Another big AO precursor.

I read Serena had a bad call go against her in her opening round match with Stosur, but she pulled it out, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. Serena, the top seed, definitely has the tougher half of the draw, she's got a smokin' Dementieva, Wozniacki, and Radwanska, and an on-fire Azarenka and Cibulkova.

The lower half, a.k.a. "The Russian Head Trauma Ward," has Safina as the #2 seed, with only Zvonereva, the Kuz, and Petrova as any players of interest, unless Peng or Cornet have anything to offer. Hard to tell where a lot of those players are right now, this early in the year...but Safina did have a good Hopman Cup with her brawling brother.


The men's draw also looks interesting. Djoko's in the same half with Tsonga. Berdych is there too, and Mathieu just had a really good week, himself. The lower half has the Outsports favorite stalk-ee, a.k.a., Simon as the #2 seed. That side looks tougher, not necessarily because of Donuts 'N Danish Dave, but because of Andreev, an on-fire Stepanek (who just won Brisbane!), an on-fire Gasquet, and an interesting matchup in the first round between Mardy Fish and Bono Tipsarevic.

My favorites for the AO aren't playing this tournament. I really think Murray and Venus are the hottest players right now, appearing to be peaking at the right time. And, oh yeah, Sharpie just pulled out of the AO, bad shoulder and all.

Djokovic has been surprising in that he hasn't looked anywhere near ready to defend in Australia at this point. He had to take a wild card to get in here because of his early loss last week. Most curious to me is Simon. Given all the big triumphs he had in the last half of last year, it'll be interesting to see how he works through with the pressure of expectation because of the results he's had.

Reeeshard is looking alive again, and will look that way until he loses a tight match on a big stage, and off he'll go sulking away again. Nalbandian - how tired we all are of his "flattering-only-to-deceive" results, looking like a champ one day and a chump the next. Same with Tsonga, another who bowed out too early last week. Would like to see Tipsarevic do well, and guys like Lopez, Mathieu, and Fish could do some damage on their best day. But overall, I'm not sure how much of an effect this tournament will have on the Australian Open.

did i miss something? sydney ladies doubles: peschke/raymond and stosur/stubbs. hmm. didn't hear about this switcheroo?

So Serena flies into the second round, as do most of the women's seeds, although the Kuz had a real tough time getting past Kanepi, needing a tiebreak in the third.

Bono beat Fish in 3 sets. Hewitt must be happy to have a tough 3 set win over Benneteau after getting a WC into the tournament, but I think his ship has long since sailed out of Sydney harbor.

Well, the way it's playing out, if Serena gets past Wozniacki she'll probably face Dementieva in the semis, and if she wins that, it's looking like Safina in the finals...well, if she gets past Sugiyama. These matchups will be a good litmus test for where Serena's game (and head) are at the moment. While Serena has the 4-2 H2H with Elena, Elena won the last two times they played.

Serena needed 3 tough sets to get past Wozi. She even saved 2 or 3 match points. Today was Strugglerena, but I'm not so sure how well her game matches up to that new surface. Its rare that she EVER enters a tournament the week before a slam so my guess is she wanted some actual match play before the AO begins. From what I read, her footwork (as can be too much with her) was a bit lazy today, but its always great to fight off match points. These long matches though are just what she needs imo. She hasn't played in awhile and its good to get some match play in on the surface in which the AO will be on. I wouldn't even be surprised if she wouldn't care about losing to Dementieva tomorrow to get some extra rest before the AO begins. Its just so weird to see her play right before a grand slam. I don't know....

I do think Elena may actually win a slam this year. Her game has always been there and I think the Olympics success she had really transformed her. Still...she just hasn't won that big grand slam match when it counted. 2009 could be her year. And I am thinking 2009 could be the year Jankovic breaks through as well. Safina is also one I'm looking to make a breakthrough and possibly win a slam. Venus and Serena are always contenders but ya just never know with them. Injuries? A day where the unforced errors are just flying from everywhere? Funky attitudes. Who knows with those two.

So Safina's through, she plays the winner of Serena/Elena, which is going on right now. I'm proud of Serena for putting a lot into these tournaments to do better prep for the SLAMS. I'd never count her out of anything, I mean, the girl won the 2007 AO at the peak of her Twinkie diet, , but I really like Venus at this point.

