Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31
photo credit: Johnny Jet
The picture above was taken in Melbourne of the centre court (named the Rod Laver Arena), where the Australian Open is held each year. Green, blue, green are the colours of the sign and interestingly, the courts used to be green and now they are blue. The pattern of the sign hints that the courts may become green again.
This post is the 2nd in a series that aims to make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for on this tennis website. In order for you to find out more about what you are interested in, or what you are searching for, all of the relevant links will be supplied in this single post about one particular topic.
Today’s topic is the 2010 Australian Open.
- Understanding the Men’s Pro Tour #1
- Understanding the Men’s Pro Tour #2
- Understanding Men’s Tennis Rankings #1
- What’s Next on the 2010 Men’s Tour?
- Australian Open 2010 Women’s Seeding
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Seeding
- Australian Open 2010 Women’s Qualifying
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Qualifying
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Results
- Australian Open 2010 Women’s Results
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Survivors
- Australian Open 2010 Results: Women
- Australian Open 2010 Last 16 Women
- Australian Open 2010 Last 16 Men
- Australian Open Women’s Quarter Finals
- Australian Open Men’s Quarter Finals
- Australian Open 2010 Schedule of Play
- Australian Open Women’s Semi Finals
- Australian Open Men’s Semi Finals
- Australian Open Men’s Semi Final #2
- Australian Open 2010 Women’s Singles Final
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Singles Final
- Australian Open Women’s Champion
- Australian Open 2010 Men’s Singles Final
- Australian Open Men’s Champion
When future information about the Australian Open Tennis Championships is added to this tennis website it will be continually updated on this directory page. Add this page to your favourites to make coming back here EASY!
If there is anything further you would like to know about please email to info@oncourtadvantage.com.
Today’s POST is dedicated to Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt was born on this day in 1981 andhas won 2 Grand Slam singles titles thus far. The Australian won the 2001 US Open and the 2002 Wimbledon Championship. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 19 November 2001.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Men’s Champion
The Australian Open Men’s Singles Champion for 2010 is the No.1 seed Roger Federer (pictured above), who went one victory further than last year when he lost to Rafael Nadal in 5 sets. The World No.1 has now won 16 Grand Slam Singles titles.
The Men’s Singles Final was an entertaining match with both players playing a lot of ground strokes. The great champion of men’s tennis played with more confidence and freedom as compared to Murray who due to feeling so much pressure retreated into his shell and played not to lose for the 1st two sets.
Once Murray was down 2 sets to love it seemed as though he was much happier, perhaps he thought the pressure was off as who would expect him to win now that Federer had a 2 sets to love lead. Hence, the 3rd set was the most entertaining, competitive and the highest level of tennis for the match.
After an intensely competitive 3rd set in which Murray had a lot more opportunities than his opponent Federer clawed back from a 2-5 deficit to force a tie break. Murray served for for the set at 5-3 and went up 30-0. Murray had 2 set points at 6-4 in the tie break and had another 3 set points at 7-6 then 9-8 and 11-10.
After a great 72 minute 3rd set somehow Federer who seemed as though he was hanging on for dear life clinched the title after the 24th point of the tie break. Federer recorded his 2nd straight sets victory over Murray in a Grand Slam Final, this time winning 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
Murray as the runner-up won 1.1 million Australian dollars and 1,400 ATP ranking points to continue his steady progression towards claiming his 1st Grand Slam singles title. Murray appears on course to take the next step this year at the French Open, Wimbledon or the US Open if he can learn how to set aside the immense pressure he has felt in recent times.
As we specifically pointed out in our Men’s final preview (click this link to read-> Australian Open 2010 Men’s Singles Final), the critical factors we predicted were spot on with Murray being unable to control his mental state in order to play aggressively or serve well enough. Murray was out served by Federer especially on the big points where Murray routinely missed his 1st serve.
Federer now has 4 Australian Open singles titles to his credit which includes his 2004, 2006-2007 titles. Federer won 2.1 million Australian dollars and 2,000 ATP ranking points which increased his points lead as the World No.1.
