The Australian Open Junior Draw

by Savannah



I've been neglecting the young ones - not enough hours in the day - but here is the information on the junior players who have come to Australia. A few names pop out at you - IMG does do their job - but many don't. Good luck to all the boys and girls win or lose! Play begins on Day 8.

Show Court 2

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd. Isabella Holland (AUS)
v. Lesley Kerkhove (NED)

Show Court 3

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Chen-Yu Wu (CHN) v. Bernard Tomic (AUS)[5]

Court 5

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Linda Berlinecke (GER) v. Rebecca Marino (CAN)[16]

followed by
2 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Elena Bogdan (ROU) v. Zi-Jun Yang (HKG)

3 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Nikola Hofmanova (AUT)[3] v. Poojashree Venkatesha (IND)

4 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Ryan Harrison (USA)[1]/Matt Reid (AUS)[1]
v. Marvin Barker (AUS)/Stefan Szacinski (AUS)

5 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Tyra Calderwood (AUS)[3]/Nikola Hofmanova (AUT)[3]
v. Janaki Gunuganti (IND)/Poojashree Venkatesha (IND)

6 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Elena Bogdan (ROU)/Misaki Doi (JPN)
v. Janelle Cuthbertson (AUS)/Karis Ryan (AUS)

Court 6

1.Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Claudia Giovine (ITA) v. Jessica Moore (AUS)

Court 7

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Bradley Klahn (USA)
v. Vasek Pospisil (CAN)[14]

followed by
2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Cesar Ramirez (MEX)[1]
v. Niall Angus (GBR)

3 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Nikolaus Moser (AUT)
v. Szymon Tatarczyk (POL)

4 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Jade Curtis (GBR)/Alenka Hubacek (AUS)
v. Kelly Blake (AUS)/Brittany Sheed (AUS)

5 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Peerakit Siributwong (THA)[5]/
Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA)[5]
v. Niall Angus (GBR)/Neil Pauffley (GBR)

6 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Krishananth Balakrishnan (AUS)/
Stephen Hoh (AUS)
v. Zalan Klempa (SVK)/Szymon Tatarczyk (POL)

Court 8

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA)[13]
v. Milos Raonic (CAN)

followed by
2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Daniel Evans (GBR)[3]
v. Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE)

3 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN)
v. Blaz Rola (SLO)

4 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Bradley Klahn (USA)/Milos Raonic (CAN)
v. Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA)/Daniele Piludu (ITA)

5 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Chen Astrugo (ISR)/Bianca Swanepoel (RSA)
v. Hayley Ericksen (AUS)/Harriet Sheehan (AUS)

6 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Logan Mackenzie (NZL)/Dane Propoggia (AUS)
v. Blaz Rola (SLO)/Jan Tavcar (SLO)

Court 10

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[1]
v. Romana Tabakova (SVK)

followed by

2 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Cindy Chala (FRA)[6] v. Marija Mirkovic (AUS)

3 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Miyabi Inoue (JPN)v. Vivienne Vierin (ITA)

4 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Ksenia Lykina (RUS)[1]/
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[1]
v. Kanyapat Narattana (THA)/Zi-Jun Yang (HKG)

5 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Alison Bai (AUS)/Marija Mirkovic (AUS)
v. Anastassia Grymalska (ITA)/Lara Meccico (ITA)

6 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN)/James Meredith (NZL)
v. Axel Michon (FRA)[8]/Guillaume Rufin (FRA)[8]

Court 11

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Beatrice Gumulya (INA) v. Victoria Larriere (FRA)

2 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Jasmina Tinjic (CRO)v. Jade Hopper (AUS)

3 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Stephanie Wiltshire (AUS) v. Yi-Miao Zhou (CHN)[11]

4 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Lesley Kerkhove (NED)/Arantxa Rus (NED)
v. Beatrice Gumulya (INA)/Jessy Romples (INA)

5 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE)/Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)
v. Silvio Dadic (CRO)[7]/Christopher Rungkat (INA)[7]

6 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Madison Brengle (USA)[7]/Alexa Guarachi (USA)[7]
v. Miyabi Inoue (JPN)/Aki Yamasoto (JPN)

Court 13

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Jared Easton (AUS)[7]v. Daniel Cox (GBR)

followed by

2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Ilija Vucic (SRB) v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)

3 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Isabella Holland (AUS)/Sally Peers (AUS)
v. Simona Halep (ROU)[2]/Katarzyna Piter (POL)[2]

4 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Daniel Cox (GBR)[4]/Daniel Evans (GBR)[4]
v. Xander Spong (NED)/Timothy Van Terheijden (NED)

5 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Marta Sirotkina (RUS)[8]/Yi-Miao Zhou (CHN)[8]
v. Jade Hopper (AUS)/Rebecca Marino (CAN)

Court 14

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Olivia Rogowska (AUS) v. Jade Curtis (GBR)[13]

followed by

2 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)[12]
v. Marta Sirotkina (RUS)