The surprise for me on the men's side is Hewitt. If you told me he'd come back from hip surgery and all that time off and would beat Benneteau and Tipsaravic, I wouldn't have believed it, but that's what he's done. Now if he beats Donuts 'N Danish Dave, who he's slated to play next, that would be quite the comeback.

And although no thread for it, Isner and Querry both made it to the qtrs of the Heineken in Auckland, New Zealand. In fact, Querry is now in the semis after beating Almagro. Isner made the quarters by eeking out a tough 3 setter against Ginepri. Good for him. However, in his qtrfinal, he has to play Soderling. Another interesting tidbit from that tournament is that Del Potro beat Gulbis in the 2nd round, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Will Gulbis ever string a bunch of wins together, or is he happy to remain with a ranking that ensures he'll be the dangerous floater at best?

Yup...not much to my surprise Serena is going down in flames to Dementieva. She got he work in for the week.

Again, although no thread for it, Querry's having an amazing run in Auckland. He just upset Ferrer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 and will play the winner of Del Potro and Soderling (who just beat Isner, who also had a great run) in the final. Let's hope he brings this good stuff to the AO, and doesn't leave it all back in New Zealand.

So Nieminen beats Djokovic in straight sets....6-4 7-6. Hmm....ok. Resting up before next week Novak? Meanwhile, Nalbandian beats Reeshard 6-4, 6-3.

So...Nalbs and Jarkko in the final.

Djoko really does not want to be No 2 at any cost. Reaching the final in Sydney would have done it by a handful of points, and he goes out in two to the tricky but hardly dangerous Nieminen. He held set point at 5-4 in the second against the Finn's serve, too. Eh, it would have had no effect on seedings for the AO but considering he can only drop points there (and given his form he probably will) while Fed will probably build on them, he will have to wait a while longer for the second spot in the rankings.

Not a bad showing by Nalby. I couldn't believe he showed up for a warm-up event and it looks to have paid off, with some classy wins over the likes of Gasquet and Hewitt. Might be an Argentinian double tomorrow with Del Potro in the Auckland final. Not that it will make up for both men leaving the Davis Cup final empty-handed.... :P

Yet another Dementieva and Safina final, as in the Beijing Olympics and Berlin. I'm not particularly invested in who wins. I don't think Elena has ever won back-to-back titles, so that would be a nice feat, and she would make some noise as the fourth seed going into the AO and one to watch, especially after reaching the semis at her last two Slams. At the same time Safina would pick up another title after her hot streak cooled off in the autumn and re-announce herself as well. So we'll see.

WTF is up with Novak and the #2 ranking? It has become such a huge psychological barrier for the guy it's gotten to be ridiculous. What is this now, the umpteenth time he's blown a match when the #2 spot is on the line?? Sheesh, in a perverse way, it actually relieves the pressure of defending his AO title since he can't gain any points over last year. Unless of course Roger loses before the semifinals, then, oy.

Wow, Dementieva's forehand was really improved in both semi and final shown on TV. She is very much in position at contact and her elbows are so high on both backswing and follow through. Its such a weapon, her opponents are flat footed when the ball comes through the court. Her backhand is equally impressive. Hey, the serve is tricky, double, double, ace out wide, ace down the middle, double, etc. how do you play that? She looks fit as hell, If she can keep her head, together, she could win this thing.

You guys are right about not counting Serena out. But seriously, Serena is all about the outfit and that outfit doesn't say winner to me. She just doesn't look comfortable in it. Bad color, taupe. Wide black straps, too much fabric around the middle, messy ruffled skirt, ugh. the sad black headband. It's a mess, she won't win in that thing. She loved her green winning dress from her last Aussie win and the red number from LY US Open. You think I am crazy, but this stuff matters for her game. Maybe she is debuting something else at Melbourne? I hope so!

She's baaaaack......How about Kimiko Date getting thru qualies? Pretty awesome at 38. Let's see who she plays. Also, looks like Sesil Karantantcheva may win her third round and be back on the big scene again.

Dementieva's forehand has improved? That's kind of alarming. It was always one of the very best around.