Aussie open full of surprises from start to finish

The early signs were ominous for organisers of the 2002 Australian Open when Australia's own world number one Lleyton Hewitt contracted chicken pox just days before the start.

But it wasn't Hewitt who rocked the tournament on the very first day. That was left to 2000 and 2001 champion Andre Agassi who pulled out injured hours before his first match.

The American, arguably the biggest drawcard in tennis, injured his wrist in a warm-up event at Kooyong and delivered the first body blow to the tournament.

"This is not good news for anyone," an ashen-faced Agassi said before flying back to the United States with wife Steffi Graf and son Jaden Gil.

Just hours later Serena Williams, one half of the most famous sister act in tennis, pulled out with an ankle injury despite making a "210 percent" effort to play.

Hewitt, however, did play, and managed to set a record at the Open. It is one he will want to forget, though.

Hewitt became the first Australian Open top seed ever to lose in the first round of the men's singles when he was sensationally knocked out by journeyman Spaniard Alberto Martin 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6.

"Everyone knows that for my game I need strength and speed and I didn't have that.

"I am not Superman, I can't do anything about that."

One of the biggest shock results in the history of the tournament left the first grand slam of the year without its top two seeds after Gustavo Kuerten also lost.

That, however, was no surprise at all, the Brazilian having a diabolical record down under.

Home hopes centred on Mark Philippoussis, recently returned from injury and hitting good form.

He also played his part in making history, losing in round two. It was the first time in the history of the event that no Australian man had reached the third round.

TOTAL EXPERIENCE

If tournament director Paul McNamee was worried, he wasn't telling, preferring instead to talk about "the depth of the men's game".

Even he must have winced as the tournament progressed. The quarter-final line-up included such names as Wayne Ferreira, Jiri Novak, Stefan Koubek, Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson.

Hardly household names and unlikely to sell tickets.

The crowds continued to come, however, obviously enjoying the "total experience" the organisers said the Open was all about.

Marat Safin was the only household name in the draw by that stage yet he was making all the headlines for his "blondies".

A trio of blondes sat in Safin's private box during all of his matches and their striking looks made them one of the talking points of the championship.

Safin went on to reach the final but ran out of steam against Johansson, a player who had never previously been beyond the quarter-finals of a major.

This was indeed a statement about the depth of talent.

A JOKE

The women's game, however, was branded "a joke" by clown prince Marcelo Rios who single-handedly dominated the Shot of the Tournament contest with his unique brand of play.

The usual tit-for-tat ensued but with seven of the eight top seeds reaching the quarter-finals, Rios's comments that their game lacked quality in depth seemed to have a certain validity.

But the women certainly made up for it in the second half of the tournament with some cracking matches.

Monica Seles beat Venus Williams for the first time in her career but bowed to a resurgent Martina Hingis.

At the top of the draw Jennifer Capriati sliced through the opposition in her defence of the title.

In the final it looked as though Hingis would steal her crown from her, but Capriati stunned her in sizzling heat to become the first player to save four match points in a final and lift the trophy.