3 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Yuki Bhambri (IND)/Karunuday Singh (IND)
v. Jarryd Chaplin (AUS)/Jake Eames (AUS)

4 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Milana Spremo (SRB)/Romana Tabakova (SVK)
v. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)[5]/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)[5]

5 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Benita Milenkiewicz (AUS)/Olivia Rogowska (AUS)
v. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA)[4]/
Sophia Mulsap (THA)[4]

6 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/Khunpak Isaara (THA)
v. Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/Shiho Otake (JPN)

Court 18

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA)
v. Brendan McKenzie (AUS)

followed by

2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
James Meredith (NZL) v. Jerzy Janowicz (POL)[2]

3 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Linda Berlinecke (GER)/Mara Nowak (GER)
v. Sacha Jones (NZL)[6]/Jessica Moore (AUS)[6]

4 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Sam Garforth-Bles (CAN)/Mohamed Safwat (EGY)
v. Hiroki Moriya (JPN)[3]/Bernard Tomic (AUS)[3]

5 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Brendan McKenzie (AUS)/Nat Maraga (AUS)
v. Erik Crepaldi (ITA)/Giorgio Portaluri (ITA)

6 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Nadia Lalami (MAR)/Vivienne Vierin (ITA)
v. Alexandra Damaschin (ROU)/Claudia Giovine (ITA)

Court 19

1 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Jan Tavcar (SLO) v. Alex Sanders (AUS)

followed by

2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Dane Propoggia (AUS) v.
Timothy Van Terheijden (NED)

3 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Marko Djokovic (SRB)v. Clifford Marsland (AUS)

4 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Di Wu (CHN)/Ze Zhang (CHN)
v. Andrew Gregory (AUS)/Alex Sanders (AUS)

5 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Finn Tearney (NZL)/Chen-Yu Wu (CHN)
v. Maverick Banes (AUS)/Jarryd Chaplin (AUS)

6 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Dayne Kelly (AUS)/Clifford Marsland (AUS)
v. Tadayuki Longhi (JPN)/Yuki Matsuo (JPN)

Court 21

1 Girls' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Tammi Patterson (AUS)
v. Misaki Doi (JPN)

followed by

2 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Dayne Kelly (AUS)v. Xander Spong (NED)

3 Boys' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Krishananth Balakrishnan (AUS)
v. Ty D Trombetta (USA)[15]

4 Girls' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Tammi Patterson (AUS)/Olivia Rich (AUS)
v. Karen Barbat (DEN)/Sandra Zaniewska (POL)

5 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Jaan-Frederik Brunken (GER)/Ralph Regus (GER)
v. Vasek Pospisil (CAN)[2]/Cesar Ramirez (MEX)[2]

6 Boys' Doubles - 1st Rnd.
Soong-Jae Cho (KOR)[6]/Ty D Trombetta (USA)[6]
v. Nikolaus Moser (AUT)/Ilija Vucic (SRB)

Australian Open Quarter Final View Day 7

By Savannah


Tennisheads have been treated to the longest and shortest of matches over the last few days. Delirious tennis fans, many of whom pulled all nighters can finally catch up on their life that does not revolve around tennis and the most precious commodity, sleep.

The bottom half of the men's draw and the top half of the women's are in quarter final mode. For heavy lifting and analysis please see Craig Hickman on Tennis

The top half of the men's draw and the bottom half of the women's play tonight by United States time and tomorrow by Australian time.

Here are your current quarter finalists.

Men
Jarkko Nieminen

Rafael Nadal


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Mikhail Youzhny



Women

Maria Sharapova

Justine Henin


Jelena Jankovic

Serena Williams


Play resumes at 10a Australian time. Please consult the World Clock for what that translates to in your area. Meanwhile I'm going to kick back and relax and hopefully get some sleep this afternoon.

Australian Open Day 6 01/18-01/19/08

by Savannah

Did I mention the "b" as in boring word in a post? My bad. Day 6 of the Australian Open provided all any tennis head could ask for. There were upsets. There was fantastic and not so fantastic play. The 11p curfew went out the window resulting in play until 4:35a Melbourne time and allowed fans to pull all nighters watching what was for the most part great and interesting tennis.

As usual the serious analysis is being done by Craig. The following is a photo essay paying tribute to all of the men and women who played on Day 6. You all deserve a shout out.

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Andy Roddick

Amelie Mauresmo

Casey Dellacqua

Venus Williams

Sania Mirza

Tomas Berdych

Juan Monaco

Roger Federer

Janko Tipsarevic

Novak Djokovic

Sam Querrey

Ana Ivanovic

Katarina Srebotnik

James Blake

Sebastian Grosjean

Marin Cilic

Fernando Gonzalez

Aggie Radwanska

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Maria Kirilenko

Anna Chakvetadze

Jarkko Nieminen

Mardy Fish

Marcos Baghdatis

Lleyton Hewitt

Idle Chit Chat AO Edition Day 4

by Savannah

Who knew? I mean I always assumed it was Serena Williams who walked around with a small jar of vaseline in her purse just in case she had to throw down at a moments notice. Venus was always the serene one in the public's eye. Guess we kind of forgot that Ms Venus Ebony Starr Williams is a Gemini.

