No surprise JHH won.

This one paragraph from that article seems to sum up what many of us expected would happen all along:


But this was her first match against a Top 10 player. Hingis was broken in her opening service game and generally struggled with the pace as Henin-Hardenne attacked the slower second serves.

Wasn't playing a tough field last week, can't keep up with the pace of a power player (even one who's been out w/an injury since October) and still has the weak second serve the top players will eat for breakfast.

My sentiments exactly Tennis Guy. They are even saying that Martina has changed her game to get more power into her game. So, just as I have always said...her type of game in which she was playing when she was on tour the first time is simply gone from the game. Gone are the days of the country club tennis. POWER rules the game now and if you can't adapt and keep up then you get blasted off the court. Yeah she only had a hip flexor injury last week but its still an injury nonetheless after just playing 3 matches; can't be a good sign.

Like I said...the only way I see her getting back into the top 20 is if she plays the smaller events; tier 2s, 3s, and 4s. However, if she plays like a slave that way I don't think she'll ever win a slam again cuz she'll be too burned out. I still say that the game has passed her by. I commend her for trying to make a comeback but I just don't think its gonna pan out the way many are suspecting. If I'm wrong...like I said before...I'll eat the biggest plate of crow there is.

But if you recall from the article, Hingis was broken three times in the first set, but the score only reflected one break (6-3), so she must have broken JHH twice. And they also traded a series of breaks in the second set. It was a tough break to get JHH in the first round of your second tournament back, and I'm still ready to give her kudos for the results.

And has anyone else noticed how many three set matched D Hantuchova seems to play. She won yesterday against Mirza in three sets; I think she would have better results (making it to the finals and winning) if she didn't have so many three setters in a tournamnet.

I really like Hantuchova, and I've noticed that as well. Maybe she does have more 3 set matches than she should, but her groundies can get flakey, which will happen with a lot of power-hitters, and sometimes it seems to get to her. Still, over the last year, she's been making it to many later rounds and performing much more consistently (as her #17 rank shows) than the previous years when her weight, and subsequently her strength and endurance, were a problem.

I didn't see the match with Mirza, but Mirza's no slouch. I'm not all that surprised that that match would go 3 sets. It's when she needs 3 sets for players barely in the top 100 that makes me wonder.

She plays Schnyder next. She's 5-8 with her. Last year she beat her twice and lost to her once. I hope Dani wins, it would be a great confidence builder for her. Such a nice young lady.

I saw the Gold Coast final on the Tennis Channel and have to wager that Safarova would beat both Hingis's and Justine's asses if they were to meet up right now. This girl does not play when she's given a weak serve -- she will kill the ball on the return, like Seles. She'll even do it to a first serve in fact.

Her own serve is weird, with a very short wind-up and a tendency to fake you out about when she's going to hit it. It verges on gamesmanship, but not quite.

I'm not surprised Safarova straight-setted Schnyder, and her rapid climb up the rankings makes sense. I feel pity for whatever seed winds up with her in their nook of the Australian Open draw, particularly if the seed is someone rusty like Serena or Justine.

2-Handed, thanks for the scoping of Safarova--I didn't watch the final this weekend (went out drinking and needed such a night), oh well. but glad to know the lowdown on her. will watch for her now.

Safarova being a lefty is good for her too. She knew how to use that lefty hook out wide on the ad side pretty well.

I think she can get in the 10-20 range in ranking, but she's going to have to become a lot more consistent to challenge beyond that. She can, but she's not there yet.

But you're right...she's not going to be easy to handle early at the Open.

Anyone see Mauresmo's match? She lost to Ivanovic. I really want Amelie to get a slam this year. Wish I could see the Schnyder/Hantuchova match going on now, too.

The way it's going, it looks like it's Clijster's to win or lose. Schnyder looks like the only threat in the same side of Kim's draw, JHH and Kuznetsova are the only threats on the other side, I'd expect Kim to handle both of them OK.

I agree with the comments on Safarova.

I saw her on The Tennis Channel this past weekend and she goes for her shots.

It is almost as if she hits the ball as hard as she can no matter what the score is in the match.

She definitely will be a threat to any top player who has to play her at the Australian Open.

Dedric

Hantuchova beats Schnyder in 3!

All right, Daniela! She and Schnyder sure have an interesting rivalry going. Next up, Vaidisova, could be interesting. The JHH/Petrova match could be a good one, depending on how healthy they are. I still think it's really Clijster's tournament at this point.

From what little I've seen of Safarova, she kind of reminds me of Sharapova. Hits the ball hard and goes for broke no matter what the score in a game/set/or match. Looks like she'll be marching up the rankings this year.

It could be a blessing in disguise that MoMo lost. Now she can just practice and mentally prepare and go into the Aussie Open with no pressure wink

Losing to Ivanovic is nothing to be ashamed of. She's the real deal. Let's hope she's nowhere near Amelie in Melbourne!