Now that the Australian Open is completed the new ATP Tour Rankings as at February 1, 2010 will see Federer equal the 3rd placed Jimmy Connors for the most weeks ranked as the World No.1.
Both Connors and Federer have 268 weeks ranked as the World No.1 and his 2010 Australian Open victory means Federer will overtake Connors and 2nd placed Ivan Lendl who has 270. Federer is destined to break the record set by Pete Sampras of 286 weeks on June 14th this year.
The current Top 10 ATP Tour Rankings (1 February 2010), are:
- Roger Federer
- Novak Djokovic – moved up 1 spot
- Andy Murray – moved up 1 spot
- Rafael Nadal – down 2 spots
- Juan Martin Del Potro
- Nikolay Davydenko
- Andy Roddick
- Robin Soderling
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – moved up 1 spot
- Marin Cilic – up 4 spots
Stay tuned to this tennis website for a closer look at how the players in the women’s and men’s finals won and lost AND what they were trying to do against their opponent in order to win.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Women’s Champion
The Australian Women’s Singles Champion for 2010 is the No.1 seed Serena Williams (pictured above), who successfully defended her title having won this tournament in 2009. Serena is the 1st woman to win back to back Australian Open singles titles since American Jennifer Capriati in 2001-2002.
The Women’s Singles Final was a very entertaining match with both players having opportunities to take the match into their hands. Two great champions in women’s tennis went after each other in the Championship match and both had streaks of dominating their opponent.
As we specifically pointed out in our Women’s final preview (click this link to read Australian Open 2010 Women’s Singles Final), the clear trend in their head to head matches continued where the player wins the 1st set wins the match. This has now occurred in 13 of their 14 battles.
Serena served better, was more determined to hang in there and was the smarter player on the day. Justine Henin had her chances but in the end went down 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in 2 hours and 7 minutes. The 27 year old Belgian’s comeback in just her 2nd tournament has returned 2 runner-up results.
Henin is now 7 wins to 5 losses in Grand Slam Singles Finals and was unable to emulate the Wild Card comeback win that her fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters achieved at the 2009 US Open. Henin won 1.1 million Australian dollars and 1,400 WTA ranking points as the runner-up.
Henin has now compiled 1600 points from just 2 tournaments which would have her ranked as the World No.38. However, Henin has 1 more event to win points from before she can attain an official WTA ranking.
The unranked Henin has won the French Open 4 times so it will be very interesting at the next Grand Slam to see how she performs. The Australian Open runner up would be the early favourite given she has dominated the French Open in the past whereas Serena’s worst Grand Slam record is at Roland Garros.
Serena now has 5 Australian Open singles titles to her credit which is second only to the record of 11 by Margaret Court. Court presented the women’s trophies on the 40 year anniversary of winning THE GRAND SLAM back in 1970. Serena won 2.1 million Australian dollars and 2,000 WTA ranking points.
Serena now has 12 Grand Slam singles titles which ties her with Billie Jean King. Serena has won those titles from 1999 to 2010 and King won them from 1966-1975. The following 5 players have won more Grand Slam Singles titles than Serena and the time frame in which they won them is in brackets next to these players names.
- 18 to Chris Evert (1974-1986);
- 18 to Martina Navratilova (1978-1990);
- 19 to Helen Wills Moody (1923-1938);
- 22 to Steffi Graf (1987-1999); and
- 24 to Margaret Court (1960-1973).
Let’s hope for more showdowns between Henin and Williams in quarter or semi finals of WTA Tour tournaments this year and surely we will see Justine Henin’s name in the top 10 rankings list soon. Now that the Australian Open is completed the new top 10 WTA Rankings as at 1 February 2010 are:
- Serena Williams
- Dinara Safina
- Caroline Wozniacki – moved up 1 spot
- Svetlana Kuznetsova – down 1 spot
- Venus Williams – up 1 spot
- Victoria Azarenka – up 1 spot
- Elena Dementieva – down 2 spots
- Jelena Jankovic
- Agnieszka Radwanska – up 1 spot
- Li Na – up 7 spots
Stay tuned to this tennis website for a closer look at how the players in the women’s and men’s finals won and lost AND what they were trying to do against their opponent in order to win.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open 2010 Men’s Singles Final
photo credit: Not enough megapixels
The Men’s Singles Final will be played on Sunday 31 January at 7:30pm Melbourne time. The centre court in Melbourne is called the Rod Laver Arena where the great champion of men’s tennis, No.1 seed Roger Federer will be going for his 16th Grand Slam Singles title and his opponent is the No.5 seed Andy Murray of Scotland.
