US Open, DAY 6

Mary Pierces Maria's bubble
Federer in the express lane; Davenport v. Venus ahead

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Maria Sharapova's big game goes down hard to Mary Pierce.

FROM THE US OPEN – Even though she battled as hard as any 17-year-old even has on Ashe Stadium, Maria Sharapova is still at least six months away from having the physical and mental tools to win a Slam on hard courts. Mary Pierce proved that with a gutsy and efficient 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 third-round victory over the Wimbledon champion.

Sharapova whacked it just fine for two-and-a-half sets, but then imploded by playing way too ambitiously toward the end of the match.

All of sudden, Pierce showed quicker foot speed. All of a sudden, Maria shifted her engine into overdrive and blew a gasket. "The major problem was I tried to do too much at certain times when I didn't need to," Sharapova said. "She's an experienced player and knows what it takes. I have to learn those things."

There are so many things to like about Sharapova's game, but court stewardship is not one of them. Because she is so physically talented, she wasn't forced to develop a thinking girl's game as the likes of Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Martina Hingis. When you are winning by virtue of first-strike capability in the mode of Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams, when your 100-dollar bills shots aren't working, you pull out a roll of $50s. You never carry fives and ones with you.

That's why Maria kept going for big second serves and impossible forehands. But she'll learn to focus and expand her brain, just like Pierce did when she went from a temperamental teen to cool-headed two-time Slam champ.

BIG WIN FOR MARY
It's not necessary to go through the laundry list of Pierce's post ’00 Roland Garros injuries, but they are quite numerous. She's been battling to get back in the Top 20 all year long and hasn't shown the necessary spring in her step until just before Wimbledon, when she won a grass court tune-up. Then at the Olympics, she woman-handled Venus before falling to eventual gold medallist Justine Henin-Hardenne. It was in Athens where Pierce hung with her Fed Cup teammates and where her change in off-court training techniques began to pay off. Now she can not only bludgeon her returns and dictate off the ground, but can retrieve a little and is recovering fully after tough matches.

"The belief in my game started to come there," Pierce said. "In the match against Venus, I felt things I hadn't in years moving on court. It felt great, It's nice to see it coming all together. After everything I've been through, the last couple years have been really difficult, those moments are a lot sweeter and mean a lot more to me. It's nice because I believe in myself and it's nice to have that confirmation become a reality."

Of course, Pierce could be staring at Henin-Hardenne again in the quarters, if she manages to overcome Svetlana Kuznetsova, who registered a tough two-set victory over Amy Frazier. That's a huge if for Pierce, who's did a nice deep Catholic genuflect after taking down Sharapova, but who won't have the benefit of being blessed with 14 double faults against the steady Kuznetsova, like she was from Sharapova.

Henin-Hardenne keeping coughing along, playing well when she needed to in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Lisa Raymond. She may have to step up her level against No. 14 Nadia Petrova, who pulled off her biggest win of the summer by bouncing Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3). Of course, even Nadia doesn't know which Petrova will show up on court against Henin-Hardenne, but at least on one day, she showed a lot of fight.

Only one unseeded gal made it to the fourth round, Japan's Shinobu Asagoe, who upset No. 13 Paola Suarez, 6-4, 6-4, and will face Greece's Eleni Daniilidou, who beat Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-2. Yes, that the same Daniilidou who has disappointed time and time again this year.

Both Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams struggled big time in their nighttime matches against Elena Bovina and Chanda Rubin, repectively, but they both pulled out tough straight set wins against pumped up opponents. Neither played badly and really, does that matter?

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Roger Federer move along easily and Olivier Rochus eliminates Carlos Moya.

All that is relevant now is that they will play for the 25th time is their superb rivalry and that their fourth-round will be a classic. They are tied 12-12 and both their matches this summer (which were won by Davenport) were very close.

"I'm sure she will be eager to play better," Davenport said. "And I'm eager to keep going the way I've been playing."

Federer in the express lane; Davenport v. Venus ahead
It was no surprise to see Roger Federer pull the cloak off the old French magician, Fabrice Santoro 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7). Although Santoro is able to trick a number of his other foes, Roger wields a much larger wand. Now the Swiss is almost guaranteed to reach his first US Open quarterfinal, when he'll face Andrei Pavel, a man he completely owns.

"I've never had such an easy fourth round at the US Open," said Federer, who has won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. I really want to take it one step further this year. I've got an unbelievable Grand Slam record this year and have to use the confidence and experience to do well in the second week. This is an opportunity and I want to take it.”

Should the Swiss win that, expect the Open to get the quarterfinal everyone has been waiting for - a Federer-Agassi showdown. Agassi wiped out Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and now will face Sargis Sargsian, who won another mindblowing five-setter, this one a four-hour, 41-minute job over Paul-Henri Mathieu, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6. Sarg will come on court for their fourth round with a good 11-plus hours already on his legs and having never beaten Andre.

There was little question before the Open began that Carlos Moya would lose somewhere, but after he double faulted a match point to go down 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 to Olivier Rochus, he essentially closed the door on his status as an all-time great. You want a lock for a one-Slam wonder? Look at the choking Carlos, not Marat Safin.

Good for the 5-foot-5 Rochus, who's not only speedy, but can crush shots down the line. Too bad he and Henin-Hardenne never wed, they may have produced the fastest child in Belgian history. "For me, that was the greatest win in my career," said Rochus, who had never gotten out of the first round of the US Open before this week. . "That was the best, for everything – the game, the crowd."

Rochus will meet No. 22 Dominik Hrbaty, who beat No. 15 and Slam underachiever Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-3. No. 19 Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, who's had an excellent summer on US hard courts, took out Thomas Johansson 6-4, 6-0, 6-1. Kiefer now gets Britain's newly crowded king of the five setter, Tim Henman, who squeaked past Michael Tabara.