Draw Analyse AO

Hi everyone,

It's time to look at the draw and I must say, I'm happy with it (that doesn't happen very often!).

We're looking at some interesting matches, starting already in the 3th round with:
- Jankovic v. Safarova = maybe the lefty can create some struggle for Jankovic?
- Clijsters v. Hantuchova = in Brisbane Kim had to retire but she had won the first set
  though!
- Radwanska v. Wickmayer = interesting for the Belgian fans
- Kuznetsova v. Lisicki = I don't want either player to lose but I think the stand-in Charlie's 
  Angel shall prevail!
- Ivanovic v. Pavly = didn't see much of Pavly this past weeks so this should be a real test

My prediction for the fourth round clashes (beyond this, I just don't dare to guess!):
- Wozniacki v. Jankovic = shall the number one still be bothered with her wrist?
- Clijsters v. Li = this was the final of last year, intense!
- Azarenka v. Peng = this side of the draw isn't very stuffed, Azarenka kind of gets a free
  pass to the quarter finals
- Schiavone v. Radwanska = should be a lovely battle!
- Serena Williams v. Kanepi/Zvonareva = here, I just can't decide! Kanepi was excellent in
  Brisbane but maybe Zvonareva can up her game more because it's a grandslam
- Lisicki v. Sharapova = oh, sweet: the battle of the two blondes with a lot of firepower!
- Stosur v. Bartoli = this is if Stosur can win against Petrova in the previous round
  (remember those two are responsable for the longest women's US open match with
  Stosur winning it 7-6(5), (5)6-7, 7-5 in 3h16m!)
- Ivanovic v. Kvitova

And besides the Australian Open title, the number one position is up for grabs too! Wozniacki has to do better than Kvitova AND must pass beyond the third round. But I don't think she's gonna lose her spot, just a feeling. Lots of tennis and lots at stake.
Stay posted!

Introducing: The Australian Open!

Hi everyone,

We're finally there: it's summer down under and the tennis crazyness bubbles over! Let's introduce: the Australian Open!

It's not a coincidence, they call this the happy slam! The Australian crowd really makes it special every year!

So enjoy the next two tennis-littered weeks because it's always over too fast!

And of course: keep tuned!



Off court fun: Sabine Lisicki

Hi everyone,

Look what I stumbled upon, I just couldn't stop laughing! It's two commercials for tennis point.com but I had to watch it like three times before I could make it to the end!
But seriously, Lisicki would make the happiest Charlie's Angel EVER!
I just love when they do commercials with tennis players.
Watch and enjoy:

I absolutely love it! Even if it had been a commercial for dog food, I would have tried it.

You totally won against Zvonareva but face it: this is just as entertaining!



And here's the making of the commercial. I just skipped to the part where Lisicki couldn't stop laughing while those guys had to keep that car wiggling. She gets away with everything with her happy face, right?!

Sydney update: Semi's & Final

Hi everyone,

To get you updated swiftly (but a little bit late, I know!), the last matches of the Apia Sydney tournament (and we loved every minute of it!):

- Na Li v. Kvitova
Kvitova started the match just steam-rolling Na Li with a great deal of winners. An amazing passing shot at 5-1, pretty much left Na Li without confidence and luck: 1-6. In the second set, Na Li took more control of the points to level up at 5-5. At that point Na Li broke Kvitova's serve and held her own to force a deciding third set: 7-5. Due to an early break, Kvitova was left pursuing the rebreak but Na Li used everything in her tennis arsenal to prevent that. She kept hammering those balls across the court! Kvitova was in desperate search for her A-game but another break at 4-2, meant the Chinese could serve for the match: 6-2. At the press conference, Na Li said she's back and we love it! Seems Kvitova is going to have to win the number 1 spot some other way.
Highlights: watch here

- Azarenka v. Radwanska
It's always an interesting match if you got Radwanska on the other side! In the first set, the Pole could hold on to an early break (even facing 0-40 and three breakpoints in her following serve game) to force another break at 4-1. She just wasn't impressed with Azarenka's high speed game and high pitched noise for that matter: 1-6! The second set was a lot more promising struggle with Azarenka taking an important break at 4-3 up to serve for the set: 6-3. You could tell Radwanska wasn't completely charged up again after her epic win against Wozniacki the day before (remember that match wound up after midnight!) Azarenka was in need for some serious fighting power at 1-2 to hold serve but after that, the next 4 games went her way: 6-2.
Highlights: watch here