The final promises to be a great clash with the 2 “in form” players of the tournament set to collide at full speed for their 11th head to head battle on the men’s tour. Murray leads with 6 wins to 4 including 4 of their past 6 matches against each other. So he has proven that he CAN beat Federer.
The 2010 Australian Open Men’s Singles Final is their 1st meeting ever at this tournament and only their 2nd meeting in a Grand Slam tournament. The 1st Grand Slam match up was also in a final at the 2008 US Open in which the 28 year old Federer won in 3 straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.
The 22 year old Murray’s best result to date in a Grand Slam was that 2008 US Open final. Murray has improved in numerous facets of the game since then, illustrated by the fact that he beat Federer 4 times in a row after losing the US Open final match.
Australian Open 2010 is the 1st time that 1.90 metre Murray has made it past the round of 16 in Melbourne. The semi final was the 1st time that Murray lost a set in this tournament. It was the 1st set of the match that he lost against No.14 seed Marin Cilic before winning the next 3 sets.
Federer has the experience and proven consistency in being able to perform in THE biggest matches. Federer is playing in an ATP Tour men’s record 22nd Grand Slam Singles final. The 1.85 metre champion from Switzerland has won 3 Australian Open titles thus far (2004, 2006 & 2007), made the semi finals twice (2005 & 2008) and was runner up last year in 5 sets to Rafael Nadal.
In the semi finals Federer was far more impressive and dominating than Murray. The Swiss won in 3 straight sets against No.10 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just 88 minutes. Tsonga looked more like Jo “the Fried-Will” Tsonga in comparison to his fantastic play to win through his first two ever 5 set matches. Tsonga won back to back 5 set matches against No.3 seed Novak Djokovic and No.26 seed Nicolas Almagro (by 9 games to 7 in the final set!).
Both Roger and Andy have not spent that much time on court and have had a days rest in Federer’s case and 2 days rest in Murray’s case. Therefore, neither player will be “gone” if they drop the 1st set. A fade out like Djokovic against Tsonga should not occur as both will well and truly have enough reserves to stand up to the physical challenge of, hopefully, a 5 set match.
The mental battle is always a decisive factor in tennis matches and the men’s final will be no exception. Federer has to push himself mentally by challenging himself in a number of key ways that allow his best tennis to occur. If he cannot manage to maintain this mindset throughout he could easily slip back into playing too passively, defensively and without enough aggression. This is possible for the relaxed Federer considering how much he has already achieved.
The mental struggle and problem we foresee for Murray is that he must overcome the enormous pressure to win. This includes the constant expectations of himself and the British Press to become the 1st British player since Fred Perry to win a Grand Slam singles title. Perry won the 1936 US Open. Not to mention the fact that ONLY IF Muuray wins the Australian Open final then he will earn 50 million pounds per year!
If Murray serves very well by making a high percentage of 1st serves “in” and especially in key situations, then he could win the final in straight sets. Unfortunately for Murray the reliability of his 1st serve working is one of his weaknesses but, he only needs to serve well for one match – tomorrow’s final. Will he have an “on” day or not?
We are hoping for a close competitive match where both players display the high level of tennis, great variety of shots and positive attacking play that earned them their 6 wins each to get to the final. Last time round Murray played 3 days in a row before losing in the 2008 US Open final, that is certainly not the case this time.
Murray certainly has the ability to win especially given that he has achieved more including the World No.2 ranking, than a number of other players who have broken through to a a Grand Slam final. Murray has been thereabouts for some time If he does manage to defeat the mental demons then he will definitely deserve to be a Grand Slam Singles Champion.
