Davenport and Mauresmo advance in women's draw

Lisa Raymond ambushed Venus Williams in the third round, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Fourth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo became the first player to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals today, beating Alicia Molik 7-5, 7-5.
The Frenchwoman struggled to beat Molik, an Australian ranked 40th in the world, after losing only six games and spending less than three hours on the court in the first three rounds.
"It was a very tough match, obviously she gave me a lot of trouble," Mauresmo said. "I just really wanted to go through this one and go to the quarters."
Fifth-seeded Lindsay Davenport also advanced, winning the last eight points in a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 11th-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
Happy to be back
Mauresmo, a finalist in 1999, missed the tournament last year because of injuries.
"I'm happy to be back here. I was injured last year, it was so frustrating to watch on TV," Mauresmo said.
"I had something bothering me in my back. I'm going to go for treatment and make sure everything is OK for the quarterfinals."
With the victory, Mauresmo is assured of breaking into the top three for the first time when the next WTA Tour rankings are released. Her career high was No. 4 in October 2002.
"I'll take it," she said. "But what I'm happy about is that it's because I'm winning matches rather than because some other players are struggling."
Davenport didn't give Zvonerava a chance to break her serve and converted on both her chances in the second set to finish in 47 minutes. Zvonareva made six of her 24 unforced errors in the last two games.
"It was such a fast match, it kind of surprised me. She helped me out with a few unforced errors in the beginning," said Davenport, the 2000 Australian Open champion.
Looking ahead
She'll likely face top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne in the quarterfinals. The pair played for 31/4 hours in the quarterfinals last year when Henin-Hardenne rallied from 1-4 in the third set and serious cramps to win and advance to the semifinals.
After that, the young Belgian won the French and U.S. opens.
"That was quite a match, and I'm looking forward to playing her again," Davenport said. "She's a much different player now: No. 1 in the world, two Grand Slams. But if I play like I did today and take some chances, who knows?
"Right now I'm feeling great and excited to be back in the quarters."
Henin-Hardenne played qualifier Mara Santangelo of Italy later Sunday.
In men's fourth-round matches, No. 1 Andy Roddick faced No. 16 Sjeng Schalken of Netherlands, and defending champion Andre Agassi tried to avenge a 2002 Wimbledon loss to Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand.
Venus ousted
The women's draw lost one of its biggest stars Saturday when third-seeded Venus Williams was upset 6-4, 7-6 (5) by 25th-seeded Lisa Raymond.
Williams arrived at Melbourne Park with grand plans of celebrating her comeback from almost six months off the tour with a fifth major title. She said she left as an accidental tourist.
"This is definitely not the position I was anticipating," Williams said. "I have two weeks off now -- I'll be a tennis tourist."
This is the first time in six visits Williams will not be playing in the second week at the Australian Open.
Raymond, a former top-ranked doubles player, hadn't taken a set off Williams in three previous matches. On Rod Laver Arena, she painted the lines with her forehands, dominating the net and preyed on Williams' 44 unforced errors.
Raymond, who finished 2003 ranked No. 30 and whose career high is No. 15, attributed some of her success to doubles partner Martina Navratilova. The tennis great sent her a cell phone text message Saturday that said, "Just be brave!"
Raymond and Navratilova, seeded second in doubles, later lost to Davenport and Corina Morariu 6-3, 6-0 in the second round.
The third-seeded Williams must now look to her next tournament in Tokyo starting Feb. 2.
An abdominal injury sidelined her for much of last year. She did not play on tour after losing the Wimbledon final to sister Serena in July, and her ranking dropped to No. 11.
"I definitely had some high hopes to win here," she said. "I'm pretty much in shock."
She also lost in the Australian final last year to Serena, who did not recover from a knee operation in time to defend the title. Asked if she were 100 percent healthy, Venus Williams said: "Everybody has their issues. I don't want to get into it."