Rain, Wind Can’t Stop Davenport

MELBOURNE, Australia â€”  Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, teen-agers in a rush to win a Grand Slam title, fought the wind and beat the rain Saturday to surge into the fourth round at the Australian Open.

Hingis, a 15-year-old from Switzerland, equaled her best Grand Slam performance so far with a 6-1, 6-1 romp over Mana Endo, who had ousted No. 5 Kimiko Date.

Davenport, a 19-year-old from Southern California, had a difficult time disposing of Finland’s Nanne Dahlman, 6-4, 7-5. Germany’s Anke Huber also reached the fourth round by defeating Ludmila Richterova, 6-2, 6-1.

Two years ago, Davenport scored one of first big Grand Slam victories here, beating two-time finalist Mary Joe Fernandez on Court 1, where Davenport played Saturday.

“I was thinking about that,� Davenport said. “It was so exciting. It’s fun to think back on those times because it was so new. Now it is kind of just normal to go and play in front of more people. Those were definitely some of my best times two years ago here. I got to my first Grand Slam quarterfinals, and I will always remember this tournament for that.�

Since then, though, Davenport has never gone beyond the quarters in a major, getting that far only twice again--at Wimbledon in 1994 and at the Australian last year.

Hingis and Davenport barely finished before heavy rain suspended play. Strong gusts of winds played havoc with shots during those women’s matches, blowing plastic bags and other trash onto the courts.

In only a few minutes, the temperature dropped from 84 to 61 degrees.

Play on Center Court was suspended for more than an hour while the retractable roof was closed for the first time this tournament. No. 6 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia then finished his 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian Michael Tebbutt.

No. 2 Conchita Martinez of Spain also had the benefit of playing without the wind as she beat German teen Jana Kandarr, 6-3, 6-0 under the roof.

In matches that took place late Friday night, Jim Courier won a riveting 4-hour 31-minute match over Australian Todd Woodbridge and a crowd that treated the former two-time champion like an evil invader.

Courier’s final forehand into the corner, a shot the exhausted Woodbridge couldn’t return, closed out a 6-3, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 8-6 victory.

“It was a good, tough-fought match, and those are fun to win,� Courier said. “The crowd was on me tonight. They were telling me to double-fault.�

Woodbridge, married last April in Melbourne, told his wife, Natasha, to go home early in the fifth set, though she ignored him and stayed to the end.

“What a gentleman,� Courier said. “If it was my wife, I’d tell her, ‘You’d better not be leaving.’ If his game has come that far since he has been married, maybe I should look for a wife.�

Also, Monica Seles defeated Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 7-5, 6-0, to advance to the fourth round.