Greg Rusedski lost the first set to South African qualifier Marcos Ondruska before storming back to win 3-6 6-3 7-6 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Greg Rusedski lost the first set to South African qualifier Marcos Ondruska before storming back to win 3-6 6-3 7-6 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
British number two Rusedski lost the first set 6-3, levelled in the second, then found himself 5-3 and four break points down to the 202 world ranked Ondruska in the third.But he fought back to take the set on a 7-6 tie-break before easily winning the fourth set 6-2.. Venus Williams skipped any warmup matches for the Australian Open. Then she received almost more testing than she wanted in the first round from an 18-year-old Spaniard with a rocket backhand.

Venus Williams skipped any warmup matches for the Australian Open. Then she received almost more testing than she wanted in the first round from an 18-year-old Spaniard with a rocket backhand.
The defending Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic champion finally wore down Maria Jose Martinez in the third set and won 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 Tuesday.”It’s a good thing to have a little test in the first round, especially since I haven’t played any tournaments prior to this,” Williams said.But the No. 3 seed added that at the start of the third set, “I was of course concerned because she was playing well and very consistently.”Williams’ younger sister, Serena, seeded sixth, advanced more easily to the second round, beating Taiwan’s Janet Lee 6-1, 6-4.Men’s No 1 seed Gustavo Kuerten and No. 4 Magnus Norman, a semifinalist last year, both struggled to ragged victories.Kuerten slammed down his racket after giving Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio a break with a double fault in the final set’s eighth game, and then let three break points slip away in the ninth.

After saving two break points in the 10th, he finally won 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5.Kuerten, who never has advanced past the second round at an Australian Open, next plays big-serving Greg Rusedski, a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-2 winner over South African Marcos Ondruska.Norman rebounded for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over 114th-ranked Stephane Huet of France, missing on three match points in the final tiebreaker before winning with a forehand on the sideline.Yevgeny Kafelnikov, like Venus Williams an Olympic gold medalist, beat Jens Knippschild 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Kafelnikov also opened the Australian last year against Knippschild. He lost the first set in 2000 and then didn’t drop another set before losing to Andre Agassi in the final.He now meets another German, Nicolas Kiefer, a top 20 player who has won their last two meetings.”I guess I have to run 100 percent next match,” said Kafelnikov, the 1999 Australian champion.Venus Williams’ opponent, Martinez, won the Orange Bowl, a major tournament for juniors, in 1999. To her Grand Slam debut, she brought a high-kicking forehand, a two-handed backhand that she steps into as if hitting a hockey slap shot, and the audacity to test Williams’ speed with drop shots.Two of those drop shots cost her a first-set service break. She netted one, and Williams countered the next with a better one.Martinez broke twice in the second set, forcing Williams into errors, and then charged to a 40-15 lead in the final set’s third game.Williams came back with seven straight points for a 2-0 lead and didn’t lose another game, although she faced two break points before holding for 4-0.”I just hit a few mistakes at the wrong times in the second set,” said Williams, who warmed up in an all-black outfit with a black visor, and then for the match took off her jacket to show a low-cut blue top.It was Williams’ first new outfit since she signed a U.S dlrs 40 million endorsement deal with Reebok. Williams, who studies fashion design, repeatedly tugged at the wraparound top, and while she denied that it bothered her, she added, “I didn’t design that one.”Recovered from a recent bout with anemia, Williams said she feels very motivated when she comes to Australia.”I make a 24-hour trip just to come The ticket is pretty expensive. I feel that I deserve to reward myself with some kind of a title,” she said.Martinez, ranked No.

152, arrived from a warmup tournament in Canberra where she lost in the first round of qualifying. But she won through her qualifying rounds here and, in the second set against Williams, played what she considers her best set ever.”I’m so happy. It was my first time playing a top 10 player,” said Martinez, who was a runner-up in the Australian Open junior tournament last year.The Williams sisters were joined in the second round by No 7 Mary Pierce, the 1995 champion; No 9 Elena Dementieva, the Olympic silver medalist and a U.S Open semifinalist; and No. 10 Amanda Coetzer, a two-time semifinalist here.Pierce beat Austria’s Sylvia Plischke 6-1, 6-3, Dementieva beat American Lilia Osterloh 6-4, 6-3, and Coetzer defeated Canada’s Sonya Jeyaseelan 6-2, 6-4.On the men’s side, those advancing included 1997 runner-up Carlos Moya, who won 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 against another former No 1, Marcelo Rios, the 1998 runner-up.No 10 Wayne Ferreira, No 11 Franco Squillari, No 15 Arnaud Clement and No 16 Sebastien Grosjean also advanced..