Federer keeps cool, Pierce loses focus

MELBOURNE – Roger Federer kept his cool in searing heat to glide into the third round of the Australian Open yesterday, but women’s fifth seed Mary Pierce lost her focus and was bundled out.

Pierce failed to find the sizzling comeback form that swept her to two Grand Slam finals last year and fell 6-3, 7-5 to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, the second big-name casualty after Venus Williams. A third could soon be joining them with Kim Clijsters continuing to struggle with a hip injury which she said threatened her campaign.There are no such problems for the ‘Fed Ex’ juggernaut which rolled over Florian Mayer of Germany 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in just 72 minutes on centre court as the drive for a seventh Grand Slam title revved up.His next clash is against Max Mirnyi, the 30th seed from Belarus.Russian Nikolay Davydenko, boosted to fifth seed with the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, was another to book his place in the third round with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over American Kevin Kim.Elsewhere, women’s third seed Amelie Mauresmo and seventh seed Patty Schnyder progressed, as did men’s sixth seed Guillermo Coria.Hewitt’s former girlfriend Clijsters, seeded two, has been installed as tournament favourite by the bookies but is playing one game at a time as she struggles to beat the hip injury that she developed in Sydney last week.The US Open champion downed China’s Meng Yuan 6-4, 6-2 but needed medical attention on her right hip early in the second set and said the injury was making her participation in the tournament a day-to-day proposition.Swiss Miss Martina Hingis was due to play Finland’s Emma Laine later yesterday, buoyed by her demolition of Russian 30th seed Vera Zvonareva in the first round and words of support from top seed Lindsay Davenport and defending champion Serena Williams.Both of them Wednesday said they believed Hingis still had what it takes to reach the top after a three-year injury layoff that many thought had ended her career.Much is at stake for Hingis against Laine, but a third round clash with Pierce will not be happening.The Frenchwoman, 31, appeared to struggle with dry contact lenses as a hot wind grilled the court, repeatedly massaging her eyes.She racked up 41 unforced errors to Benesova’s 19 and even seven aces from the 1995 Australian Open could not keep her in the match as her terrier-like opponent chased down every ball to break her serve five times.Schnyder, meanwhile, put paid to the hopes of Shinobu Asagoe of Japan in straight sets and will meet another Japanese star, Aiko Nakamura, who downed 31st seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-1, 6-1.Nakamura is Asia’s only singles players left after Indian teenager Sania Mirza failed to live up to expectations against Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands.Krajicek will next play Mauresmo, who beat Emilie Loit of France.- Nampa-AFPA third could soon be joining them with Kim Clijsters continuing to struggle with a hip injury which she said threatened her campaign.There are no such problems for the ‘Fed Ex’ juggernaut which rolled over Florian Mayer of Germany 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in just 72 minutes on centre court as the drive for a seventh Grand Slam title revved up.His next clash is against Max Mirnyi, the 30th seed from Belarus.Russian Nikolay Davydenko, boosted to fifth seed with the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, was another to book his place in the third round with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over American Kevin Kim.Elsewhere, women’s third seed Amelie Mauresmo and seventh seed Patty Schnyder progressed, as did men’s sixth seed Guillermo Coria.Hewitt’s former girlfriend Clijsters, seeded two, has been installed as tournament favourite by the bookies but is playing one game at a time as she struggles to beat the hip injury that she developed in Sydney last week.The US Open champion downed China’s Meng Yuan 6-4, 6-2 but needed medical attention on her right hip early in the second set and said the injury was making her participation in the tournament a day-to-day proposition.Swiss Miss Martina Hingis was due to play Finland’s Emma Laine later yesterday, buoyed by her demolition of Russian 30th seed Vera Zvonareva in the first round and words of support from top seed Lindsay Davenport and defending champion Serena Williams.Both of them Wednesday said they believed Hingis still had what it takes to reach the top after a three-year injury layoff that many thought had ended her career.Much is at stake for Hingis against Laine, but a third round clash with Pierce will not be happening.The Frenchwoman, 31, appeared to struggle with dry contact lenses as a hot wind grilled the court, repeatedly massaging her eyes.She racked up 41 unforced errors to Benesova’s 19 and even seven aces from the 1995 Australian Open could not keep her in the match as her terrier-like opponent chased down every ball to break her serve five times.Schnyder, meanwhile, put paid to the hopes of Shinobu Asagoe of Japan in straight sets and will meet another Japanese star, Aiko Nakamura, who downed 31st seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-1, 6-1.Nakamura is Asia’s only singles players left after Indian teenager Sania Mirza failed to live up to expectations against Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands.Krajicek will next play Mauresmo, who beat Emilie Loit of France.- Nampa-AFP