Hi Bobby, fantastic post. Hmm, I will wait until after Sydney finishes to really see how Serena is doing. Am I the only one who is not caught up in the Clijsters bandwagon? I saw the replay of her match against Henin and I have to say that the deer in the headlights look was still there. The frustrations, the mental collapse, it is all there. I think she won the USO based on the fact that apart from her really good play, she came back at an opportune time, i.e. the end of the season and she made use of the particularly opportunity. It is said that the race is not for the swift but for those who can endure. I watched the match in part to see Henin's new and improved serve. I am still looking. She needs to get match fit but if she continues along this line she will beat players who she should be beating, but will endure losses against better harder hitting opponents and those who can return well. If anyone is to beat Clijsters as she is playing now, they are going to have to either take her out of her comfort zone, i.e. play hard and fast and slow the pace down or take her timing away from her. Serena tried to do that at the USO, but we all know what happened there.
I dont think that Sharapova will be much of a factor at the AO as I still think she is having shoulder issues as I read elsewhere that she had to have her shoulder iced during the exo in Hong Kong. In addition she served up a few too many double faults in her match against Venus.
I think this year the storylines going into the AO will make interesting reading, especially on the women's side.

I love this Bobby, so much infro on my favorite. I don't think we will get any surprises from Oudin. she is out in the first round in Sydney, out easily at Fed and Hopman cup. Caro will get her act together. and Justine went all the way to the final with two match point against Kim and this is only her first tourney back.

i think kim and justine will not win the australian open.
justine new improved serve is not good.players like serena ,venus and sharapova will eat her serve for breakfest.everyone knows sharapova or serena can overpower henin.one thing for henin is to face kim who loves a neutral rally,another is to face first strike players like maria and serena.
all the pressure will be at clisters and everybody knows she loves to choke.that usopen win was more about her playing without pressure than anything.
for the first time in 2 years i'm not worried about sharapova serve.anyone who saw her serve this year is not worried.she is winning tons of free points on her serve.her serve to me is looking better than ever,she is much more agressive than before,and the dfs are decreasing and are looking that they are happening only when she has a lead and is trying to force a litle bit.
this will be an interesting year for the wta.

questions ... time will tell ...
Serena never to be underestimated
would be nice to see a new winner
I'll never forget when Maria Sharapova won her Wimbledon ... a fresh faced 17 year old winner is quite a delight to see! Who could it be this year?
time will tell :)

Keep Smiling

Samantha Elin,
Melanie lost in 3 sets to Sara at Hobart. Yes, I saw the 3rd set and it was an error fest. At USO, she was the one rallying from a set deficit to win but last night it was reversed. Melanie is on my Top 5 players list that needs to step it up in 2010. I may republish that list this week(as early as today).

thanks Bobby for the post. I think either Justine or Kim will win the AO. I saw the highlights from their match and was really really impressed by their level of play. I didn't follow Kim in her pre-retirement days so don't know anything about her mental collapses everyone talk about. ignorance is bliss, no? My only concern is if the heat gets to them. I'm not sure about their conditioning.

btw, can someone translate for me how hot "mid-40's" is in F?

Bobby,
Reading your thread is very good and I will address by section:

(1) Very good comparison on Justine to AO like Maria was at the French and Kim at USO. We know Justine is back in her attempts to win Wimbledon which I think she got off to a good start. Besides Kim, she played a tight QF match with Melinda Czink where she won in a deciding tiebreaker as it took her 6 match points. Now, Kim winning the title over Justine has to do a lot mentally for her as before both players retired, Justine was starting to dominate that rivalry.

(2) With Kim and Justine returning, this may motivate Serena to play at a higher level. We may have a sneak peek this week as she plays Maria Jose later today. Last time they actually played was in doubles at Doha, where Maria Jose and Nuria defeated Serena and Venus so Serena may be out to avenge that loss. As we know, Serena won the AO the last 4 years when it was played in an odd year and so far, she has defended her first 9 Slams only one which is a surprise considering she has the best serve in the WTA and might be the best WTA competitor of all time. Saying that, I do not believe Serena will repeat her AO title. I know Pete and others say bet against her in your peril but in this case, I will.

