Melbourne, Australia — Defending champion Jennifer Capriati played her way out of trouble and advanced to the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory today over Amelie Mauresmo.
Capriati next meets Kim Clijsters, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Justine Henin. Capriati was extended to 12-10 in the final set before beating Clijsters for last year's French Open title.
Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion, advanced to the men's semifinals when Wayne Ferreira retired from their match with an abdominal strain. Safin, seeded ninth, led 5-2 when Ferreira stopped.
The Russian, who eliminated 13-time Grand Slam tournament winner Pete Sampras in the fourth round, next meets the winner between No. 7 Tommy Haas and former No. 1 Marcelo Rios.
Safin declined to accept the favorite's role now, saying, "I prefer to stay one of these guys who nobody expects to win."
Capriati lost the first two points before breaking Mauresmo's serve in the first game. Then, in two games in the first set and one in the second, she saved a total of six break points.
She had help from occasional wild play by Mauresmo, who squandered a 40-0 lead in the third game of the second set with three consecutive double faults. Mauresmo had 34 unforced errors to Capriati's 20.
"I'm glad I could raise my game," Capriati said. "This is where it all counts how you do in the Grand Slams."
After a promising debut as a 14-year-old in 1990 and then a series of personal problems, Capriati finally won her first major tournament title at last year's Australian Open. She followed that with the French Open title and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
"It feels like I've graduated to the next level," Capriati said. "I feel a lot better this year."
Before Capriati's victory, Clijsters referred to her loss to the American in last year's French Open final, and said, "It would be nice to be able to play her again."
Clijsters also pressured Henin into costly errors in her advance to the semifinals.
Henin broke for a 2-1 lead in the second set. But her Belgian compatriot and good friend immediately broke back thanks to four straight misses by Henin.
LaRussa agrees to deal
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, returning for his seventh season in St. Louis, agreed Tuesday to a three-year contract.
Although La Russa's previous deal expired after last season, he said in October he would be back.
"I really don't look at three years," La Russa said Tuesday night during a banquet reuniting the Cardinals' 1982 championship team. "I look at doing a good enough job to where at the end of the year everyone's happy."
Terms were not disclosed.
La Russa, 57, led the Cardinals to the postseason in 1996, 2000 and last season, when St. Louis went 93-69 and got a wild-card berth before losing 3-2 to Arizona in the first round.
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