Molik Holds Off Rookie Mattek

by Erik Boland

Tuesday, August 28, 2001

Australia's Alicia Molik survived a scare at the hands of US Open rookie Bethanie Mattek in their first-round match at the USTA National Tennis Center Tuesday. Ahead 5-4, Mattek, who received a wild card into this year's tournament, broke Molik's serve to win the first set. However, the slightly more experienced Molik, 20, came back with a strong second set, then held off the native Minnesotan in a back-and-forth third. Molik next will play the winner of the match between No. 15 seed Magdalena Maleeva and Kveta Hrdlickova