Monica Seles changed her tennis outfit Sunday. Nothing else changed, as she mowed down Nakao Sawamatsu in her fourth consecutive straight-set victory in the Australian Open.
The world's No. 1 is so far beyond the other women pros that she has had to practice against men ranked in the top 100 to get a real workout."It's very tough to practice with women, that's just reality" either because they are not up to par or they are her competitors, like Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Seles said. "But to find someone at my level, or at the top ranks, it's a lot easier to find men."
No. 3 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario also reached the quarters without dropping a set, beating No. 9 Mary Joe Fernandez 6-3, 6-3.
But one of the most dangerous seeds who could have stood in the way of Philippoussis, No. 10 Goran Ivanisevic, fell to Italy's Renzo Furlan 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
No. 5 Michael Chang breezed into the quarters, beating Jean-Philippe Fleurian 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Seles' tennis has been awesome, and there is no sign that the groin injury she had coming into this Grand Slam tournament is bothering her, as she had no trouble moving around to put away Sawamatsu 6-1, 6-3.
"I have to stretch a little bit longer. That's why I played the first part of the match a little bit easier," she said.
It was a noisy smash-and-volley game low across the net, Sawamatsu shouting "Agghh!" as she returned each shot, Seles grunting "Ungh! Erff! Aaahh-hee!" as she hit the ball.
Seles, who all last week wore a black-and-white checked outfit, switched to a white shirt and black skirt for this match.