So the final in Sydney had to be decided between Na Li and Azarenka!
In the opening set, it was just raining breaks until Azarenka held serve to get an advantage of 3-1. There were just too much unforced errors in Na Li's game while she kept complaining to hubby in her playerbox. Another break accomadated Azarenka to serve the first set in her favor and with an ace and two misses of Na Li, the 6-2 showed up on the scoreboard.
A ridiculously long but incredible point in the first game, second set, made the Chinese fans go crazy! You could say the second set was the complete opposite of the first one: both players held their first service game to love, the momentum switched to Na Li and now Azarenka was making the unforced errors. The score adjusted to: 6-2, 1-6 as a result.
There have been a lot of third sets in this tournament/ The slow start seems to be the 'Sydney'-way.
Na Li won her sixth consecutive game when breaking the Azarenka serve in the first game of the third set. But Azarenka fought back to level up at 3-3. And in the heat of the moment, the Australian camerapeople decided to show the most cute bug ever! I was totally distracted after that! An unfortunate break gave Azarenka a 5-3 lead. She was honestly the most consistent player and despite the noisy Chinese crowd, finished it: 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Highlights: watch here

So, two unexpected winners for the first two WTA tournaments of the year: Kaia Kanepi and Victoria Azarenka (sure she's the number three but I don't think everybody's first pick for the Sydney title). Should make the Australian Open incredibly exciting!

Keep posted!

Sydney: Quarter Finals

Hi everyone,

Interesting quarterfinals it has been! Certainly with the power outage experienced in Sydney, not even the chair umpires could use their microphones, imagine! The wind was an important factor today, nonetheless: the show must go on (especially with the pink ballboys!)

Na Li defeated Lucie Safarova: 6-2, 7-6(3). In her press conference, the wind and her good game were analysed in depth. More fun was a question about her husband slash coach! She said: 'as a husband he's always doing a good job but as a coach sometimes he's doing some stupid thing.' You gotta love Na Li's talking skills! Next up for her is another lefty: Kvitova. She defeated Hantuchova in a mere 60 minutes to advance to the semifinals with: 6-0, 6-4. Hantuchova took her first game when trailing in the second set 0-2 with a happy smile though! There were too many errors in her game (and the serve suffered from the wind) and despite rebreaking Kvitova, the Czech sealed the match with an enormous amount of winners. Be aware of Hurricane Petra!
Highlights: watch here















Everything the Kvitova - Hantuchova match lacked, was made up for beautifully in the Radwanska - Wozniacki duel! An agressive start for Wozniacki couldn't withhold Radwanska breaking her serve in the opening game. From that point on, sublime rallies from both sides kept the score in balance. A weird break at 3-3 for Wozniacki due to some strange mistakes of the Pole meant she drifted out of the set (losing the next three games: 3-6).

Radwanska's second service caused problems but she found the will to carry on. She hold her first sevice game despite trailing 0-30 and winning a massive opening rally at 2-1 to secure herself a break against her BFF. Luck was on her side with three net services (the record is supposed to be seven what the hell?!) and Wozniacki being terribly bugged by...bugs! After a rebreak to level at 4-4, Radwanska lost her serve at quite an important time because Wozniacki could now serve for the match. Oh boy, did that turn out the other way! The Pole broke back right away and with some miraculous shots won: 7-5 to end the terrific second set!

Oh yes, it was geting a bit late at this point! Approaching three hours of tennis and midnight, a third set still had to be played. Kind of a fail here: the last train already left so many fans missed this fantastic ending. There were a lot of brilliant points but Wozniacki was definitely out of her usual rythm. But it was until a wrist injury showed his ugly face at the Danish side, nothing was certain about this match. I just hope we don't have to get Wozniacki checked in on the casualties list as well! From that point on, you were just waiting for the Pole to break and she did at 3-2. There was nothing the towel crew (what was up with that anyway?!) of Wozniacki could do, let alone the commentators who start to talk about nerves with Radwanska hitting some unforced errors just a minute later. It slipt away for the Dane, winning no more game: 2-6 in the final set.

Highlights: watch here



Radwanska is up against Azarenka next who defeated Marion Bartoli: 7-5, 6-4.

There's talk of Kvitova talking the number 1 position if she can win this tournament. Let's get through the semifinals first, stay tuned!

Sydney: Road to Quarter finals

Hi everyone,

Wow, two rounds flew by in Sydney. Let's take a peek at the quarter finalists of this year!

All the top seeded players had some difficulty in the second round but no major upsets for today.

