Tennis: Kournikova does have her faults

By Foster Niumata

MELBOURNE - This is an Anna Kournikova story not about looks, legs, lycra or lucre.

It's about the girl who doesn't have everything, after all. Missing, presumed malfunctioning, in the young Russian's game is a fundamental of tennis, the serve.

On Tuesday, when the Australian Open 12th seed committed 23 double-faults and still won, we wondered how bad could it get? Now we wonder if it will ever get better.

Yesterday, Kournikova clunked 31 in a mostly torturous, sometimes comical, but always compelling 1-6 6-4 10-8 win over unheralded Miho Saeki.

Kournikova blew a 5-0 lead in the final set, and needed four match-points to quell the Japanese, whose most memorable experience was a match she watched, not played (Date beats Graf, 1996 Fed Cup, Tokyo).

More customary passages were made by former Open champions Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Mary Pierce who were awaiting reigning champion Martina Hingis overnight.

No records are kept of double-faults, but Kournikova is setting new highs, or lows. At least she remains good-humoured. "I got a suntan, but my nose is burned," smiled the 17-year-old Russian who plays German Andrea Glass next, with Pierce on the horizon.

Countryman Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who also burnt his nose in a long win over Jason Stoltenberg, said he'd be happy serving 100 double-faults as long as he won.

To Graf's eye - her former mentor Pavel Slozil has been Kournikova's coach for a year - Kournikova isn't turning her shoulders. Todd Martin, who admitted he has doubled 28 times, over six months, said: "It's excruciating, but we all have our bad days."

Except Kournikova has had the serving yips since about the WTA championships last November when she made 22 double-faults in one match and 17 apiece in two others.

In Sydney last week, she hit 34 over two matches. Her malaise is not reserved for serious outings. During a hit-and-giggle exhibition on Sunday, she hit seven doubles and the audience giggled.

Kournikova isn't about to consider potions, chants, voodoo or witch doctors yet.

"I'm really frustrated with it, just like everybody who is watching," she said.

"In practice I feel fine. It's just when I come to the line, when I play, something happens. I'm just going to have to get over it and try to fight through like I did today. If I get upset it's going to be even worse."

Graf took a set to get a bead on 19-year-old Austrian Barbara Schwartz, to set up a third round date with Mary Joe Fernandez, whom Graf beat in the 1990 final.

Unranked Australian Jelena Dokic, last year's junior world No 1, set up a likely match with Hingis, and 16th seed Amanda Coetzer knocked out Auckland champion Julie Halard-Decugis 4-6 7-5 6-4.

Sjeng Schalken missed out on setting up a repeat of last weekend's Auckland Open final with Tommy Haas, who put the flames out on Australia's boy wonder Lleyton Hewitt from a set down.

No 8 seed Greg Rusedski crashed yet again, this time to 187th-ranked Paul Goldstein, who only completed his American university education last year.

Rusedski, who hasn't passed any grand slam third round since he reached the 1997 US Open final, was dumped 6-4 6-7 7-6 6-2 by a qualifier in only his 10th tour-level match.