(3) Shocked that Caroline, who was a finalist in the last Slam played, has a better chance of winning AO than Venus, 7 time champion. I guess the reason for this is Venus history is not good. Last year, she led Carla 5-2 in the final set in 2nd round and managed to lose 7-5. Venus erratic play leaves her suspectible for an upset by a player who talent is way less than hers. Now, she played well again in Hong Kong but it does not translate to success. Wished Venus would play at least one match in Sydney to adjust to the surface. However, I will say out of the youngsters playing, the player with the best chance of winning a Slam is Victoria. Caroline, Yanina,who has to play qualies, and Sabine follows Victoria.

(4) Besides Jelena run at AO, Carla made a nice run to the QF defeating Venus and Flavia along the way. If last week was any indication, I do not think a unknown player will make an unexpected run(Players ranked below 32 not counting Justine).

(5) Hopefully, injuries won't derail Vera and Dinara. But, with Yanina playing AO qualies after winning Auckland, I can see where she may be flat this week. Hopefully, the organizers will give Yanina the last WC before qualies begin.

Annie,
How about 104 degrees F for a 40 degree C day for you.

News from RF.COM, Roger with (apperantly) Charlene.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q120/Untitled28/56258367-8bfb874a739dd3ca096781e325.jpg

I know Roger probably won't like this, but... awwwwww. How sweet.

Yikes, wish I read RF.COM before posting the pic, apperantly they were taken and posted on tweeter by the daughter of the friends Roger and Mirka visited. I didn't realize it was taken in a private setting...the girl was apperantly miffed someone spread the photos around, idiot - what was she thinking posting it on tweeter?

Nice post. I think, when discussing the person who hasn't won a slam with the best chance of winning one here, Wickmayer's performance since last year's USO qualifies her to be near the top of the list.

Karen, I agree with you about Clijsters.

I have my fingers crossed for Maria, and it seems like she's in good form from the exos, but I'm still worried. I'd love to see her make a statement at the AO this year (but I'd rather her somehow magically win the FO to complete a career grand slam).

MA: thanks for the conversion for the temp. So for my own reference during AO, if they say it's in the 40s, it's in the 100-110 range. Or if they say it's iin the 30s, it's in the 90-100F range and so on.

Annie,
If it is exactly 30 degree C, it is 86 degrees F but you got the basic concept.

Gosh, I wish it was the above temperature here! I would give anything for it to be warm again and I've got 3 sweaters on. There was actually frost in my garden this morning.

Lynne, it's 7 degrees here right now. i hate the cold.

Oh, Annie, poor you. I think I'm just not used to it anymore after 8 years here.

Since the AO draw is Friday(Thursday evening USA), I will have my WTA contenders and floaters list up when Sydney reaches the semifinals which should be Wednesday.

Mornin' all. I've been out of pocket for almost a week, traveling for (hopefully future) job stuff and I feel SO out of the loop! But happy to be back at TW, and back in San Fran -- after spending the last few days freezing my (non-famous) ass off in DC, I will never again complain about the SF chill.

As far as the AO... I can't bet against Serena, but I'm most intrigued by Kim, Justine, Dinara, and (in a train-wrecky, "How much worse can it get?" -kinda way) Ana I. I hope Dinara truly is healthy, as I think the AO might be her best chance to get a Slam this year.

Well I think Bobby C. pretty much covered all the basis re the WTA and the AO. i must say that I was quite impressed by BOTH Justine and Kim from what I saw of their match over the weekend. They were both hitting the ball a ton. Yup, serve is another question, but good signs from each of them.

