WEDNESDAY: Nieminen through to third round at Australian Open; Emma Laine to face Martina Hingis

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Rather as expected, given his ranking among the lower seeds, Finland's tennis No.1 Jarkko Nieminen progressed into the third round of the Australian Open early this morning, Finnish time.
      He beat Yeu-Tzuoo Wang of Taiwan in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, 6-2, in a match lasting just under two hours. Wang, 20, was making his first appearance at the Australian Open, and is ranked 98th in the world. Nieminen is currently at No. 24 in the ATP rankings, and has been seeded 26th for this tournament.
     
In the round of 32, the Finn will now meet David Nalbandian of Argentina, who disposed of Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in four sets.
      Nalbandian is seeded No.4 and is among the favourites for the tournament, particularly after beating the Australian Open top-seed and runaway world No. 1 Roger Federer late last year.
     
Nieminen has encountered Nalbandian on seven previous occasions, and his record on hard surfaces is not bad: he leads the Argentine 3-2. The pair last met on clay in Munich in 2005, when Nalbandian emerged ahead.
      Jarkko Nieminen's endurance and determination will be put to the test: he has played a lot of tennis in the past two or three weeks, but also weighing in the balance is the fact that he has just won a long-awaited first ATP title and is currently on a seven-match winning streak. Nieminen has won nine of his ten matches so far this year, and he has yet to drop a set in Melbourne.
     
In the women's singles, Emma Laine kept the Finnish flag flying, making very short work of her first round match against Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain. Laine won 6-1, 6-1 in 55 minutes.
      The 19-year-old Finn, who made the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time this year, will have a memorable second round match, win or lose.
      She must play Martina Hingis, the former world No. 1, who is making a comeback after injury, and has already shown that she is a dangerous "floater" in the field and a dark-horse contender to go a long way in this grand slam tournament.
      Neither player is seeded, but Hingis has already disposed of the 30th seed, Vera Zvonareva of Russia.
      Facing a "name" player such as Hingis also means the prospect of a match on one of the show courts. The pair will be playing in the Vodafone Arena in front of a large crowd and the TV cameras.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Jarkko Nieminen wins his first ATP tournament (16.1.2006)

Links:
  Australian Open
  ATP: Jarkko Nieminen
  WTA: Emma Laine

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