Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 49

WWW star-telegram com Saturday January a zuub ju TENNIS MEN'S FINAL dream of playing in final real AUSTRALIAN OPEN I WOMEN'S FINAL Serena hobbles into circle Serena Williams battles a back injury but defeats Lindsay Davenport for her seventh Grand Slam singles title and ends an 18-month Grand Slam drought By JOHN PYE Tin ASSOI 1AI El) 1'RISS MELBOURNE Australia Serena Williams overcame a back injury and rallied to defeat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 2-6 6-3 6-0 to win the Australian Open title Williams stretched her winning streak at Melbourne Park to 14 matches and captured her seventh Grand Slam singles title ending an 18-month drought She also won here in 2003 but defend the title last year because of an injured knee The seventh-seeded Williams who fended off three match points in her semifinal win over Maria Sharapova on Thursday made a dramatic comeback after needing a medical timeout in the first set for what a trainer initially described as a rib injury had me on the run My back went out not as young as I used to said Williams 23 I was able to come The victory marked first Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2003 She spent months off the circuit because of injuries and her best result in 2004 was a run to the final at Wimbledon where she lost to Sharapova Davenport who won the last of her three Grand Slam titles here in 2000 won only eight points in the third set After backhand landed long on match point Williams dropped to a knee and raised both arms in the air She held up an index finger before walking over to her entourage in the crowd slapping GETTY IMAGESCHRIS MCGRATH Serena Williams lost the first set 6-2 but came back with 6-3 6-0 victories over Lindsay Davenport to win her 14th consecutive match at Melbourne Park hands with her mother Oracene Davenport who also lost in the doubles final said Williams was too strong in the end had a tough couple of years but come back like the champion she Davenport said Davenport raced to a 4-0 lead in just 11 minutes in the first set breaking serve in the first and third games Williams appeared to be favoring her right side each time she hit the ball and after holding serve for the first time in the fifth game called for the trainer The trainer treated her back at the side of the court and then Williams took an eight-minute break for more treatment Williams had a bieak point in the next game but Davenport held and closed the set in the next game with a service winner Williams just got to the serve on her backhand side screaming as she missed with a lunge After fending off six break points Williams held serve in the fifth game of the second set She twice appeared on the brink of smashing her racket but held her composure and hung onto the game kept thinking not losing this game I care if my arm falls she said After that her body language changed and so did her game AUSTRALIAN OPEN REPORT Through Sunday Melbourne Australia TV: ESPN2 Men's final 2 30 a Sunday (live) and 11 a Sunday (taped) PERFORMANCE ON THE ROAD And With Your RESULTS FINANCIAL ADVISOR MEN'S SEMIFINAL SINGLES Lleyton Hewitt (3) Andy Roddick (2) 3 6 7 6 (3) 7 6 (4) 6 1 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES Serena Williams (7) Lmdsav Davenport (1) 2 6 6 3 6 0 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik (b) Lindsay Dav enport and Conna Morariu (IS) 6 3 6 4 SEMIFINAL MIXED DOUBLES Scott Dnper and Samantha Slosur Andy Ram and Con chita Martinez 7 5 6 3 QUARTERFINAL MIXED DOUBLES Max Mirnyi and Mirtina Navratilova (7) Wayne Black and Cara Black (2) 7 5 6 4 2005 MLRC LDFS BtNZ 230 SPORTS SEDAN Mil FOR iv MONTH ILXE Lleyton Hewitt is trying to become the first Australian to win his country's Open since 1976 1ROM VMRt KtPOK rs MELBOURNE Australia Marat Safin admits the pressure got to him the first time Last year he was exhausted for his final against Roger Federer who went on to have one of the great years in tennis Now Safin has a third chance to win the Australian Open Only he will have an entire country against him Sunday when he faces Lley-tori Hewitt at Rod Laver Arena Safin is hoping to add a second Grand Slam title to his 2000 US Open crown Hewitt is trying to become the first Australian man to win his national championship in almost three dedades Safin upset top-ranked Federer 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-6 (6) 9-7 in 4 hours Thursday to reach his third Australian Open final in four years Hewitt advanced to his first Australian final Friday with a 3-6 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 