Australian Open Notebook
Surviving men seeds a rarity as only 5 make round of 16
Posted: Sunday January 24, 1999 12:59 AM
| |
Blood and guts: Thanks to a hard-fought win by Todd Martin, only two players made a repeat quarterfinals appearance AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The Australian Open once again is going into its round of 16 with most of the men's seeds gone.
The 1998 Open broke the record for grand slam events in the three-decade-old Open Era when only four seeds made it into the fourth round.
This time, five seeds are into the last 16. No. 15 Todd Martin became the fifth by struggling to a five-set victory over defending champion Petr Korda in a 3 1/2-hour match that ended at 1 a.m. Sunday.
After a poor finish to the 1998 season, Korda fell to 20th in the rankings and was not seeded.
The four seeds who reached the last 16 last year were Pete Sampras, Korda, Jonas Bjorkman and Marcelo Rios. This year, Sampras didn't come, Rios dropped out just before the start with a back injury, and Bjorkman -- unseeded this time -- lost in the first round to No. 10 Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
The only repeaters from last year's round of 16 are Andre Agassi, unseeded then but No. 5 this time, and Karol Kucera, also unseeded in 1998 but No. 7 this time.
Kucera, Kafelnikov, Agassi and Martin were joined in this year's round of 16 by No. 14 Mark Philippoussis, the U.S. Open runner-up.
Supporting Sampras
Andre Agassi, who once had a major rivalry going with Pete Sampras for top spot in the rankings, isn't upset that Sampras is back in the United States playing golf while Agassi is battling on the tennis courts.
"God bless that man," Agassi said.
He said the No. 1-ranked player's absence "is a bit of a disappointment in some respects. You always want the best players.
"But I'm not doing much complaining about it. I hope he's living like a king right now. He deserves it," said fifth seed Agassi, the top-ranked survivor in the men's draw.
"He's accomplished a lot. Let him enjoy this time off."
Sampras cited fatigue in skipping the Australian Open, and has been playing in the Bob Hope Golf Classic.
His No. 1 ranking is safe. The last man with a chance to overtake him in the rankings by doing well at the Australian Open was U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter, who lost in the third round to Sweden's Thomas Enqvist.
Game gourmet
A few million dollars can make a big difference to a guy's eating habits. Andre Agassi says he gave up fast food hamburgers in the mid-90s, when his career was at its peak and he was well on his way to earning his U.S. $15 million-plus career prize money.
But it wasn't weight or fitness concerns that brought about the change, the food-chain burgers "just didn't taste good anymore," said the former world No. 1.
"I found the finer things in life," he said. "When you get a good restaurant to fire up a burger it tastes a lot better, you know."
By contrast, 1998 U.S. Open runner-up Mark Philippoussis has given up burgers, pizzas and ice-cream specifically for the tournament.
"I do love my food, and eating better, that has improved [my fitness] a lot," he said. What about celebrating if he wins? "I'll treat everyone to a Big Mac if I win."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
