Rafter Advances, But Chang Loses
Australian Open
U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter, his foot blistered and his sunscreen-smeared face looking like a wild mask, survived the Australian Open’s first brutal heat blast Thursday in a five-set duel against Todd Martin.
The second-seeded Rafter, finding it tougher to win in his homeland than he did in New York last September, struggled through his second exhausting match to beat Martin 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3 seed Michael Chang, who pulled out of a tuneup last week because of a strained stomach muscle, couldn’t muster one of his signature comebacks as he fell to Guillaume Raoux of France 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
The bespectacled Raoux, ranked No. 46, closed out the match with an ace, raised his arms in triumph and strode off as Chang slumped in his chair, a vision of pain, weariness and disappointment.
With a blister the size of a walnut on his right foot as court temperatures approached 100 degrees, Rafter took an injury timeout for treatment after the third game of the second set. Yet, he never relented from his net-charging style, and he stayed with the baseline-hugging Martin during long rallies.
Martin served 18 aces, five more than Rafter, and slugged 21 service winners to Rafter’s 15. Martin also produced more clean winners in rallies, but his inconsistency cost him as he hit a dozen more unforced errors and dropped key points.
No. 5 Greg Rusedski, who lost the U.S. Open final to Rafter, got through to the third round when Jonathan Stark retired with an injury in the third set. Rusedski led 6-4, 6-4, 1-0.
The fierce heat, which sent more than 100 fans to first-aid stations, nearly wilted defending women’s champion Martina Hingis.
Hingis swept the first five games, lost the next five, then bore down to beat Barbara Rittner 7-5, 6-1.
Hingis next meets 16-year-old Russian Anna Kournikova, who beat American Corina Morariu 7-5, 6-2.
In other women’s matches, No. 3 Amanda Coetzer downed Larisa Neiland 2-6, 6-1, 6-0; No. 5 Mary Pierce beat Cristina Torrens-Valero 6-1, 6-2; No. 10 Anke Huber beat Anne Miller 6-4, 6-0; No. 11 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy fell to Henrieta Nagyova 6-1, 6-4; and No. 16 Ai Sugiyama beat Japanese compatriot Miho Saeki 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-1.