There was blood spilled on the court but it wasn't from Venus wiping up the court with the chair umpire in her doubles match. Note to chair umpires: If everyone and their mother saw the ball was out, including you, and you still call it in what the hell is wrong with you? Over rule or take what this guy is offering.


I'm sure Nikolay will play his next match.


I told you I hate this dress. Here's Exhibit A as to why. And what's with that hem? That would drive me nuts.


Well Tatiana Golovin's main rival arrived on court today. I must say she disappointed me. I mean she is introducing us to her friends - again - but this is so blase for Ms Mattek. Come on Bethany! Trot out that leopard skin. I wonder if there would be any empty seats if Bethany played Tamira Paszek?


I haven't seen much tennis today or had a chance to find out what's got tennisheads collective bowels in an uproar. I mean tennis is my passion but in order to enjoy it I have to spend a lot of time at the place they pay me to be. I hope you enjoy the pictures and slight snark for Day 4.

That said here are some of the best pictures from today.


Vinnay Spadea
Glad to see he got a clothing contract.

Li Na handled her business.

So did Semi Fit David Nalbandian

James Blake gave his fans a treat

Justine Henin was really into her match no?

Pictures of the Day

Venus in a more serene moment


Marat playing harder than he has in a long time. I'd like to see more like this.

Idle Chit Chat AO Edition Day 3

by Savannah


My oh my what is a blogger to do? There were no drunken riots in the stands. There were no slow motion "posterior" shots of Venus Williams for
Roger Rasheed to drool over. Wonder what his wife cooked him for dinner last night? When it comes to Venus posterior no lesser being than Shamil Tarpishev was caught admiring it at one point. Since Venus posterior is now taken I guess they'll have to content themselves with Serena's.

WTF?!

The day was so quiet the "b" as in boring word comes to mind.
Then again there was the wailing of Andy Roddick's fans who were wondering what the hell he was doing trying to imitate a patient thoughtful player out there? I have to admit seeing Andy hit a moonball or two or three did give me pause but could it be Andy is just trying to do what tennisheads have been whining that he should do and play at a less frenetic pace, think about what he's doing on the court and to accept that hard and harder are not the only two speeds at which a ball can be hit? Not doing it for you kiddo? You say he's sick or injured or something? Coming off a bender? Whatever. Jimmy Connors didn't seem to mind. If he plays like that in his next match we'll talk.

Hype Ova
There was also the much anticipated match between Mama Lindsay and the BanSidhe. The only memorable thing about the match is that Maria's version of the dress has the pockets on the side so there is no unsightly vajayjay bulging. Shoulda known Nike would make the Golden Girl look good. The dress does look good on television where you can't see that it's made from that fabric usually reserved for inexpensive curtains. I think the folks on "Project Runway" would've given the designer an "F".


Notes on an Ego
Yahoo Tennis posted a picture of Roger Federer kicking back during a practice session reportedly attended by hundreds of fans. I hope he did more during that practice than he did during the one I observed during the US Open. Of course Rafa was practicing at the same time so I can't say my attention was fixated on Roger but when I did tear my eyes away from Mr. Nadal-Parera (And his uncle. Let's not forget his uncle) all Roger was doing is pretty much what he's doing in this picture except he was staring at Rafa. Mirka wasn't there to scurry around and pick up balls for him while wearing flip flops like it's reported she did during one practice session in Melbourne but then again she didn't need to be.
It's rare that I post a picture with the caption but this one left me speechless - well obviously not totally speechless since I'm busily writing this for you but you get the idea. I guess his opponents will soon have to enter the court prostrate in the presence of His Royal Highness. His consort will be at his side in designer flip flops.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer (R) is watched a large crowd while taking part in a training session on an outside court at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, 16 January 2008. Federer dispelled any doubts about his fitness with a straight sets first round demolition at the Australian Open, 15 January. The incomparable Swiss was in imperious form, reeling off a 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 victory in just one hour 14 minutes in the night match on centre court. Federer is vying for his 13th Grand Slam crown, which will edge him to within one of the record held by American Pete Sampras.He pulled out of his customary lead-up Kooyong Classic exhibition last week with a virus and there had been concerns about his limited match preparation heading into the year's first Grand Slam.

Maybe they should say the imperious form that got him such a stunning victory was against a much lower ranked player? Nah. Why ruin it for a casual fan?


Fashions of the Day - Or Not

Juan Carlos Ferrero's Lotto outfit was sophisticated and fit for tennis. Great look for Juanqui.


Aravane Rezai's outfit made her look like a housewife in the burbs making a quick run to the store in her house clothes.



End Notes
Tennis is frustration. Tennis is joy.

Yuan Meng


Elena Dementieva