Federer has dropped only 2 sets, both times it was the 1st set of the match in the 1st round against Igor Andreev and in the quarter final against No.6 seed Nikolay Davydenko.
Both Murray and Federers are physically fresh and obviously have no problem in coming back from losing the 1st set so the match will not be over until match point has been converted.
The critical factors will be: who can show the mental fortitude and discipline to overcome their inner struggles, who can be aggressive and maintain the right balance of attacking play and how well both players serve.
Federer has a knack of serving really well when he is being outplayed in the other areas of the game. Just as he did when he beat Andy Roddick 16-14 in the 5th set of the 2009 Wimbledon final. Federer has the advantage in being more consistently able to get himself into the zone and serve really well when he needs it most.
I do not remember a player under so much pressure to win the final.This will make it very difficult for Murray to stay relaxed enough to serve well and deal with missed opportunities that happen in most matches. The OCA prediction is Federer in 4 sets.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open 2010 Women’s Singles Final
The Women’s Singles Final at 7:30pm Melbourne time on Rod Laver Arena between two of the great champions in women’s tennis. Serena Williams (11) and Justine Henin (7) have won 18 Grand Slam singles titles between them.
The final promises to be a great clash when the 2 mentally toughest players over the past 10 years on the women’s tour square off or the 14th time in their head to head battles.
Serena has the height 1.75 metres to 1.67 metres, considerable weight advantage and a bigger and better serve. There is no point in providing the official stats on their current playing weights are as who in there right mind would ever believe what the female player’s report them to be?!?! Well ok, for a laugh, Serena is 68 kgs and Henin is 57 kgs.
The 27 year old Belgian’s comeback in just her 2nd tournament has her in her 2nd final already. Can Henin win one point more than last time? In the Brisbane final she had 2 match points before falling to fellow comeback queen and Belgian Kim Clijsters.
Clijsters won the 2009 US Open as a wild card. Henin retired 20 months ago back on 14 May 2008 and was awarded a wild card into this event. It would be great for women’s tennis if a 2nd dream comeback story came true as opposed to Serena just adding another Slam to her tally.
In the semi finals Henin was far more impressive and dominating than Serena. The 2004 Australian Open champion won in a quick fire 51 minute 6-1, 6-0 semi final victory over China’s Zheng Jie.
After that match Henin said, ”I knew it could be a dangerous match. Grand Slam semifinals are always special. I knew I had to be very focused, very concentrated. I did my job perfectly,” the former World No.1 said. “Sometimes you have big surprises, like at Wimbledon in 2007. I knew there was an opportunity for me. It’s more than a dream. I’m so happy to play against Serena because if I want to win another Grand Slam, I’ll have to beat the best in the world. And that’s the biggest challenge I can get.”
The 28 year old American struggled through against China’s Li Na in her semi final and managed to fight out a win in 2 tie break sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1). Serena leads the head to head encounters by 7 wins to Henin’s 6. Especially interesting is the fact that the player who has won the 1st set in 12 of those 13 matches went on to win the match. So tune in from the 1st point of the 1st set as it seems to be absolutely vital when they battle each other.
The mental battle is always a decisive factor in tennis matches and with Serena playing so much tennis at the Australian Open (she won the women’s doubles final with her sister), together with her growing “Egyptian mummy” look with all that white bandaging, coming back from being down a set could prove to be too physically and mentally demanding.
For Henin who has the edge over Serena in a s far as being fresh, physically ready and having won all 3 Grand Slam matches between the 2 over the past 6 years. Henin also has spent 117 weeks at No.1 versus Serena’s 88 and counting. Henin has the edge in career titles with 41 versus 35. Henin leads Serena with 4 win s to 2 in Grand Slam singles events yet, they have never net in a Grand Slam final despite Serena playing in 14 Grand Slam finals and Justine playing in 11.
The 2010 Australian Open Women’s Singles Final is also their 1st meeting ever at this tournament. Besides Serena being H-U-N-G-R-Y and seemingly more determined than ever, the problem I foresee for Henin in terms of this mental battle will be her overwhelming feeling of relief to have done so well to make a Grand Slam final so soon in her comeback to tennis.