And just to veer off topic, but does Pete and the other bloggers at TW REALLY think it is a good idea that the 'front page' blog is now several days old and had been superseded by THREE other threads?!? Huh? I mean I do get what Pete was saying in his House Keeping post about wanting to keep the red meat posts front and center but there really SHOULD be away, IMO, to keep the front page more updated re the blog posts. It just looks stale now. And unless you know WHERE to look and to look in the first place, you wouldn't know that there had been anything new since the "US Davis Cup"/What's Next" post. Its as if the NY Times kept last Thurs. headlines on the front page of today's paper. Not good, not good, IMO...ESPECIALLY for new or infrequent readers/posters.

**rant off**

Kim looks great:
http://tinyurl.com/yeaxdyv

and Jada is adorable:
http://tinyurl.com/ybjopbb

Shamil Tarpishhev in the interview about the first round of Fedcup said that they'll go to Serbia without their top players. He says that Vesnina, Kleybanova, Pavlyuchenkova and Makarova will represent Russia. He says that Lena and Vera asked some time ago not to include them since they're bothered by injuries. He said about Svetlana that she has elements of "star illness", not sure how exactly that should be in English, but not a very nice remark. I think Shamil is too tough on Kuzzy, she's been a part of Fedcup for a long time and nothing wrong with her paying more attention to her own career...

strange that he didn't mention Masha...

Sokol,
See Russia is sending players to Serbia to gain experience which is good on his part but if Serbia manages to get Ana, away from Adam, and Jelena, I would say Russia will be playing for a spot to stay in the World Group later this year.

CL- really good point. maybe you should email pete your concerns about the front page just in case he doesn't see your post.

"See Russia is sending players to Serbia to gain experience which is good on his part"

MA,
from his interview I got the impression that it's not his choice :-), he would prefer to have top players there

Thank you, Or - for posting the Mught Baby picture! I have been dying for one!

I also agree with CL re: the front page -- it's impossible to know where the day's comments are.

That's supposed to be "Mighty" Baby. Sorry!

hi Sokol! do you think he doesn't talk about sharapova because she has rarely participated? i think only tie in israel??? Master Ace is that right?

Whoever wins the AO is going to have a lot to be proud of. There are minefields all over the draw. I really like the idea of Wickmayer winning it as a Qualifier - but that's just me - I'm a dreamer. And I'll be pulling for Safina to win a slam until the day she retires. There I go, dreaming again...

Great read, Bobby!

"I'll be pulling for Safina to win a slam until the day she retires"

:-)))
me too :-)

... and so will I, Fan Child and sokol!!! :)))

Sonya,
I believe the only reason Maria will participate in Fed Cup is that is a requirement to play in the Olympics and with her so "Americanized", I do not believe Shamil talks to her much. Her only Fed Cup action in her career was against Israel in 2008. Who knows if Maria would have played more if her shoulder stayed healthy.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the newest member of my "five faves," will win the AO. You heard it here first! :)

It's too bad that Melanie Oudin's performance has not been better since the USO because the fact is that her performance at the USO was fantastic. If ANY player, from #1 Serena to any other top player, had beaten in succession the four players she beat, it would still be considered quite an accomplishment. After the USO, I did not expect Oudin to rule the world or eclipse the veterans, as some pundits apparently did; but I was wishing for a better post-USO showing from her.

Tuesday Order of Play:

ATP: Auckland at 5 PM - Isner, Monaco and Grosjean scheduled
ATP: Sydney at 7 PM - Sela, Querrey and Ball/Fish scheduled
WTA: Sydney at 7 PM - S Williams, Safina, Kuznetsova, Dementieva and Azarenka scheduled
WTA: Hobart at 7 PM - Paszek/Dulko, A Bondarenko/Cornet and Peng/Zheng scheduled
ATP: Auckland at 1:30 AM - Chardy vs Clement
WTA: Hobart at 3 AM - Medina Garrigues vs Kudryavtseva

Ruth,
Agree you about Melanie, who is winless in main draw WTA action or Fed Cup.

