Tennis: Haas rolls sleeves up for win

NEW YORK - Third seed Tommy Haas blocked out the hullabaloo surrounding his choice of tennis clothing yesterday to claw his way back from two sets to one down and reach the second round of the US Open with a 7-6 3-6 3-6 6-4 7-5 victory over David Sanchez.

The German sparked much debate at the final grand slam tournament of the year when he was asked to change shirts from a sleeveless one to a more traditional model while warming up on court for his first-round match.

The United States Tennis Association defended the move.

"Sleeveless shirts ... are not considered 'customary' men's tennis attire and Mr Haas did not submit the shirt for approval in advance of his match," it said in a statement.

"Therefore the tournament referee requested that Mr Haas change his shirt and Mr Haas complied."

Once asked, Haas duly switched his sleeveless white number for a green conventional shirt on Louis Armstrong Court, while over on Arthur Ashe Court women's top seed Serena Williams was wowing the crowd in her all-black, short-legged, skin-tight Lycra catsuit.

"It's something I was actually looking forward to," Haas said. "I'm the type of guy that these sleeves kind of annoy.

"I think it's something I would love to play in, in the future - maybe even in the next match, if it's possible.

"I don't think it's anything bad. I don't think it's not appropriate to wear it.

"I really like wearing the shirt in practice. It's a good-looking shirt."

Williams, who created a stir by wearing her catsuit in the first two rounds, was amazed by the Haas incident.

"It's definitely not fair," she said. "You should be able to make statements if you want to."

Britain's Greg Rusedski is so confident of his best US Open showing since making the 1997 final that he is a little unhappy at not having to face world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the second round.

Rusedski advanced to the second round by beating American wildcard Alex Kim 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 yesterday, booking a second-round date with Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, who beat American Prakash Amritraj 6-1 6-3 6-0.

"I feel like I'm fully fit. I'm strong mentally. I'm in good shape," Rusedski said.

Rusedski, who turns 29 next month, was originally drawn to face reigning US Open and Wimbledon champion Hewitt in the second round, but he was moved to the other half of the draw when two seeded players withdrew due to injury.

Rusedski beat Hewitt 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in the third round at Indianapolis on the way to his second title of the year, having also won at Auckland in January.

"I was actually looking forward to playing Hewitt in the second round," Rusedski said.

"When the tournament started in Indianapolis, I said I wanted to play Hewitt.

"I like playing against him. I think he's a great player. You really know where you stand. If you are going to hit a guy who is the favourite for the tournament, it's usually better to hit him early."

Williams screamed into the third round in just 40 minutes yesterday, doling out a harsh lesson to Marat Safin's kid sister. The world No 1 and top seed demolished 16-year-old Dinara Safina 6-0 6-1.

Women's fifth seed Jelena Dokic was also left shell-shocked after a desperate performance against Russia's Elena Bovina. The Yugoslav looked ill at ease and was thumped 6-3 6-2.

Never far from controversy, Dokic also faced questions about her decision to fax a letter of support from New York to hardline Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj backing his bid for the presidency of Serbia next month.

"That's my personal choice," Dokic, 19, said.

"It's something that I wanted to do. That's the way I feel and that's who I wanted to vote for."

Seselj is named as a co-conspirator of Slobodan Milosevic in a United Nations indictment over the war with Croatia.

Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian tumbled out 6-1 6-4 6-4 in the first round to Armenian Sargis Sargsian, and 13-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras dumped Spain's Albert Portas 6-1 6-4 6-4.

- AGENCIES