough, I win enough," she said. "Obviously, I wish Iwon more. A lot of people would pretty much kill to do what I'vedone."

Kafelnikov Advances

In men's matches, Olympic gold medalist Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the1999 Australian champion and last year's runner-up, solved theleft-handed serves of Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra and won 7-5,7-5, 6-1.

The No. 5 seed advanced to a quarterfinal with No. 15 ArnaudClement, a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 winner over Greg Rusedski, the man whoknocked out top seed Gustavo Kuerten.

Former No. 1 Carlos Moya, coming back from an injury, beatGermany's Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4. He was awaiting thewinner of a night match between No. 4 Magnus Norman, a semifinalistlast year, and No. 16 Sebastien Grosjean.

Clement impressed quarterfinal opponent Kafelnikov.

"He doesn't give you any points. You have to earn yourpoints," the Russian said. "He can have a long match, and henever gets tired."