Ruth,
I see you got through after all :)

Master Ace,
Thanks for the schedule.
I thought the AO qualifying draw was going to be out by now but it's no up on the website yet.

Good Morning Everyone,

Thanks Bobby again for a great post

Well the AO can be a surprise packet in more ways than one.Being the 1st GS of the season I feel its the hardest slam to say pick the eventual winner.One can look for form in tournaments leading up though sometimes they cant be that reliable.

if we look at say the form of Kim,wow she played great at Brisbane.She is great player on the h/courts.Justine is a query now with her gluteral strain.

if one is looking at form from Sydney Medibank,goodness me a lot of the seeds there lost in their 1st rounds yesterday.Which kind of backs up my theory regarding the AO.

Also theses are the first few tournaments of 2010.The playing conditions in Melbourne is a big factor as well.

Well to me the player at the moment who is playing the more consistent is Aussie Kim.I think er preparation for the AO is looking promising.

It would not surprise me in the least is she is the one holding the AO trophy in 2010.

Hey but dont quote me lol!.

Yes, TFactor. They actually came this time, and I THINK the Internet connection problem is finally fixed. Now I'm hoping for some streams of the Serena, Kuzy and other matches that MA has promised will be coming up later.

BTW I told my two fellow vacationers that they can meet you on Wednesday but they cannot join us for lunch because I don't want them asking "Who's Master Ace?" and "Who's aussiemarg?" when we start our TW talk. LOL

Ruth,
Glad you're back on.
I'm thinking of taking the ferry at noon (if that's not too late for you) to arrive at 1pm and then hoping to catch the 4pm back to St. Kitts. I think that should give us enough time for lunch and to meet your friends. I'm going to ask my hubby for a summarized family tree to see if we can find out if there is indeed any relation :)

Ruth and Tfactor,
Have fun meeting each other this week. Tennistv.com, per SEWTA website, will have Dinara/Agnieszka starting off at 7 PM today followed by Serena/Maria Jose.

Thanks Master Ace.
Hope we can get good streams down here.

Master Ace ok call me dumb.Is this the current post today by the way?

AM,
I'm confused too about which thread to use these days.

Well hello again Tfactor I was just talking to you on the previous post lol!

hi guys,my thoughts on AO are still to be decided on, i havent seen Serena play.

btw, this is my recap of Day 3 at Medibank:

this day started out with a massive brainsnap. i figured, hmm overcast i can afford not to bring my umbrella today. but then the skies cleared at around noon and it was scorching!!! plus the matches i wanted to see are on the uncovered Court 1! yep this is gonna be an awesometastic day.

JJ was practicing on Court 1 when i got to the site. her body is sick! i wish i had that waist. dang.

luck changed just like the weather, 3rd day in a row i got assigned to Ken Rosewall Arena! yeah baby! when i got there, Feli, Troicki and Richard were practicing together, i dunno who the fourth guy was though. must be one of their hitting parrtners. so much pretty so little time. topped off by the fact that i can't take pics cos i'm in uniform, again. blech. after them it was Flavs' turn to practice.

first up is the Pretty Fest that is Feli vs Richard. whee! that backhand is a thing of beauty. too bad Feli's version of it ssssssucked. so much. Plus he was unable to be aggressive, like, ever.

wanted to go all "Allez!" when Richard won, couldn't because i was in uniform (though of course i was hoping Feli would stick around cos the practice courts won't be the same without him LOL) just because i've always wanted to do that in a stadium. hehe. next stop: bellowing "Allez!" on Chatrier, mark my words i will do that before i die. haha

Flavs wasn't particularly impressive in the beatdown she handed to Sam, it was more 50-50. Sam just was all nervy and couldnt pull off much. sigh. No pressure Lleyton.

went on my lunch break, which was of course spent 5 minutes eating and the rest stalking. met up with Nic on the practice courts where Woz was practicing. her Dad is constantly on her ear. had time to burn, hence the Woz picspam. you're welcome fanboys.

