Venus survives the curse of Melbourne

Chris Jones|Evening Standard|In Melbourne

14 April 2012

There is a growing belief that the Australian Open is jinxed, as the list of walking wounded and sick lengthened today under the intense Melbourne heat.

Even Venus Williams, the biggest star in an injury-hit women's draw, twisted her ankle while defeating Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-1 on centre court and needed ice treatment and physiotherapy.

Her injury will be reassessed, but the former World No1 is adamant she will be able to compete, to the enormous relief of tournament organisers who lost Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Jelena Dokic, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce before a ball was hit in anger.

Venus said: "I was going for a swing volley and I twisted my right ankle and I will monitor it to see how it goes.

"I am not anticipating it being bad. I have put ice on it and it will be re-evaluated later today."

Venus attempted to lift some of the gloom by explaining her need to turn up on court with the kind of jewellery normally reserved for dinner dates and gala events.

She used her press conference to transport the media to Planet Venus where she explained that: "I believe that if you look good, you play better - I'm serious! When I walk out on court my game's ready and my outfit is ready."

Back on Earth, where the men's section, already missing injured seventh seed Carlos Moya, lost fifth seed Guillermo Coria today. His 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 defeat by Cyril Saulnier of France owed everything to the abdominal strain that has been hampering the Argentine for ten days.

British No2 Greg Rusedski was dumped out of the first round by No26 seed Albert Costa in straight sets and then revealed that "four or five" players plus a tournament doctor had been struck down by gastroenteritis.

This is the kind of infection that can spread rapidly at a Grand Slam event, where the players mix so freely and share the same facilities on site.

To make matters worse, even the court-side equipment was playing a part in creating serious injuries. American qualifier Cecil Mamiit had to retire from his match with 15th seed Lleyton Hewitt on centre court after sliding into the umpire's chair trying to get a shot back.

Mamiit's foot was jammed under the side of the chair and, although he limped back onto court, the American then collapsed in pain and had to stop despite having the leg taped up.

Hewitt registered a 6-2, 6-4, 0-1 win after 84 minutes toiling in the heat.

Thankfully steering clear of any problems was second seed Roger Federer, who demolished American Alex Bogomolov 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 at the start of his quest for the Australian Open.

Wimbledon champion Federer breezed through the first two sets and put on a master class in the third to wrap up a one-sided match in 89 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

"Straight sets in the first round is a good start," said the 22-yearold Swiss.

Federer, who won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon as well as the prestigious Masters Cup in 2003, was never seriously tested by Bogomolov in his first match since losing 6-2, 6-4 to Andre Agassi at the Kooyong warm-up event last week.

"A lot of upsets can happen here because some players are just not 100 percent ready yet," said Federer. "But the Australian Open stays as important as Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open to me in my eyes.

"It doesn't really matter because I'm ready for this event."

David Nalbandian, the eighth seed, a potential winner of the tournament, has, so far, avoided any of the problems afflicting other players in Melbourne.

He beat Brazil's Ricardo Mello 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to stay on course for a fourth- round meeting with Britain's Tim Henman, who was due to face Jean-Rene Lisnard of France today.

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Venus survives the curse of Melbourne

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