Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario isn't among the many players who view the US Open at Flushing Meadows as two weeks of tennis hell, maybe her 1994 title has something to do with it, but the tenth seed says she likes the hustle and bustle that so many players find distracting and downright annoying.
"I love the atmosphere," Sanchez-Vicario said yesterday after she cruised into the third round with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Australian Nicole Pratt.
"I've always enjoyed New York a lot. It's always better when you come to a place where you feel comfortable, feel a bit like home."
Sanchez-Vicario (27) won her third French Open title - her fourth career Grand Slam crown - in 1998. But this year she has struggled with a left wrist injury, and her best Grand Slam performance was a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros.
"I feel good," the former world number one said. "I think every match is going to get better. I'm looking forward to continually improving."
She said her lighter schedule this year was prompted by her wrist, and her plan to concentrate on preparing thoroughly for the Grand Slams.
She said her engagement to Spanish journalist Joan Vehils, announced in July, hadn't affected her schedule, and she didn't expect her marriage next year to slow her down either.
"I will continue to play. I slowed down already this year, next year it will probably be the same. But it's in the middle of the summer. I have plenty of time before that to play and get ready for my wedding."
Pratt, who had never played Sanchez before, said she sensed a few weaknesses in the Spaniard's game, but couldn't take advantage.
In the long run, Sanchez, who defeated Aussie Jelena Dokic in the first round, was too consistent for her.
"Her biggest asset is she fights every point," Pratt said. "She tries to make every point she can. Also, she was taking me through the angles of the court, and I was the one doing all the running today. In the end, I think I just got a little fatigued."
The world number one Martina Hingis needed only 46 minutes yesterday to breeze past France's 34th-rated Sarah Pitkowski 6-1 61 and advance to the third round.
Then the 18-year-old Swiss star needed only seconds to toss a verbal challenge at third seed Venus Williams and her seventh-seeded sister Serena over their father Richard's prediction of an all-Williams final.
"They always have a big mouth. They always talk a lot," Hingis said. "It happened before. It's going to happen again. I like that. It's more pressure on them. Whether or not they can handle it is the question. The other players are really pumped up about that."
Australian Open champion
Hingis, who won the US Open in 1997 and lost last year's final to Lindsay Davenport, now faces 213th-ranked German qualifier Sandra Klosel at the $14.5 million hardcourt event.
Hingis is seeking her seventh title of 1999. She won at San Diego and Toronto last month after losing the French Open final and falling in round one at Wimbledon.
Hingis split with Melanie Molitor, her mother and coach, after the Paris loss to Steffi Graf but reunited after her Wimbledon debacle, having learned her lesson.
"That's over. That's behind me. That's a long way back," Hingis said. "I have more or less forgot that already. I have come back in the past month and won two tournaments." "My confidence is higher than it used to be, especially two months ago. I don't want to know how high it was back there. I have come back.
"There are things you can learn from. In the last two months I did (learn) a lot. If you learn from mistakes and improve on them, it's good. If you're happy with yourself, nothing can hurt you. Nothing can bother you. The people that surround you, that's the most important thing."
Other seeds advancing yesterday included the 12th seed Barbara Schett of Austria, who beat Sweden's Asa Carlsson 6-4 6-2; 13th seed Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, who beat Italy's Rita Grande 6-3 6-3; and 16th seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, the Australian Open runner-up, who beat South Africa's Mariaan de Swardt 4-6 6-1 6-3.
In men's play, 14th seed Tommy Haas of Germany opened with a 6-2 6-4 7-6 (8/6) victory over Sweden's Thomas Enqvist and Australia's Richard Fromberg outlasted South African Wayne Ferreira 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5).
Meanwhile Australia's Pat Rafter, the reigning US Open champion, pulled out at the beginning of the fifth set against Cedric Pioline of France in his first round match and was jeered by the New York crowd. "That hurts," said Rafter, and he was not referring to his right shoulder, although that was also hurting. For two years he has known only accolades in the Big Apple, after beating Greg Rusedski in the final two years ago and Mark Philippoussis last year.
But now it was bumsville with the evening crowd jumping straight on Rafter's neck and caring little that he was injured. "It's very sad. I mean, what could I do?" he said. "One person starts booing and I guess the rest of them do." It was, however, the first time in the US Open's 119-year history that the men's defending champion had gone out in the opening round. Rafter, seeded number four, won the first two sets but gradually the speed of his serve began to drop as the pain kicked in. Pioline, a finalist in 1993 when he lost to Pete Sampras, was quick to take advantage and levelled the match.
Rafter was treated five times at change-overs after the first set but having lost his serve at the beginning of the fifth, he walked reluctantly to the net and shook hands with Pioline.
"I'd been practising well for the past few days and feeling great," said Rafter, who now has three weeks to get fit for Australia's Davis Cup semi-final against Russia in Brisbane.
Having beaten the United States in the quarter-finals, the Australians were quietly confident of winning the tournament for the first time since 1986.