Bepa has just started with Vesnina, so i saw what little of it there was before the injury. just who did she cut in a former life for her to have this kind of bad luck? heal up, Bepa.

Decided not to watch Baggy play Lindahl, one of the spectators i met saw him practicing and told me he was heard talking in the practice courts that he was veryyy nervous abt his match. So off to the Black/huber vs Dina/MaKiri dubs match on Court 1. unbelievably hot... and no wind or cloud cover! as expected, they got drubbed by Cara and Liezl. it was a train crash. in slow mo. with small furry animals inside. Like Nic said, what we saw of Dina is definitely worrying. practically all her serves were second! FH was as loose a cannon as it gets. well at least i got to yell out "C'mon Dina!". she better win tomorrow, i wanna see her in singles.

couldn't help myself, stalked Nenad/Nestor yet again. a group of youths came over and ever so casually called out to Nenad and chatted with him. in Serbian. don't know which impressed me more, that they chat with him as if they're neighbors or that they spoke to Nenad in their mother tongue. after they left, i was told they were wishing him luck and asking him what time he thinks they'll play tomorrow. Kids, there's such a thing as an OOP.

if you wanna see Vika like i do, what do you do? follow your ear, natch. and so i did. all the way to practice court 12. wished her luck and said i loved her tweets. she was very sweet abt it. saw her practice her groundies. they just fly. and by fly i mean pounding the Plexicushion. need less to say i took ma vid of her hitting. just for the sheer pleasure of hearing the shrieks. clearly i'm on the doesnt care about grunting camp. a terribly isolated camp these days.

saw Rezai in her gold and black outfit that AM absofrickinlutely hates. it's all sorts of wrong. the shiny finish of the gold on her back just makes it tackiest outfit of the tournament. naturally, i had to take pictures of that. yeah, i'm going to hell.

saw that Flavs/Zahlavova vs Kleybs/Schiavone were still on Court 4, so we decided to camp out there. too bad they lost, but i enjoyed cheering for Flavs/Zahlavova. Fran and Kleybs meanwhile are one of the oddest dubs team ever. two things were immediately clear to me: i'd def want Fran to have my back in a bar fight and that she is totally trying to be more girly. come on, that green zinc on her face matches perfectly with the trim on her girly outfit. and her Babolat bag. ha. epic. did i mention i took pics of that? :D

Igor vs Meyer on court 5 was...as frustrating as an Igor match could be. or so i'm told. much as i enjoyed loudly cheering on him even if MaKiri did happen to be courtside, it would've been more awesome if i'd gotten a vid of his racquetsmashfail (it's a 4.5). sadly he was on the other side of the court. soon after, he tried to take my head off with a wayward FH. i mean really. the ball went straight towards me, thank goodness someone had the sense to try and catch it, got derailed and missed me by half a foot. still not far enough for me!

while we were watching this, Nic and i were keeping tabs on the next court which had Kimiko/Nads. i have no words for Nad's outfit. actually i do, just that they're not very nice words, that's all. :P regardsless, i still wanted her to win, but pfftt.

i'm ending this post with a warning: i believe i've jinxed people today, cos those i saw practicing all lost. JJ, Feli, Nads, Woz... now i'm worried abt Nestor/Zimonjic. sorry guys.

Hot mess JJ out in the first round. Patrick, she's another one that needs to step it up.

Mina Great report

I hope I get assigned to Ken Rosewall again today.Its going to be 40 deg f.

Sorry about Feli,I guess your stalking Feli days are over.

Did you have to mention JJ again? you know by now she is Officially dead to me.Ok her waist is ok.

"i believe i've jinxed people today, cos those i saw practicing all lost"

You're forbidden from ever seeing Rafa practicing, ok? ;-)

Thanks for the awsome reports. Keep them coming.

