Roger Federer is playing great tennis; however, I am predicting that andy Murray will win the men's event, and Serena will beat Justin Henin in the women's final.
Singles - Semi-finals
[1] R Federer (SUI) d [10] J Tsonga (FRA) 62 63 62
ORDER OF PLAY - SATURDAY, 30 JANUARY, 2010
ROD LAVER ARENA Not Before 7:30 pm
[1] S Williams (USA) vs J Henin (BEL) - Women's Singles Final
Followed By
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) - Men's Doubles Final
Dear Tennis Talk Colleagues,
It is beyond disappointing that Rafael Nadal had to withdraw against Andy Murray due to an injury. This is something we would all expect to see at the end of the year, after a long hardcourt season, not during the first Grand Slam of the season. I have openly been a huge supporter of Nadal, and it's distressing to see him in such physical pain, and unable to compete at the same level which once earned him the top world ranking.
In the mean time, Andy Murray may be on pace for his first career major title; he is playing with heart and extreme stamina, and we all know that he can take Roger Federer on hardcourts. Jo Wilfried Tsonga has made it to the finals of Australia once before, and he happend to beat the man (Novak Djokovic) who defeated him in that match, so there's no reason to question his candidacy as a potential winner in Melbourne.. It's turning out to be a great event.
Andy Roddick outlasted Fernando Gonzalez of Chile to survive a Sunday of upsets at the Australian Open that resulted in fourth-round exits for U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potroand two of the top three women.
The seventh-seeded Roddick rallied to beat Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals at the season's first major for the sixth time in eight years. He'll next meet No. 14 Marin Cilic, who ousted del Potro in five sets and 4-hours, 38-minutes earlier in the evening.
Singles - Second Round
[1] R Federer (SUI) d V Hanescu (ROU) 62 63 62
[3] N Djokovic(SRB) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) 36 61 61 63
[6] N Davydenko(RUS) d [Q] I Marchenko (UKR) 63 63 60
[9] F Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] I Sergeyev (UKR) 61 62 62
[10] J Tsonga (FRA) d T Dent (USA) 64 63 63
M Baghdatis (CYP) d [17] D Ferrer (ESP) 46 36 76(4) 63 61
[18] T Haas (GER) d J Tipsarevic (SRB) 46 64 63 16 63
[20] M Youzhny (RUS) d J Hajek (CZE) 62 61 61
[22] L Hewitt (AUS) d [Q] D Young (USA) 76(3) 64 61
[26] N Almagro (ESP) d B Becker (GER) 64 62 36 46 63
[30] J Monaco (ARG) d M Llodra (FRA) 36 36 76(5) 61 63
[31] A Montanes (ESP) d S Robert (FRA) 46 67(3) 62 63 62
A Falla (COL) d M Granollers (ESP) 64 61 63
L Kubot (POL) d S Giraldo (COL) 64 36 63 61
[Q] S Koubek (AUT) d [Q] I Dodig (CRO) 76(4) 61 62
D Istomin (UZB) d M Berrer (GER) 75 63 64
Doubles - First Round
[3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d L Friedl (CZE) / D Skoch (CZE) 63 61
M Kohlmann (GER) / J Nieminen (FIN) d [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Mirnyi (BLR) 64 64
F Gonzalez (CHI) / I Ljubicic (CRO) d [6] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 63 76(7)
I Karlovic (CRO) / D Vemic (SRB) d [9] C Kas (GER) / D Norman (BEL) 64 36 64
[11] S Aspelin (SWE) / P Hanley (AUS) d M Daniel (BRA) / D Koellerer (AUT) 61 62
J Benneteau (FRA) / S Darcis (BEL) d [13] M Llodra (FRA) / A Ram (ISR) 75 36 75
[14] M Damm (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) d [WC] M Matosevic (AUS) / B Tomic (AUS) 62 61
J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) d J Coetzee (RSA) / R Wassen (NED) 64 61
C Ball (AUS) / S Huss (AUS) d B Becker (GER) / F Mayer (GER) 76(6) 76(3)
E Butorac (USA) / R Ram (USA) d T Bellucci (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 63 64
I Andreev (RUS) / E Korolev (KAZ) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) / M Zverev (GER) 61 76(6)
F Lopez (ESP) / R Schuettler (GER) d F Gil (POR) / K Vliegen (BEL) 63 62
F Fognini (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) d J Chardy (FRA) / M Gicquel (FRA) 51 ret. (Chardy - wrist)
S Bolelli (ITA) / A Seppi (ITA) d L Lacko (SVK) / M Russell (USA) 64 62
I Kunitsyn (RUS) / D Sela (ISR) d M Chiudinelli (SUI) / V Troicki (SRB) 64 62
I am flat out surprised that Justine Henin beat Elena Dementieva in Melbourne. How are these veteran players on the WTA tour able to make such "instant impacts" in their Grand Slam comebacks? (ie. Kim Clijsters winning the US Open, and now Justine's impressive win). I give Henin a lot of credit, but Elena should be extremely disappointed to lose that match as the 5th seed in this event.