Despite the potential and the build up and as much as we hope otherwise it will be another Serena victory and in straight sets…
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Men’s Semi Final #2
photo credit: The iconoclastic yet iconic ionic icon
The semi final between No.1 seed Roger Federer and No.10 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga promises to be great as both Federer and Tsonga fought back from being down in their quarter final matches to show some superb and exciting tennis.
The 1.88 metre Tsonga won his match against Novak Djokovic to move to 5 wins to 2 losses against Djokovic. Federer has a much tougher time against Djokovic than Tsonga does with Federer losing 3 of the past 5 matches against Djokovic. Tsonga played inspired tennis to defeat Djokovic in 5 sets 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 and showed no signs of fatigue.
The 28 year old Federer is going for his 16th Grand Slam singles title and has extended his world record for the most consecutive semi final or better results in Grand Slam singles events to an amazing 23 in a row! The Swiss beat Nikolay Davydenko in 4 sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.
The 1.85 metre Federer was close to being 2 sets to love down against Davydenko and Tsonga has beaten Federer before. In fact their head to head results in the past are squared at 1 win each and both matches were played on hard courts. The 24 year old Tsonga of France won their last match in 2009 at the Montreal Masters 1000 and Federer won back in 2008 at the Madrid Masters 1000 event.
Federer is the heavy favourite and it is hard to bet against his consistency in winning Grand Slam matches but somebody has got to do it. Tsonga has a great chance to win and is pumped up, it would be great for men’s tennis if another one of the younger players especially somebody as like able and adored by the fans could win the Australian Open instead of the ageing Federer just adding another number to his record tally.
Federer is not unbeatable he was being outplayed by Davydenko in his interview after that match Federer said, “Was in a tough situation at 6‑2, 3‑1 down and 15‑40 on my serve. I knew I wasn’t looking very good, you know. But that’s the beauty of best of five sets. I wasn’t panicking, even though I maybe would have lost the second set had I lost another point there at that stage.”
When asked in his interview after beating Novak Djokovic in 5 sets 7-6 (10-8), 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the quarter final what he has to do to beat Federer Tsonga said, ”What do I have to do? I have to play my best tennis. Roger played unbelievable today again, because Nikolay was in good shape, so it’s gonna be tough. But like today, I will give everything and we will see.”
Tsonga was also asked if it was good to know that he has beaten Federer before and whether that gave him confidence for tomorrow’s semi final to which Tsonga replied, “Yeah, of course. Of course. I know I can do that, but it was completely different. Now I have to win three sets, and it’s gonna be difficult for sure.”
Tsonga can do it he has been to the final before and he can go one better this year! His interview indicates he is in the right frame of mind and he has a big game with a wide variety of ways to win, which is always great to watch. Tsonga is in full flight in Melbourne this year as captured in the picture above and switching to the French made racquets this year seems to have given him an extra edge.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Men’s Semi Finals
The Australian Open men’s singles event is now up to the semi-final stage with one semi final played today and the other tomorrow. To see the schedule of play for exactly what time these matches are being played click this link -> Australian Open 2010 Schedule of Play.
Below you will find the seeded players whose names have a line drawn through them because they were defeated in that section of the draw. The player’s name that is bolded is OCA’s prediction of who will win.
Semi finals:
- (1) Roger Federer versus (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (3) Djokovic
- (4) Del Potro (14) Marin Cilic versus (5) Andy Murray (2) Nadal
The winners of the semi-finals are guaranteed 1,050,000 Australian dollars in prize money and 1400 ATP ranking points. The players who get knocked out earn 400,000 Australian dollars and 900 points.
The match up between Murray and Cilic is played today and it appears as though Murray has the advantage due to his 3 wins to 1 loss head to head record over Cilic and his great form in disposing of his opponents far more easily than Cilic has. Murray displayed great tennis to take out Nadal in the quarter finals without dropping a set whereas Cilic has struggled through 3 long 5 set battles to make it this far.
Cilic has shown his fighting spirit in overcoming his more fancied opponent’s including knocking out 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and former World No.1 and US Open champion Andy Roddick.