6-1 win over Andy Roddick Roddick had fended off all eight break points in the first two sets some with aces on his second serve although he lost a second-set tiebreaker that could havd gone either way He broke opening service games of the first and third sets and seemed in control as evidenced by 23 aces including seven in a row to close the first set and open the second played pretty solid until I lost my he said In the fourth set he won only two points in the first three games and it was all over from there came out flat in the fourth set When he gets a lead he just stretches Roddick said Hewitt is hoping to become the first Aussie to win this event since Mark Edmondson in 1976 always said give anything to play one match for the title here in he said part of that dream has come true and I get a chance on Sunday Hewitt knows have to play one of his best matches to beat Safin a top player and has got a lot of firepower a lot of Hewitt said Hewitt has been dreaming of winning an Australian title since he debuted in the tournament in 1997 as the youngest qualifier ever at 15 years 11 months like just a nice little straight-sets win but I know if get Hewitt said Roddick who in 2003 won the US Open amid the expectations of a home crowd understands the pressure Hewitt will face definitely tough because all eyes on Roddick said have that kind of spotlight on you and perform no small Safin seeded fourth blamed nerves for his loss in the final to Thomas Johansson in 2002 when he was heavily favored to beat the Swede A year ago Safin survived back-to-back five-set matches against Roddick in the quarterfinals and Andre Agassi in the semifinals The Russian then lost in straight sets to Federer the first of three major titles for the Swiss star in 2004 had two bad experiences in the final so I will be really said Safin who celebrated his 25th birthday Thursday with the win over Federer 0 i hsi mh pi mi '( ust niiu Ji wn piuiknt ism i lu S3 lit )1 du 11 FROM WIKI REPORTS Davenport falls in doubles US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Australia's Alicia Molik combined to down Americans Lindsay Davenport and Cori-na Morariu 6-3 6-4 in the women's doubles finals Davenport and Morariu lost to Serena Williams and Venus Williams in the 2001 doubles final here In between Morariu underwent chemotherapy treatment for leukemia and has had two shoulder operations Other plans When he was dating Kim Cli-jsters Lleyton Hewitt was a fixture in the players' box for her matches Since they called off their engagement in October and broke up interest in women's tennis vanished Hewitt has a new girlfriend Australian actress Rebecca Cartwright a regular at his matches After beating Andy Roddick in semifinal Hewitt was asked what he planned to do Saturday his off day before facing Marat Safin for the title "Probably a 10K run gym session" Hewitt said "I won't be watching the women's final for Playing above par Scott Draper fared better on the tennis court Friday than on the golf course Draper a pro golfer and tennis player shot a 7-over 79 Friday morning in the first round of the Victorian Open in Melbourne Draper who qualified for his Australasian PGA tour card in December is 13 shots behind the leaders On Friday afternoon Draper I advanced to the Australian Open mixed doubles final when he and Samantha Stosur beat Andy Ram and Conchita Martinez 7 5 6-3 Federer fan Serena Williams is a big fan of Roger Federer and was a jangle of nerves watching him on TV when Federer lost to Marat Safin on Thursday night "I was Williams said "I couldn't watch at one more Williams sounded like a charter member of the Swiss star's fan club think he's an amazing athlete just his ability is second to none" she said "I learn so much from his game He's just so smooth and so solid effortless A little help Andy Roddick who lost 3 6 7-6 (3) 7 6 (4) 6-1 to Lleyton Hewitt said tournament referee Peter Bellenger hurried him while he left the court after the third set Roddick who told chair umpire Andreas Egli he was leaving was off for eight minutes "I was changing my clothes then the referee came in and started getting on me so that was fun" Roddick said "I asked him if he wanted to tie one shoe for me and I could tie the other one we could just save time I guess that wasn't a good idea Experts in Excellence in in it1 paikphuctcxas com PARK PLACE MOTORCARS MIDCITIES 3737 U' Aupoit Ftry BcJJoiJ TX 7602 1 88S31H9183 PARK PLACE MOTORCARS DALLAS 4023 CM Arr Dallas TX 75219 888 837 6089 I i I IS (lit rs '1)01 nn 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