- Wozniacki v. Cibulkova = 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. The number 1 had quite some trouble holding serve and you cannot afford that against a feisty player as Cibulkova. Wozniacki lost a 5-2 lead in the first set, but managed to find her focus back at the right time to break Cibulkova in the last game: 7-5. The second set meant much more trouble with a 0-4 deficit for the Dane. Nothing seemed to work to fight herself back into the set and it slipt away: 2-6. The same scenario unraveled in the third set with Cibulkova leading 4-0 with some spectacular shots but the nerves set in. Wozniacki won the following 6 games (matchpoint was a really - really, really - close hawk eye!). The Danish wall suffered some blows against the 5 foot 3 (1m60) Slovakian. Next up is Radwanska who defeated Petkovic 7-5, 6-4 (no comment sigh) PS: Wozniacki, lay off the 'yeah definitely' in the press conferences or you're gonna need an even bigger inflatable kangaroo at the Australian Open!
Highlights: watch here

Oh right: for entertainment purposes only, Wozniacki and Cibulkova dancing last year at an exhibition match.

- Na Li v. Chanelle Scheepers = 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Na Li called it a slow start, we'll go with that then. She'll need a much stronger start against Safarova. She advances to the quarter finals after Kuznetsova retired due to heat illness (damn you, Australian summer!): 6-2, 2-0.

- Kvitova v. Dulgerhu = 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. As always, Kvitova's tactic was hitting as many winners as possible. The problem was, Dulgerhu kept bringing a lot of balls back! It took three sets to finally overpower her opponent. It's obvious Kvitova is still getting warmed up (remember, she got a bye in the first round) and admits to some problems adjusting to the weather conditions (yes, it's summer in Sydney all right!). She gets Hantuchova in the quarter finals after she beat Schiavone again: 7-5, 6-1. Hopefully she'll be ready to face that tough one. I should have known Hantuchova was able to defeat Schiavone again after a great run in Brisbane, but it's Schiavone (mi scusi!).
Highlights: watch here














No problems for Bartoli on the other hand, she downed Australian hope Dokic: 6-0, 6-3. Dokic blamed the nerves, who wouldn't with such a springy opponent at the other side!
Highlights: watch here

Azarenka awaits for Bartoli after winning against Jankovic: 6-4, 6-2.

To sum up the quarter finals: Wozniacki - Radwanska, Azarenka - Bartoli, surprising Safarova - Na Li and Hantuchova - Kvitova. Bearly can't wait, see you later!

Sydney: Day 1 & 2

Hi everyone,

So just two days into the Sydney Tournament and we've already seen some thrilling matches (had to be with such a draw!). And of course some overenthousiastic fans, we are in Australia after all (but just a tad too gay, guys!):

I'm just a bit gloomy, there are only highlights available on the Sydney-channel on youtube of the less important matches (yes of course, it's all about the seeded players but I didn't get to see Petkovic against Pavly and the match between Zvonareva and Kuznetsova, and she's even seeded!). Sigh and carry on.

- Na Li v. Makarova: 6-0, 6-3. The first nine games went to Na Li before Makarova could fight herself on the score board. She briefly leveled at 3-3 (needing 4 breakpoints to do so) but lost the following three games to eventually lose 3-6. In an hour Na Li swept Makarova off the court to set up a second round match against Chanelle Scheepers who defeated Czink 6-1, 6-2.

Highlights: watch here

- Azarenka v. Voegle: 6-2, 6-3. Although Voegle played some great points, she never really could make a match out of it. What was kind of weird was Azarenka's dropshot on Voegle's serve, never seen that before! Next up is the tough Jankovic who won after Goerges retired losing the first set 6-1 and trailing in the second 3-1 (don't yet know the cause though). Just saying, Azarenka was as noisy as ever, good to know some things just never change!

Highlights: watch here

- Sam Stosur v. Schiavone = Oh Sammy! Why'd you go and lose on me? So some things really never change, like you losing every point coming at the net (and that with four Grandslam wins in doubles, really?!). Schiavone looked all beter since her loss in Brisbane last week, complaining of sickness. It wasn't the quality of a grandslam final everybody kept comparing it too, but I hope it was enough practice for you Sammy, because now it's up to the Australian Open.

Highlights: watch here

Now the sensational scores (where I couldn't find highlights for, grumble grumble!) Petkovic won against Pavly 6-2, 6-3 to face Radwanska in the next round (probably going to be my favorite match of this tournament) after she beat her sister in the first round (shouldn't there be a rule, they've played way too much already against each other in first rounds!). Further more, Kuznetsova defeated Zvonareva easily in two sets: 6-1, 6-2 (there goes my quarter finals prediction out of the window!).

To finish this post, thank god Sydney has a player party so the ladies of the WTA can show themselves in some stylish clothes for once! If you have trouble recognizing them -from left to right- Azarenka, Jankovic (love the hair!), Zvonareva (apparently wearing the highest heels of the evening), Petkovic, Stosur surrounded by some female fans (why doesn't that surprise me) and a lovely group photo of Kvitova, Ivanovic and Wozniacki.

See you in the quarter finals, keep yourself posted!