G4G, you are almost delusional--MoMo should be embarassed by that loss and certainly can't go into the Open with any confidence. She is so fragile anyway, this couldn't have helped.

Amelie shouldn't be embarassed by this loss. She probably should have won, but Ivanovic is inside the top 20, and on the rise. She capable of being inside the top 10 this year. In a way I agree, it won't help confidence wise, but this does allow her to practice and rest before the Open.

And remember -- Mauresmo had horrible first round losses in two consecutive tournaments right before winning the YEC. Maybe it's her new style of preparation. wink

Ivanovic is number 16 and while I would have rather Mauresmo won, I don't think the loss is an embarrassment or even much of a concern. It's Amelie's first match of the year and it's against a very tough opponent right out of the gates. Amelie didn't serve well at all - something like 40% - and it was still 7-5 in the second set. So Mauresmo should be fine for Oz.

Ivanovic will always be a tough opponent for Momo because she's tall and hits hard - which means the high bouncing topspin is more in her strike zone. She can attack the loopers the same way someone like Davenport can. From what I've read, Ivanovic's forehand was really on fire. Hopefully Ana will be on the other side of the draw in Melbourne!

The warm up tournaments are just for that: to get warmed up. Anna is a very hot player and will give the top players trouble. Amelie shouldn't be worried, she just needs to keep getting used to the heat, etc...She'll be ready for the youngster the next time. People are always overeacting - it's just one loss and it was close.

Hey G4G...where is your pre-major predictions? Where's the story?

We're all waiting.

Funny you should mention it, I sent it in to Jim a few hours ago! I'm sure it'll be up shortly. Jim's good like that.

That reminds me though, I'll be in Miami when the draws are released, and I meant to tell Jim that I'll have to hold off the crystal ball until I get back on Tuesday. So, thanks for askin'

Cool...looking forward to the read. Good Luck at the Art Deco Open! (you know if that's why you're going to Miami)

Thanks and thanks! This Aussie Open preview is a bit more straight-forward than my previous offerings, such as the "blood-soaked" Roland Garros courts. ha ha. But hopefully it will still be enjoyable. I feel like I say the same thing about Roger Federer every time ... but I suppose everyone does.

I am indeed going to Miami to play the Art Deco. I drew a girl I know from New York in the first round. A really solid player who kicked my ass the only time we met in singles ... close games, but I lost almost all of 'em! So I need all the luck I can get! eek!

[ January 10, 2006, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: Gaga4Gaby ]

Ack! It doesn't look like we're getting any relief from the injury epidemic this year. Clijsters and Petrova both withdrew from their matches with injuries and Hantuchova gave up in the second set with a gastrointestinal illness.

On the positive side, Kuznetsova won a match over a top 20 player for the first time since Eastbourne. Could she be returning to form at last?

double post

[ January 11, 2006, 05:39 AM: Message edited by: JC ]

That sucks about Clijsters and Petrova. Hopefully they aren't too hurt ... I haven't read the full scoop yet. Players tend to be extra cautious right before a Slam, so hopefully that's what's going on here.

No problem with injuries in tennis...three out of the four tennis quarterfinal matches in Sydney were withdrawls due to injury or illness. It's just crazy!

When oh when will this be addressed? While the tours still make buckets of money, I wouldn't expect the problem to be addressed. I expect it will take some tournaments refusing to buck big money to the tours, because of situations like this, before something substantial takes place.

It's so disappointing.

And in other news, Sesil K is banned 2 years for doping. She, I won't miss.

Wow...I will miss her. She was certainly an up and comer, with the game to back it up (seemingly). I guess they didn't buy her pregnancy story.

Wait a minute, wasn't she given a warning last year sometime around the french open, implicated at some tournament where Justine was also playing and the suspicion was on Justine? Research.

Hey Boys!
I do not agree with some of you boys regarding Amelie... I agree with some that she needed to play well this week.
Prior to her winning the YEC, she did have a few weeks of bad tournaments, but she won Philly.. a Tier 2 tournament... I surmise a disappointing Oz for her.

Many players both men and women today come down with tummy problems..... ewww

Her game may have been promising, but I couldn't take her mouth. Even Hingis never talked about "kicking someone's ass" (and then losing to them).

Was she really blaming the test results on pregnancy? That's better than my guess -- she's blaming it on having had an affair with Puerta.

The affair with Puerta made me laugh.

I didn't mind the trash talking because it was about Sharapova, I think. If I remember correctly, that was her only mouthing-off. I'm sure there's more where that came from though.

I really like her backhand. I remember being very impressed with it when I watched her play last spring. Oh well...a two year wait it is.

Yeah, Hingis's racist and homophobic remarks weren't NEARLY as bad. It was her cocky comments about the Williams sisters "never being able to become #1 before she retired" (and then both of them DID become #1 before she retired) that were TRULY offensive.

Some people have very interesting perspectives.

