TENNIS/US Open Championships: Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty has caused a good deal of gentle amusement at the US Open with holes in the back of his shirt that expose his shoulder blades and give him extra air-conditioning. Yesterday the holes were in his game.
Lleyton Hewitt, in yellow, beat him 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, buzzing around the Arthur Ashe Stadium with the insistence of a wasp around over-ripe fruit, and driving Hrbaty to distraction. Only once did the Slovak look like fending him off, briefly building a 3-1 lead in the second set. It was a short-lived advantage.
The Australian now takes on Jarkko Nieminen, who with a 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 win over Spain's Fernando Verdasco, Tim Henman's first-round conqueror, became the first Finn to reach the last eight of a grand slam.
The 24-year-old Nieminen, who also reached the round of 16 at the 2003 French Open, was only the second Finn to get that far in a grand slam event following the run by Veli Paloheimo at the 1990 Australian Open.
"I feel I am playing better with every round, and really have nothing to lose against Lleyton," said Nieminen, who beat Andre Agassi in the first round of this year's French Open. "I'm very proud to play for my country. If I can build up some tennis culture in Finland, that would also be great for the game."
American television had long since switched off its cameras when Robby Ginepri, previously best known for dating Minnie Driver, joined his fellow Americans Agassi and James Blake in the last eight by defeating French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-0 in the early hours of yesterday morning.
It seems more than a little ironic that Britain's Andrew Murray intends to have his fitness tested out in Paris when the French cannot apparently look after their own. Gasquet, like Murray, completely ran out of gas in the fifth set.
Ginepri, who will next play Argentina's Guillermo Coria, the number eight seed, has never been this far in a slam, and bases his success on sheer graft:
"You work so hard, and wonder if that's ever good enough. But this shows that it pays off. I'm serving well, I'm moving well, and I'm understanding the game better."
The rejuvenation of Mary Pierce, who reached the French Open final and the Wimbledon quarter-finals, shows no sign of diminishing, although it was a decidedly sub-standard Justine Henin-Hardenne whom she beat 6-3, 6-4 to set up an all-French quarter-final against Amelie Mauresmo.
After winning the Australian Open last year Henin struggled with a pernicious virus that left her weak and watery, and then a knee problem caused her to miss the opening months of this year.
Thereafter she proved unbeatable on clay, culminating in her second French Open title, and fourth slam victory, crushing Pierce 6-1, 6-1 in the final.
Pierce, for all her joy at reaching her third final at Roland Garros, having won the title herself in 1995, was embarrassed to lose so feebly to Henin, and came out under the floodlights of the Arthur Ashe Stadium like a bat out of hell. Before the majority had time to munch into their first burger, Pierce was 5-0 up.
She said: "I don't know whether I could have played much better than that."
The contrast in demeanours of the two players could hardly have been more telling: Henin, who like Agassi has had sciatic-nerve problems, was pinched and crabbed; Pierce was relaxed and smiling beatifically.
"I've said my last years will be my best years, and I'm feeling pretty good about that," she said.
Guardian Service
FlushingMeadowsResults
MEN'S SINGLES: Fourth round: Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spa) 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-3, (3) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt (15) Dominik Hrbaty (Svk) 6-1 6-4 6-2.
MEN'S DOUBLES: Quarter-finals: (4) Wayne Black (Zim) and Kevin Ullyett (Zim) bt (11) Jonathan Erlich (Isr) and Andy Ram (Isr) 6-4 6-2, (1) Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) and Max Mirnyi (Blr) bt (12) Cyril Suk (Cze) and Pavel Vizner (Cze) 6-4 6-3, Paul Goldstein (USA) and Jim Thomas (USA) bt (9) Simon Aspelin (Swe) and Todd Perry (Aus) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (16-14)
MIXED DOUBLES: Semi-finals: Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) and Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Dinara Safina (Rus) and Andy Ram (Isr) 6-1 7-5.
