Translated material
Pete - for good people
Safin beat Sampras
The fourth round meeting of the Australian Open between Russian Marat Safin (9) and American Pete Sampras (8) turned out to be incredibly tense. The tennis players spent 3 hours and 41 minutes on the court before Safin tipped the scales in his favor - 6:2, 6:4, 6:7 (5:7), 7:6 (10:8).Marat finished the last rally with a spectacular, extremely risky dribbling shot down the line. “I took risks for a reason. Few people want to play the fifth game against Pete. I saw him in front of me for more than three hours, which is more than enough for me. He’s too great and dangerous,” Safin commented on the end of the game.
The fight was very nervous. Both players persistently tried to implement their plans for the game - Safin tried to play from the depths of the court with dribbling shots, fortunately the opponent was constantly striving for the net. In total, Sampras made 130 such attacks during the match versus 37 for Marat. But thanks to Safin's sharp play, the American was often left out of work.
“It was very difficult for me today, but I’m staying,” said a satisfied Marat after the match, who managed to win back three set points in the decisive game. This is especially important since he remained the only Russian representative in individual tournaments at the Australian Open.
The Belgian barrier again proved insurmountable for Elena Dementieva. If in the final of the team Fed Cup she was defeated by Kim Clijsters, then in the 1/8 of the Australian Championship, Justine Henin acted as a stern examiner. Lena was unable to oppose anything to her opponent - 0:6, 3:6. Agree, not the most decent score for the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament. Moreover, our tennis player was not helped by the rain, which interrupted the match for almost an hour with the score 1:2 in the second set. It would seem that here it is, a chance sent from above to come to your senses, rebuild and try to impose your game. Alas, Lena looked too timid, while Enin boldly walked to the net, where she victoriously completed her combinations in 18 out of 21 cases.
The matches in the men's tournament on yesterday's program were incredibly hard-fought. Only Chilean Marcelo Rios beat Nicolas Lapenti from Ecuador relatively quickly - 7:5, 6:1, 6:4. But in the remaining matches, the winners in the fifth decisive game had to wait for an advantage of two games. Having the highest seeding number among the remaining players, German Tommy Haas (7) snatched victory from Swiss Roger Federer (11) - 7:6 (6:3), 4:6, 3:6, 6:4, 8: 6. Experienced Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) also showed miracles of resilience, beating Spaniard Albert Costa - 4:6, 6:4, 6:4, 6:7 (4:7), 9:7. It is with the evergreen Wayne that Marat Safin will have to play in the quarter finals tomorrow.
In the women's singles, the time for sensations, apparently, has not yet come: Jennifer Capriati (USA, 1) - Rita Grande (Italy, 20) - 6:3, 7:6 (11:9), Kim Clijsters (Belgium, 4 ) - Jeanette Husarova (Slovakia) - 6:0, 6:2, Amelie Mauresmo (France, 7) - Marlene Weingartner (Germany) - 6:0, 4:6, 7:5.