The last match between Murray and Cilic was a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win for Cilic in the US Open just gone. The circumstances were similar, Murray showing great form in earlier matches and being the favourite to make the final if not win the US Open yet as many may argue here.
Cilic dismantled Murray at the US Open and is another young and fast improving player just like Del Potro, so given Cilic beating Murray last time and only lifting his game in 2010 the 1.98 metre Croatian is extremely hard to bet against in this match.
Despite the general consensus that Murray will win you must consider that even though Murray looked great against Nadal, Nadal gives you the time to play more aggressively including attacking the net. Whereas Murray will have a tougher time to get on the front foot especially on Cilic’s service games due to Cilic being a far more attacking player than Nadal. It should be a great match and let’s see if Murray can steel himself enough to beat his less experienced, lower ranked and younger opponent!
Cilic who is pictured above just after making contact with the ball with his double handed backhand drive has achieved his career best result at a Grand Slam singles event and will also improve his career high ranking (currently No.13) regardless of the outcome of today’s match.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Women’s Semi Finals
The Australian Open women’s singles event is now up to the semi-final stage with both semi finals to be played one after the other on Thursday 28 January. The order of play is as follows.
Semi-finals:
- (1) S.Williams versus (4) Wozniacki (16) Li Na
- (3) Kuznetsova (WC) Justine Henin versus Zheng Jie (2) Safina
The winners of the semi-finals are guaranteed 1,050,000 Australian dollars in prize money and 1400 WTA ranking points. The players who get knocked out earn 400,000 Australian dollars and 900 points.
The 1st semi-final match up is between No.1 seed and defending Australian Open champion and No.16 seed Li Na who is playing in her 1st ever semi final in a Grand Slam singles event. These two players are backing up immediately after just completing there quarter final matches today. This seems to be an unfair advantage to the winner of the 2nd semi final who had a rest day today after playing their quarter finals yesterday.
Both Serena and Li were very close to being beaten in their matches with Serena trailing Victoria Azarenka 2-6 0-4 before coming back to win the 2nd set 7-6 by 7 points to 44 and then taking the 3rd set 6-2. Li defeated No.6 seed Venus Williams after trailing of the match including being 2 points away from defeat at 2-6 3-5. Li also trailed 2-4 in the 3rd set but triumphed 7-6 (7-4) and 7-5 in the final 2 sets.
The short break between matches for Serena and Li means that it is likely that the player who bounces back better from today in terms of physical condition may have the edge. Serena was heavily bandaged today, add to that Li finished her match and began her recovery before Serena even stepped out to take on Azarenka.
Li who is pictured above in the early stages of her service action has achieved her best result at a Grand Slam singles event now and will also achieve her career high ranking right after this event. Both players showed their fighting spirit today and despite things pointing to Li winning Serena cannot be bet against in the Grand Slams she just has the amazing toughness to pull out a win from the jaws of defeat.
On Tuesday 26 January Zheng Jie of China made it to her 2nd semi final in a Grand Slam singles event by defeating Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-3 in very convincing fashion. The other semi finalist from the bottom half of the draw is wild card Justine Henin. Henin defeated No.19 seed Nadia Petrova 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to make an impressive comeback to the WTA Tour.
The 26 year old Zheng lost heronly previous encounter with Henin and admitted than Henin is her 3rd favourite player (after No.1 Steffi Graf & 2. Roger Federer), and inspired her when she was younger. Now that she plays Henin she believes Henin will have the mental edge and it will be tough but she will relish the battle.
The 1.64 metre Zheng said “First of all, I favor her for her is have the so strong the mentally. I watch her play always ‑ how you say ‑ enjoy to watch her for play. For second I think is tough match for me, is big challenge. But I like it. I want do something, yeah.”
The 27 year old 1.67 metre Belgian won in straight sets back in 2006 and has Kim Clijsters comeback from retirement to win the 2009 US Open as motivation that she too can go all the way. As much as it would be great to see the 1st ever Chinese woman make the final 2 of the mentally toughest champions look to be set on a collision course Saturday.