AM, I know I've switching back and forth

Oops that should have been I've *been* switching

"what we saw of Dina is definitely worrying. practically all her serves were second! FH was as loose a cannon as it gets"

oh man... doesn't sound good...

thank you, mina, for recap

Hot mess JJ out in the first round
______________________________________

so is Caroline :-)

sokol Dont worry with Safina.I am at Medibank today.I will give our girl a bit of a Pep talk

Though I will see what kind of mood she is in first ok

great, AM :-)
be careful though :-))
I'm going to watch her match today, hope she wins, Radwanska is a tough first round

mina: no jinx. your reports are so much awesome there are no words. so you like the sounds of vika? that makes you one twisted individual.combine that with your sod love and i'm not sure why i like you so much. And your comments about 'some youths' cracked me up. isn't that what you are? or were these children? anyway, keep the reports coming. they are fab. and you are too.

yeah, actually what Tfactor said. stay away from Rafa when he's practicing just in case, ok?

Well I have seen Rafa pratising lots of times

I am no jinx at all

Well one time I refuse to go into that one

Mina Please Take Note

Stay away from Safina ok

She is a jinz to herself

She dosent need any extra help

"She is a jinz to herself
She dosent need any extra help"

:-))

mina, wonderful yet again.
I'm intrigued that Flavia chose Zahlovavavava over Franny. VERY intrigued.

AM, why do we like that girl so much, you think? I don't think is's just because of her big brother? :-))

"is's'="it's"

pictures from party in Sydney:

http://www.gotennis.ru/news/?p=33808

Caro looks awesome :-)

sokol Maybe I am attracted to Head Cases? lol!

No I have watched her for some time and her progression,there is something there I have always liked about her.Talking to her last year at Medibank and her coach,she is just soo different off court.She is a shy girl.She simply adores Marat.I also think being "Marats sister" is a hinderence to her.Everyone expects soo much.Thats the problem.We have both seen her play when she dosent put herself under pressure.To me that match with Sharapove at RG in the s/final was one of Safina's best matches she has played.

If she could play like that,she can win a GS title.

mina - 'nother awesome report. this totally made me laff: "it was a train crash. in slow mo. with small furry animals inside. " Even though the image is just wrong...so wrong..but funny! Maybe they good be gerbils...or chia pets or tribbles.

LOL Annie. let me help you out with that weirdo meter by telling you i'm in like with Fed's "c'mon!" hahaha

frazzling over Dina and this is only the first round!afraid she'll kill me before the AO even starts. you should have seen me at her doubles match.

"To me that match with Sharapove at RG in the s/final was one of Safina's best matches she has played"

agree

"If she could play like that,she can win a GS title'

but can she in the GS final, if she'll get another chance?

sokol She played lights out tennis at RG last year until the final.I was so certain she would win RG 09.Though we all saw again what happened.To me her best surface is clay.Though with the Queen back now I hope that wasnt Safina's last chance

Also, thanks to whoever for posting this stat -- Na Li hit 67 UFEs and still beat Wozniacki (who hit like 3 winners).
Let me get my head around this for a moment.

Gh LOL!! I saw that stat and gasped for air

"Na Li hit 67 UFEs and still beat Wozniacki (who hit like 3 winners).'

wow... really? 3 winners in 3 sets? 1 winner a set?...

Thanks to channel 7 they stopped that match in the 2nd set,to go to one of their normal programs.Insane channel 7.Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone.
Is this the thread to be? Is it the previous one? Where are we going? I'm so confused.
Anyway, a very interesting article, as always, Bobby.
I see your point that Justine is probably not looking at the AO as the one one she wants to win more, but in her first week back she made the final and took the woman that may be in the best form to a 3rd set TB. So, i certainly wouldnt count her out. There arent many players out there that can beat her.
As for Serena, it's a Slam, so she will bring it. However, with the competence she has now, that doesnt make her the absolute (and only) favourite, as she was at some points last year.
For the youngsters, if the Hott Woz is gonna do what the bookmakers expect her to do, she better step it up from that first match at Sidney. However, she is looking tremendous, that's for sure. IMO, better than last year:)
As for surprise early defeats, there could be early defeats of the top seeds, of course, but not all of them would be surprises, considering the rankings of Cloijsters, Sharapova, and specially, Henin.

