Pierre's Tennisrulz Blog (get your own blog here)

Friday, January 12, 2007

Australian Open 2007 - Day 0

Hello everyone and welcome to the first of my Australian Open blog entries. Those who have been avid Tennisrulz readers for a few years have read my articles for a while now... Unlike the great and now famous Todd Spiker, I do not get the chance to write every week, but when I do get to see some live tennis, I'm more than thrilled to write about it. I'm currently in Washington DC in my first of two layovers (the other one being in Tokyo in a few hours). Now going to Australia from Montreal is a long ride, but even more so going through Tokyo, but it'll all be worth it I have no doubt. Surprisingly, there does not seem to have a wireless internet connection in this airport so I'm not exactly sure when I'll be able to post this. I guess Tokyo airport would be good but at worse it'll be in Melbourne. I'm scheduled to get there on Sunday, one day before the start of the main draw play.

Just yesterday, I did a quick stop and bought a new lens... Last year, I had numerous problems because of the Aus Open rule of a 200mm limit... Mine was 300mm and so while I did use it, it was quite a hassle to always be checking my back like that. So hopefully this year's rules will be the same and I can watch some tennis, take some photos and just enjoy the nice weather.

Now as discussed with Todd (he actually agrees on this!), I really believe that 2007 on the WTA tour will be a great battle between Justine Henin-Hardenne and Maria Sharapova. To hear that Justine would not be playing sets a slow start to that rivalry and in a way it puts some pressure on Maria to do well here since Justine will not be playing. Other top players who will miss the event include Anastasia Myskina (toe) and Lindsay Davenport (pregnant) as well as the non-surprising withdrawl by Venus Williams. Let's see if Serena actually turns up, hopefully she will.

So here are just some thoughts for the initial rounds as well as my predictions from the 4th round onwards:

Initial rounds interesting matchups:

1st: Kirilenko def Sprem: Hmmm what to think, both players should be doing a lot better than they are in my opinion. Sprem hits incredibly hard and makes tons of errors, Kirilenko can't handle power very much.. how this would play out would be interesting

2nd: Serena Williams def Krajicek: Any match of Serena these days is going to be a challenge. Michaela has lots of vocal fans everywhere and it would be a great matchup... I think the great fighter in Serena will emerge here, but you never know

3rd: Ivanovic def Zvonareva: Should be interesting, Vera is such an egnimatic player.. I think it could be a tough match but it's hard to go with an unstable Vera in such a match
3rd: Molik vs Schnyder: Hmm, it would be interesting in seeing this match although I don't think Alicia's game matches very well against Schnyder...
3rd: Na Li def Safina: Tough one really to come up with, Na Li is such an unpredictable player she might not even make it to the 3rd round. And then Safina is as well.. I'm picking Na Li in 3...
3rd: Petrova def Serena Williams: Again, this could be a good one, I am going to pick Petrova because she is surely in better "game shape".
3rd: Golovin def Peer: I certainly hope to see this match if it actually does happen, what a long match this could be, both are great fighters...

4th round:

Sharapova def Ivanovic: Ana certainly has an interesting game and she can do strides, but she still lacks some of that variety that Sharapova has and I still think her strengths are not as developped as Sharapova's
Chakvetadze def Schnyder: Very interesting matchup, a very close match in perspective and one year ago I would have picked Patty to win this. But Anna C showed great signs last year towards the end of the season and if she's continued improving this off-season, she's ready for another step forward
Clijsters def Hantuchova: Easy quarter honestly for Kim, I don't see her having much of a struggle as other seeds in that part of the draw do not have much confidence right now.
Hingis def Na Li: Not easy, Martina could struggle against the always surprising Eleni Daniilidou and then Na Li is no easy opponent, but I'm predicting she'll make it to the quarterfinals here...
Jankovic def Petrova: Well, hands down, Jelena has been the hottest player in these 2 little weeks before the Aus Open. She has shown signs of greatness but also big letdowns, I think this event will be a good one for her...
Kuznetsova def Peer: Peer is a great player, but Svetlana has a lot of variety
Vaidisova def Dementieva: Haha interesting matchup hey? Two players who often in tight matches will break down at various points during the match. I'm picking Nicole simply because I think her serve will help her manage through those tight 3 set moments..
Mauresmo def Schiavone: Hmm, as does Kim, I think Amelie has a great draw. The best player other than her is Schiavone who has no weapons really against Amelie...

QF:

Sharapova def CHakvetadze: This could be a very tough match for Maria. She'll face a player who probably fights as hard as she does and has a game that can give her trouble. I will pick Maria mostly because of her serve/return game, just a bit too many free points.
Clijsters def Hingis: Just too much variety, she has every weapon and there is no way Martina can compete over 3 sets in my competition...
Jankovic def Kuznetsova: Wow, this would be an upset though. I'm not sure how to predict this one so I'm going with gut. I'm not sure how Kuznetsova would react to the unconventional "play & attitude" of Jankovic.
Vaidisova def Mauresmo: She did it on clay, can she do it in Australia on hard courts when Amelie is not playing in front of the pressure of her home crowd.

SF:

Sharapova def Clijsters: What a great match this would be really hey? I'm picking Maria, in a tight one
Vaidisova def Jankovic: Jankovic impresses for the whole tournament and then when she starts thinking about the final and everything... letdown, she loses in a error filled match

F: Sharapova def Vaidisova: One player in her first final, the other has been there before and has a lot of confidence going into Australia...

# posted by Pierre : 8:10 AM  

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