Henin has already earned 1,100 WTA ranking points in her comeback and will remain unranked until she has earned ranking points in a 3rd WTA Tour event. Henin would be ranked No.59 even if she loses her semi final or No.37 if she makes the final.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open 2010 Schedule of Play
photo credit: Bas Van Uyen
Make sure you watch the big matches over the next 4 days the tennis promises to be great and intriguing as some major upsets are very possible including Victoria Azarenka (pictured above), in her quarter final against No.1 seed Serena Williams.
Azarenka is a champion waiting to happen thus far in her career she has been mentally weak and emotionally fragile when playing with a lead on the big occasions. In her 1st semi final of a Grand Slam her improvement is now snow balling. Azarenka made her 1st Grand Slam quarter final in the last Grand Slam event, the 2009 US Open.
In her comeback victory over No.9 seed Vera Zvonareva the 20 year old Belarussian looks like she may just have found the mental strength and resolve to realise her potentially World No.1 game to where it could be. Her mindset has let her down in the past but she may have turned the corner and be ready to win a Grand Slam title.
When the matches are scheduled for the various semi finals and when the women play and when the men play seems to be a poorly publicised aspect of the Australian Open. In terms of maximising how many people watch the event this is a large failure by the Australian Open.
The Australian Open, in terms of ticket sales really fails to recognise that people will be motivated to buy more tickets IF they know that they will be able to see their favourite player. For example OCA was contacted to verify when Henin would be playing so that this particular OnCourt Advantage subscriber could buy the correct session tickets to see her favoutie player that she was flying to Australia to see.
Let’s clear it up for you! The women’s and men’s semi finals and both singles finals are scheduled to be played on the following days and times.
Thursday 28 January Women’s Singles Semi Finals: In the Day Session and not before 1:30pm Melbourne time (that’s 10:30am in Hong Kong on Channel 671) both women’s semi finals will be played one after the other.
The tournament has the right to choose which match will be played first however according to the order of play throughout the event thus far, the bottom half of the women’s draw has occurred the day before the top half of the draw. By following this order you can pretty much guarantee that Justine Henin versus Zheng Jie will be the 1st match on court.
Henin and Zheng won their quarter finals on Tuesday 26 January so it would n’t be fair to the winners of today’s quarter finals to have such a short rest and play 1st tomorrow. Therefore, either Azarenka or Serena will play the winner of Li Na and Venus immediately after the Henin/Zheng semi final.
Thursday 28 January Men’s Singles Semi Final at 7:30pm: In the Night Session and not before 7:30pm Melbourne time (that’s 4:30pm in Hong Kong on Channel 671) the bottom of the draw for the men’s draw has also been played a day before the top of the draw so, following that order No.14 seed Marin Cilic will play No.5 seed Andy Murray a day before the top half of the draw’s men’s semi final is played.
Friday 29 January Men’s Singles Semi Final at 7:30pm: In the Night Session and not before 7:30pm Melbourne time (that’s 4:30pm in Hong Kong on Channel 671) the top half of the draw for the men’s event will be played as it has has been played a day later than the bottom half of the draw throughout this tournament. This means that the winner of (1) Roger Federer and (6) Nikolay Davydenko will play the winner of (3) Novak Djokovic and (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
This a very contentious issue as the bottom half of the draw is favoured with this format used by the Australian Open by providing far more rest to one of the players (either Cilic or Murray), in the final.
Saturday 30 January Women’s Singles Final at 7:30pm: In the Night Session and not before 7:30pm Melbourne time (that’s 4:30pm in Hong Kong on Channel 671) the final of the the women’s singles event will be played.
Sunday 31 January Men’s Singles Final at 7:30pm: In the Night Session and not before 7:30pm Melbourne time (that’s 4:30pm in Hong Kong on Channel 671) the final of the the women’s singles event will be played.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
Today’s POST is dedicated to Marat Safin. Safin was born on this day in 1980. The Russian won 2 Grand Slam singles titles including the 2000 US Open crown and the 2005 Australian Open title. Safin retired on 11 November 2009 at the Paris Masters 1000 event. He first achieved his highest career ranking of World No.1 on 20 November 2000.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Australian Open Men’s Quarter Finals
Men’s 4th Round Singles Results:
In the main draw of the men’s singles event at the 2010 Australian Open the 4th round matches have been completed and now only 8 players remain. These 8 players are guaranteed 200,000 Australian dollars in prize money and 500 ATP ranking points for making the quarter finals.