Henin's game isn't as forceful as Clijsters, which usually makes it harded to score such an upset, at such an early point in the comeback stage. As for the men, Andy Roddick looks great, and Juan Martin Del Potro will be going deep in the draw, after ousting Blake and a 5 set epic.
RESULTS - WEDNESDAY, 20 JANUARY, 2010
Singles - Second Round
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d L Lacko (SVK) 62 62 62
[4] J del Potro (ARG) d J Blake (USA) 64 67(3) 57 63 108
[5] A Murray (GBR) d M Gicquel (FRA) 61 64 63
[7] A Roddick (USA) d T Bellucci (BRA) 63 64 64
[11] F Gonzalez (CHI) d [LL] M Ilhan (TUR) 63 64 75
[12] G Monfils (FRA) d A Veic (CRO) 64 64 64
[14] M Cilic (CRO) d [WC] B Tomic (AUS) 67(6) 63 46 62 64
[19] S Wawrinka (SUI) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 62 62
E Korolev (KAZ) d [21] T Berdych (CZE) 64 64 75
[24] I Ljubicic (CRO) d A Golubev (KAZ) 63 36 62 63
[27] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d W Odesnik (USA) 64 36 63 62
F Mayer (GER) d [29] V Troicki (SRB) 46 64 76(2) 61
[33] J Isner (USA) d [Q] L Sorensen (IRL) 63 76(4) 75
F Lopez (ESP) d R Schuettler (GER) 63 26 63 62
F Serra (FRA) d J Nieminen (FIN) 36 64 57 76(4) 75 - Saved 2 M.P.
I Karlovic (CRO) d J Benneteau (FRA) 26 61 63 63
Doubles - First Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d M Berrer (GER) / S Greul (GER) 64 75
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [WC] S Groth (AUS) / J Kubler (AUS) 76(5) 63
[5] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d J Chela (ARG) / D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 67(1) 63 61
[7] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d R Hutchins (GBR) / J Kerr (AUS) 64 26 76(4)
[8] M Granollers (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d [WC] M Ebden (AUS) / B Klein (AUS) 62 64
A Clement (FRA) / J Erlich (ISR) d [10] J Knowle (AUT) / R Lindstedt (SWE) 67(3) 64 64
A Montanes (ESP) / M Vassallo Arguello (ARG) d J Acasuso (ARG) / S Prieto (ARG) 64 64
L Mayer (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) d [12] M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) 76(3) 64
[WC] R Junaid (AUS) / P Luczak (AUS) d [15] J Levinsky (CZE) / T Parrott (USA) 46 76(5) 62
[17] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) d M Lopez (ESP) / A Ventura (ESP) 64 61
C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) d Y Lu (TPE) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) 75 64
L Arnold Ker (ARG) / H Tecau (ROU) d W Moodie (RSA) / M Youzhny (RUS) 46 76(4) 75
[WC] P Amritraj (IND) / S Devvarman (IND) d J Cerretani (USA) / T Rettenmaier (USA) 57 64 75
J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) d [Alt.] A Falla (COL) / S Giraldo (COL) 62 63
[WC] K Hensel (AUS) / G Jones (AUS) d [Alt] P Lorenzi (ITA) / C Rochus (BEL) 76(3) 36 76(2)
R De Voest (RSA) / S Lipsky (USA) d R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 46 61 76(6)
P Marx (GER) / I Zelenay (SVK) d [WC] N Lindahl (AUS) / M Reid (AUS) 63 64
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About this blog
Harry Cicma tackles the hot topics in tennis, sharing his insight on the favorites, tournament news and players to watch. Harry was ranked for three years on the ATP Tour doubles circuit and played four years of NCAA Division-I tennis at Rutgers University. He now covers all sports as a TV producer/anchor on NBC in Southern New England.