TENNIS SEASON SET TO BEGIN
Memo Meños
1.8.03
The 2003 tennis circuit is about to begin with the AUSTRALIAN OPEN, the first of 4 grand slam events starting Monday January 13 from Melbourne. On the women’s side, all eyes will be on SERENA WILLIAMS to see if she can continue her near dominance of the tour. There was a ray of hope that she may be not be invincible, after KIM CLIJSTERS beat her in the season-ending WTA Championships from Staples Center, Los Angeles in November. But before that SERENA won all the grand slams in which she competed in 2002, including the FRENCH, WIMBLETON and the
US OPEN. And she won those tournaments with relative ease.
She is the #1 seed in the AUSTRALIAN, which she skipped last year due to an ankle injury. SERENA’S sister VENUS is seeded second, with JENNIFER CAPRIATI, who was eliminated in the second round of the SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL tournament by TATYANA PANOVA, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, seeded third. KIM CLIJSTERS and JUSTIN HENIN are fourth and fifth respectively.
On the men’s side, local favorite LLEYTON HEWITT will try once again to be the first Australian in 27 years to win the tournament on the home court. He is the number 1 seed, followed by ANDRE AGASSI, MARAT SAFIN (last year’s runner-up), JUAN CARLOS FERERRO, CARLOS MOYA and ROGER FEDERER. Defending champion THOMAS JOHANSSON and PETE SAMPRAS will not compete in the tournament. JOHANSSON withdrew due to an injury, and SAMPRAS intends to take it a bit easier this season, perhaps saving his energy for the FRENCH OPEN, the one grand slam tournament he has yet to win.
Look for television coverage on ESPN, and for the official site go to: http://tournament.ausopen.org/
bill@manmademultimedia.com
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