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Wednesday, 16 January, 2002, 12:40 GMT
Ivanisevic crashes out
Ivanisevic finds the going tough against Golmard
Click here for Wednesday's men's singles results from Melbourne
Frenchman Jerome Golmard produced the best performance of his career to knock Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic out of the Australian Open. Ivanisevic became the latest seed to exit the tournament, which is now wide open, with Tim Henman - who now faces fellow Briton Greg Rusedski in the third round - the highest ranked player left in the draw. Golmard went through in four sets, nullifying Ivanisevic's serve and winning the battle of the grondstrokes from the back of the court. "It is disappointing, but I played well. I can leave with my head held high," said the Croatian after his 6-3 7-6 5-7 6-4 defeat. "I was fighting, I had fun and everybody was happy. Last year I lost first round quallies (qualifying) but this time I can leave with pride, playing well."
Ivanisevic, seeded 10th, wilted under the Frenchman's firepower, admitting he did not know what to do. "He played great and I don't think he could do any better," said Ivanisevic. "I served good and it didn't matter how hard I served he just hit better and better. I tried my best but nothing was working." The 28-year-old Golmard was thrilled with his victory. "It really is a dream to do this," he said. "I really just played my best tennis tonight. I lost to him two times before and this time I managed to serve unbelievably well. Five-set thriller "It was difficult for me to focus on my game because Goran made some jokes tonight, but for me, I was very nervous." American qualifier Alex Kim beat fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in straight sets. Kim, ranked 234 in the world, shocked the Russian by winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Kafelnikov became Wednesday's second high-profile casualty after fifth seed Sebastien Grosjean was beaten in a five-set thriller by Francisco Clavet. These results mean that the top five men's seeds are all out of the tournament, theoretically, leaving sixth seed Tim Henman in a good position. Kafelnikov couldn't get in the game and made an astonishing 55 unforced errors.
Grosjean, who reached the semi-finals last year, fought back from 4-1 down in the fifth set before slumping 6-4 3-6 6-0 5-7 6-4 in a big-hitting baseline battle. He saved one match point by making a rare foray to the net and Clavet lobbed long, but the 33-year-old sealed victory with a smash a point later. The young American Taylor Dent also caused a something of an upset when he beat the number 31 seed Andreas Vinciguerra. The 20-year-old defeated the Swede in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-2. Earlier on Wednesday, Sweden's Thomas Johansson progressed to round three with a straight sets win over Austria's Markus Hipfl. The number 16 seed triumphed 6-4 6-1 6-4.
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