In the top half of the draw all 4 remaining players are seeded players with Roger Federer defeating No.22 seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a quarter final against No.6 seed Nikolay Davydenko.
No.3 seed Novak Djokovic pictured above can become the World No.1 when the next ATP rankings are released on February 1st if he wins the Australian Open. Federer would have to lose his quarter final match for Djokovic to overhaul him. This is a real possibility because Federer has lost his last 2 matches in a row against his quarter final opponent and both in very recent tournaments.
Djokovic made his 3rd straight Australian Open quarter final by defeating the unseeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-1, 6-2, 7-5. By doing so the 2008 Australian Open champion set up a rematch of that final against No.10 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
Tsonga’s 9 games to 7 fifth set victory over No.26 Nicolas Almagro was Tsonga’s 1st ever 5 set match of his career. The 3 hours and 33 minute victory will most likely take an edge off Tsonga and give Djokovic the physical advantage leading into their match. Tsonga leads 4-2 in their past matches.
Davydenko is in the form of his life and is on a 13 match winning streak which includes 2 ATP World Tour titles the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals in London and the Qatar Open in Doha where he beat both Nadal and Federer twice each. Davydenko made his 3rd Australian Open quarter final by defeating Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in 3 hours and 57 minutes 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.
The player’s name that is bolded is OCA’s prediction of who will win.
The Quarter Final draw is:
-
(1) Roger Federer versus (6) Nikolay Davydenko
-
The winner to play the winner of…
-
(3) Novak Djokovic versus (8) Soderling (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
-
(4) Del Potro (14) Marin Cilic versus (7) Andy Roddick
-
The winner to play the winner of…
-
(5) Andy Murray versus (2) Rafael Nadal
In the bottom half of the draw all 4 remaining players are seeded players with No.5 seed Murray defeating No.33 seed John Isner 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-2 to make his 1st Australian Open quarter final and become the 1st British man to do so since 1985.
Any remaining player could win the title but Murray seems overdue, it is getting to the stage where if he cannot break through soon he may not break through at all.
No.2 seed and defending Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal won in 4 tough sets with the 2 metre 8 centimetre tall Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal will be looking to add another Grand Slam Singles title to his current tally of 6 on the slowest surface for the year other than his beloved clay at the French Open. Nadal leads 7-2 in his past matches with Murray and of the past 4 matches they split 2 wins each.
The youngest player remaining is No.14 seed Marin Cilic who made his 1st Grand Slam Quarter final at the 2009 US Open and now has achieved his best result at the Australian Open. Cilic defeated current US Open champion No.4 seed Juan Martin Del Potro in 5 sets 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 displaying a high level of tennis.
Cilic won his 2nd straight Chennai Open in India immediately prior to this event. His youth and rapid improvement make it a very tough task for Andy Roddick but Roddick’s experience especially in long 5 set matches may sway this encounter his way. Roddick and Cilic are tied with 1 win each against each other.
Roddick can never be counted out and though he seemed to be out played he won an intense match against No.11 seed Fernando Gonzalez in 5 sets 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. The match could have gone either way over the 1st 4 sets and a fantastic array of shots and a great variety of ways in which the points were played.
When Roddick challenged a call on set point in the 4th set it was ruled “in” the chair umpire awarded the set to Roddick. However, Gonzalez definitely had a play on the ball so according to the rules the point should have been replayed.
Despite Gonzalez arguing the chair umpire incredulously ruled that he thought Gonzalez had no play on the ball. From that point on Gonzalez only put in a small effort and was unable to be mentally tough enough to put that call out of his mind. It always a huge disappointment when officials, tour and event organisers fail the game of tennis.
For more coverage and information about the 2010 Australian Open and click this link -> Australian Open 2010: Jan 13-31.
© OnCourtAdvantage.com 2010
Subscribe now!