JHH just smoked Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-1, so I guess either the Kooz's revival was short-lived or Justine is in really blistering form.

As do you. Your relentless hatred of Hingis seems to be a part-time career.

Nah, it's full-time, actually. I'm OK with being viewed as a verbal Hingis detractor. And although I didn't need to be as sarcastic as I was with that last post (my apologies), I still think homophobia and racism are much, much worse than sportsmanship or cockiness.

And I concur with that TennisGuy. Martina needs to be lucky Serena didn't go Compton on her ass in the lockerroom one day.

Sveta wasn't playing too great, but JHH was on fire. She was making shots from all over the place, including her forehand. Her returns were overpowering, and she was serving well. No doudt Sveta was off, but JHH took it too her. I swore I was going to bed early last night, and then I got caught up watching that match.

For being off so long, JHH is playing exceptionally well (at least in this match). Next up Schiavone, who took it too Vadisova.

[quote]shep71:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by JC:
[qb] Next up Schiavone, who took it too Vadisova. [/quote]Good tournment by Schiavone. Vadisova was a tough player to beat.

Is the Cap-ster playing Aussie Open? I see her name in the player list but I also see Babs Schett who retired last year (or the year before). Just not sure who true this list is however maybe Schett is coming back to play doubles???

Schiavone is still riding the wave of her great fall. Vadisova had an awesome fall as well, so I was suprised to see how easily she was handled by Francesca.

Can Schiavone be a suprise quarterfinalist or semifinalist at the Open? That would surely be something.

It seems like the media, particularly the American media would be all over it if JCap was playing downunder. I hope she comes back soon though.

Justine Henin sure struggled to beat Schiavone today. I heard her serving was very poor which was her problem most of last year. I don't consider her a major contender if she's still having problems with her serve. She will get torched when she faces a top player serving like that. I mean Francesca Schiavone hasn't had great WTA success and never made a breakthrough at a slam and yet it was a 3 set marathon with Justine trailing in both the second and third sets. Justine and Venus are slated to meet in the 4th round of the AO and if by chance Justine does beat Venus (Venus has a 7-1 head to head lead and has only lost to Justine on clay) I dont' see her beating Davenport in the quarters.

It's silly to accuse someone of homophobia or racism based on one quote when they were a teenager. That's as dim-witted as racism or homophobia itself. Hingis's quotes are old and I doubt any of us hasn't said something off-color somewhere about someone. Hingis is great for the game and I think she's hilarious. Especially when she's politically incorrect. We could all use more of it, everywhere.

Gaga-

I watched the match on the Tennis Channel. Schiavone played great and looked like a top 10 player (she may be after this week, actually). JHH pulled out a match in which she was struggling. It will only help, not hurt, her confidence. She looked great in the semis. Discounting her chances is a mistake, I think.

Watching the third set of the JHH-Schiavone match, and saw Sch go up 5-3, but she was unable to hold her serve and JHH broke back and now serves 4-5. Not pretty, esp the serving. But JHH is hitting beautifully after the serve. Evidently there was a rain delay in the second set. Now a set all, 5-5, and I know the ending but still good to see the match. At this point it all seems mental. And that bodes well for JHH going into the Open.

Another rain break with JHH at 6-5 and ready to serve it out. Oh my.

Well, that Schiavone-Henin match is another illustration of what separates the very top players from the next brigade. Schiavone dominated way more than half of the match, but it was the clutch points that counted, and Henin won 'em. More than that, Schiavone handed the match back to Henin -- turned into a completely different weak player -- while serving up a set and 4-1.

It's one thing that links the men's and women's sides, the way in a match like this the underdog was far ahead and yet I never really believed she would win. My boyfriend and I just stopped watching and got ready for work because of all the errors and double-faulting (but then we got sucked back in to watch the end )

Henin was looking much improved and really tough to beat until this match; she scorched Kuz. ltskinmdterp, it's true that in the final she was playing like last year when she got her ass beat at the US Open, but there were a couple important differences -- only her serve was a real problem point this time (normally she sprays balls everywhere on the backhand side when she's playing lousy), and the forehand, while erratic, is much more of a weapon now.

That said, Schiavone is a much better player than even last summer, when she beat Serena in front of a hometown crowd. Her high-bouncing topspin has much more power than you find on the women's side (it screwed up Henin's backhand), and she has great versatility between topspin, wicked slices and direct power. I really like her personality on court -- she just needs to be tougher.

One last thing: what is up with Henin's inability to play two points in a row without looking up at her coach and hubby? Every time I see her play the leash is tighter.

Two-handed: Excellent post and dead on accurate. JHH can win a few matches but won't get away with the erratic serve when it comes down to playing LD or Kim or even Pierce. Having said that, JHH is one of the best clutch players in the business and even on an off day can pull off a huge win....Francesca is getting closer and closer to a really big win over a top five player: perhaps this Aussie Open is her time.