Davenport Can’t Handle Fernandez This Time

Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport quickly shook hands at the net and quietly walked off the court, side by side but no longer best friends.

Now they’re merely foes, and Monday’s match at the Lipton Championships did little to soothe hard feelings between two of the nicest players on the WTA Tour.

Fernandez beat Davenport, 6-2, 6-4, in Monday’s fourth round of the Lipton Championships. In years past, the match would have ended with a hug and even tears, but that was before their doubles partnership dissolved amid animosity.

“I guess you could say we’re trying to work some things out,” said Fernandez, who avenged a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Davenport at Indian Wells earlier this month.

Fernandez, seeded 10th, advances to the quarterfinals against top-seeded Martina Hingis, who improved to 23-0 this year by beating Elena Likhovtseva, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

No. 2 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was upset by Sandrine Testud of France, 6-0, 7-5. No. 3 Jana Novotna defeated 15-year-old Anna Kournikova, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 4 Monica Seles, returning to the tour after a four-month absence because of a broken finger, defeated Asa Carlsson, 6-2, 6-1.

Top-seeded Pete Sampras improved to 19-1 this year by defeating Francisco Clavet 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Second-seeded Thomas Muster routed 18-year-old German Tommy Haas, 6-1, 6-2.

Jim Courier, the 1991 champion, won the final five games to beat Australian Scott Draper, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Draper upset Andre Agassi in the second round.