'Just friends'
Kournikova shines the spotlight on Lapentti
Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 12:49 PM
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Love is in the air?: Lapentti was pleased when Kournikova watched his match against Kucera AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Surprise semifinalist Nicolas Lapentti is having fun in the publicity fishbowl, even if it means he has to keep saying "we're just friends."
Lapentti's "relationship" with glamour women's player Anna Kournikova, has become more and more interesting for the media the longer he's stayed on court.
The Russian teenager was in the stands for four sets of Lapentti's five-set victory over Karol Kucera, which ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Television cameras showed almost as much of Kournikova watching the match as the match itself. There's Anna stretching, there's Anna shaking out her long hair, there's Anna eating an ice-cream.
Lapentti said the two had known each other for some time.
"Yeah, we're very close friends," Lapentti said Wednesday. "It was really nice that she came and watched me play last night."
He said he wanted to return the favor by watching Kournikova team with Martina Hingis in the women's doubles Wednesday but decided to give it a miss in order to rest for his semifinal against Thomas Enqvist.
Line call
Semifinal outsiders Amelie Mauresmo and Nicolas Lapentti realized there's often a fine line between success and failure.
Both the No.29-ranked Mauresmo and the No. 91-ranked Lapentti were down two match points in their first round matches.
Seles didn't sign autographs after beating Graf, saying she hurt her shoulder AP |
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Mauresmo, who will play No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the semis, saved two in the second set of her victory over Corina Morariu of the United States.
Lapentti was behind two match points in the fourth set of his opener against No. 16 seed Thomas Johansson.
Sign of trouble
Monica Seles wants it known that she's not too rude to sign autographs. Seles scored a straight sets win over old rival Steffi Graf on Wednesday and walked off the court without accepting the pens and paper proffered from fans leaning over the walls surrounding center court.
"I pulled my shoulder muscle and I just don't want to go up high on it," Seles explained. "So I didn't sign after my previous match and today's match, just to be safe."
Pressure players cooked
So much for stats. The Australian Open's host computer company unveiled a new statistic this year, a "Pressure Player" index to gauge how the competitors cope under stress.
The latest update came before the quarterfinals, and in four of the five categories the pressure players got cooked.
Marc Rosset, of Switzerland, led the men's best service under pressure and best overall pressure player rankings. He was steamed in straight sets by Thomas Enqvist.
No. 7 Karol Kucera, of Slovakia, headed the best return under pressure and most complete player categories. He lost a five-setter against No. 91-ranked Nicolas Lapentti, coming apart with a couple of lazy half-volleys at the end.
Mary Pierce was called the most complete player in the women's draw. She looked and felt terrible in a straight sets loss to Martina Hingis. Dominique Van Roost, overpowered by Amelie Mauresmo, led the best service under pressure category.
No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, the overall best pressure player, turned the tide. She advanced with a win over Venus Williams.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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