Archive for January, 2007

Jelena Jankovic has penned her thoughts about losing to Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Australian Open. This rising star is a terrific sport, she’s now rooting for Williams to win! Prior to the 2007 Australian Open loss, Jankovic was one of only two players currently in action that had an advantage over Williams in terms of win-loss match record. Williams beat Jankovic in fourth round play 6-3, 6-2.

In Australian Open women’s semifinal play today, Serena Williams squared off against Nicole Vaidisova winning in two sets 7-6(5), 6-4. As improbable as it seemed two weeks ago, Williams only needs one more win to take the year’s first Grand Slam title. Prior to the tournament, she was ranked 81 in the world but is forecasted to return to the top 20 thanks to her slot in the finals.

Now playing are Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters to see who will face Ms. Williams in the final showdown Saturday and they are three games all in the first set. It sure looks to be an exciting year for women’s tennis.

It took Fernando Gonzalez of Chile just three sets to whip Spain’s Rafael Nadal in this quarterfinal twist (6-2, 6-4, 6-3). Gonzalez is tenth seed, Nadal was seeded second. Gonzalez is certainly a force to be reckoned with, he also ripped through Lleyton Hewitt and James Blake in the preliminary rounds of the tournament.

Yet another quarterfinal upset occurred when German Tommy Haas, seeded twelfth, managed to overcome Russian Nikolay Davydenko (third seed) in five thrilling up-and-down sets (6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5).

The final four facing off in the Australian Open men’s singles semifinals now will be Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick and Haas vs. Gonzalez.

In the men’s draw, Andy Roddick looked to be in near perfect form and showed no mercy to friend Mardy Fish in three sets with only four unforced errors (6-2, 6-2, 6-2). Afterwards they hugged it out. “Today I played pretty flawless,” Roddick stated. “I feel good going into the semis.” He will meet world number one Roger Federer, who beat Tommy Robredo for a slot in the semifinals (6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5). It’s worth mentioning that Federer lost to Roddick in the final match of an exhibition a couple weeks ago, could be an interesting Grand Slam final.

Tomorrow’s quarterfinal matches: Nikolay Davydenko vs. Tommy Haas, reprising their 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinal, and Rafael Nadal vs. Fernando Gonzalez.

Maria Sharapova, seeded first in the women’s draw for the 2007 Australian Open, moved into the semifinals for the third straight year with a decisive triumph over comrade and twelfth seed Anna Chakvetadze (7-6 (5), 7-5). Sharapova will play the winner of the Clijsters vs. Hingis match to see who will play the final in this year’s first Grand Slam.

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams willed herself to win her quarterfinal match against equally strong willed Israeli Shahar Peer. Williams managed to pull out a 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 victory. “I am the ultimate competitor,” said Williams. “Definitely ready to create some more carnage.” Amazingly, her world ranking will move from 81 to somewhere in the 30s following the tournament. Williams takes on Nicole Vaidisova in the other semifinal match tomorrow. Vaidisova is 17 years old and playing only her second Grand Slam semifinal. Vaidisova beat Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova to advance to the semifinal round (6-1, 6-4).

Will the fourth contestant in the Australian Open semifinals be Clijsters or Hingis…

Newsflash: It’s Kim Clijsters against Maria Sharapova, she defeated Martina Hingis 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Two Russians match their talents for the first slot in the quarterfinals: Maria Sharapova, number one seed, against Anna Chakvetadze, twelfth seed. The next slot will go to either Belgian Belle Kim Clijsters (fourth seed) or Swiss Miss Martina Hingis (sixth). I am delighted to say that I am currently watching the contest for the third slot between the US’s Serena Williams and Israel’s Shahar Peer. I don’t think it’s just their citrus-colored attire that make this one juicy match–quelle tennis! In the fourth slot, Nicole Vaidisova beat Lucie Safarova in two sets (6-1, 6-4) to represent Czechoslovakia in the next round. In minutes we’ll know her challenger, Shahar or Serena, it’s any woman’s game at this point…

p.s. Did you see Shahar smash that?!

p.p.s Serena takes it. Incredible.

Two Spaniards and two Americans comprise fifty percent of the 2007 Australian Open men’s quarterfinals action. Top seed Roger Federer representing Switzerland takes on Tommy Robredo, seventh seed from Spain. The US is guaranteed a spot in the semifinals: Andy Roddick (sixth seed) faces Mardy Fish to see who will represent America in the next round. Third seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia plays Tommy Haas of Germany who is seeded twelfth. Spain’s Rafael Nadal (seeded second) will meet Chile’s Fernando Gonazlez (tenth seed) for the fourth slot in the quarterfinal draw. Look forward to some extreme tennis!

Just a quick note to say — WOW!! Still serving at 137 miles per hour three hours into the match, Andy Roddick played this one like a true powerhouse, beating Croatian Mario Ancic (6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4). After a close call against Roddick at match point, this good sport did not fuss. Instead he played the last point beautifully, causing coach Jimmy Connors to beam with pride in the stands. What a winner. Tomorrow we will post the full report on the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Official Men’s Rankings (ATP Tour)
1 Roger Federer
2 Rafael Nadal
3 Nikolay Davydenko
4 Ivan Ljubicic
5 James Blake
6 Tommy Robredo
7 Andy Roddick
8 David Nalbandian
9 Fernando Gonzalez
10 Mario Ancic

Official Women’s Rankings (WTA Tour)
1 Justine Henin-Hardenne
2 Maria Sharapova
3 Amelie Mauresmo
4 Svetlana Kuznetsova
5 Kim Clijsters
6 Nadia Petrova
7 Martina Hingis
8 Elena Dementieva
9 Patty Schnyder
10 Dinara Safina

Andy Roddick managed an impressive victory over Marat Safin in third round action, winning 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6. Roddick attributes his inspiration for the win partly to the arrival of his beloved coach, Jimmy Connors. Connors had stayed behind in the United States after his mother’s death but arrived in Melbourne just in time for Roddick’s third round match. “For him to go through what he has gone through, hop on a flight, arrive this morning and stay up for me was great,” Roddick said in a news conference. “I hadn’t seen him for five to six weeks and I’m pretty excited to have him here.” Roddick faces another tough opponent in the fourth round in Croatian Mario Ancic.

World number one Roger Federer of Switzerland had an easy time against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia (6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)). He meets Serbian Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

Mardy Fish also moved to the next round when veteran Wayne Arthurs’ leg gave out and he had to retire while behind 3-0 in the first. Other winners in men’s singles were Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, and Gasquet.

Men’s third round matches remaining include Rafael Nadal vs. Stanislas Wawrinka, James Blake vs. Robby Ginepri, Nikolay Davydenko vs. Fabrice Santoro, and Mardy Fish vs. Wayne Arthurs.