No Trouble for Rafter, Davenport

Patrick Rafter and Lindsay Davenport, two of the hottest players in tennis, powered their way to straight-set victories Wednesday to reach their respective semifinals on another wind-swept day at the U.S. Open.

Defending champion Rafter, seeded third, was near-perfect as he overwhelmed doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman with a welter of volleys in a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, quarterfinal win after the second-seeded Davenport strong-armed South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer with her forceful groundstrokes, 6-0, 6-4.

The winner of three tournaments this summer, Rafter improved to 23-2 since being eliminated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The 25-year-old Australian cracked 44 winners while committing a 14 errors in his commanding 1-hour 54-minute performance.

“I can’t play much better than that,” said Rafter, who committed just one unforced error in the first set and yielded only one service break, in the third set. “I just volleyed very well, served very well. It was a great day for me.”

Bjorkman, a semifinalist last year, had won four of his last five matches against Rafter. But the 26-year-old Swede, who committed only 18 unforced errors himself in testing conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium court, was overwhelmed by the net-charging Australian.

“He told me this was probably the best match he has ever played,” Bjorkman said about his Australian friend. “Especially his returns and passing shots. He was just too good today. I tried everything I had, but I wasn’t good enough this time.”

Rafter charged the net 99 times in his swashbuckling style that brought him 64 points. “I’m just hitting the ball so well at the moment,” said Rafter, who has sailed along after dodging disaster in the first round, when he lost the first two sets against Morocco’s Hicham Arazi.

“The first two sets were comfortable. In the third set, he lifted his game and I lifted mine.”

Rafter will meet the winner of Wednesday’s night match between top-seeded Pete Sampras and ninth -seeded Karol Kucera of Slovakia.

Davenport, who also has won three summer hardcourt tournaments, made it 19 wins in her last 20 matches with her 1-hour 12-minute victory over Coetzer in the day’s opening match.

Conditions were brutal as rain came and went, causing two brief delays, but Davenport’s big ground-stroking game was consistently superior in the wicked wind.

“It was tough conditions out there,” Davenport said. “The wind was strong and moving the balls all around out there.”

Davenport will play the winner of Wednesday night’s quarterfinal between fourth-seeded French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and fifth seed Venus Williams, last year’s runner-up.

The other women’s semifinal is already set, with top-seeded defending champion Martina Hingis to face Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, seeded third.

Coetzer, who at 5 feet 2 inches stands a foot shorter than Davenport, had more trouble coping with the blustery conditions as she committed 38 unforced errors in winds gusting to 30 mph.

“Just the way she hits the ball is intimidating,” said Coetzer. “She hits hard and deep. You don’t feel like you have a say in what’s going to happen at the end of the point.”

Davenport, whose recent dedication to conditioning has made her leaner and more mobile on the court, acknowledged that her size was an advantage in beating Coetzer for the sixth successive time.

“I think weight helps against the wind,” said Davenport. “I think I was able to hit through the wind better today.”