Samantha Elin,
Your post at 2:57 PM reminded me to repost this list once again. I will probably repost this list after my WTA contenders and floaters list in a day or two.

****************************************************************************************

WTA players need to step up in 2010:

(1)Ana Ivanovic – Since winning the French Open in 2008, her record is 35-23 with one title (2008 Linz). She was wise in ending her season at the end of September 2009 which gave her 3 full months off to prepare for 2010. Now, will she be rededicated to gain her form pre-2008 French Open while dealing with her current “love” Adam Scott?

(2)Jelena Jankovic – Since ending 2008 as number 1, she did not meet expectations as she got off to a slow start in 2009 but after Wimbledon, she started to get back to 2008 form. Also, she dealt with off court issues (ie – grandmother died during United States Open). Hopefully, we may see the 2008 smile that accompanied her rise to number 1.

(3)Alize Cornet – After a breakout season in 2008, her record in 2009 was 20-28. She had some tough losses to start 2009 as she lost to Dinara Safina at Australian Open, despite serving for the match and had match points, and lost her 2 Fed Cup matches against Italy. After those losses, I believe that she did not recover from those losses which led to the disappointing season.

(4)Anna Chakvetadze – After her United States Open Series run in 2007 capped off by a semifinal appearance at United States Open, her record is 48-48 with one title (2008 Paris). I wonder if she is still affected by the robbery at her home in Moscow during the 2007 offseason and/or the WTA tour has figured her game out as she lacks power.

(5)Melanie Oudin – Since her run of defeating Russians at United States Open highlighted with wins over Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova, she has not won a main draw match (she failed to qualify at Tokyo and Beijing) and lost her 2 Fed Cup matches to Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta. Reason she is in this category is the attention that the media have given her saying she is the next American star in tennis after the Williams Sisters retire.

Thanks, MA.

I'm on a roll, TFactor! Just after I posted, the screen door guy arrived,and I've been chatting with him as he worked. That's why I just saw MA's and your comments directed to me.

I'd bet that all the players (and their fans) who didn't do too well last week or this week are saying to themselves, "Well, that means nothing...I 'll get them at the AO." Of course, I'm hoping that RAndy's win means that he will continue to do do well since I'm not willing to accept that trophy as his only or biggest January success.

BTW Did any of you see the video shown by that funny reporter on CNN that showed Andy talking tennis while two kaola bears went at it (romantically) in the back ground; I'd only seen the scenes of Brooklyn and Andy petting the cute kaolas at the zoo, but that video was hilarious.

"Hot mess JJ out in the first round. Patrick, she's another one that needs to step it up"

Samantha, Woz got whooped in the first round as well, by Na Li. who made a mountain of UFEs. Welcome to the Hott Mess Club Woz!

Mina,
I read where someone posted that Na had almost 70 errors and won.

Just saw mina's report, and it was very very funny. Specially the part about the beatdown Dinara and Makiri took.
I'm kinda surprised that Vika was so nice. I dont know why, she might very well be, i guess the nastiness doesnt work outside the tennis court:)
However, i dont know if i agree with the "Flavs wasnt particularly impressive" part. She is always impressive. And awesome:)
And LOL at Igor trying to take mina's head off. My only question is: what if it had been the Sod?:)

"Welcome to the Hott Mess Club Woz!"
Meanie and proud of it, indeed:)
By the way, i must get myself into that club. I will be part of any club that takes the Hott Woz as a member:)

Mr X, if it had been Sod... i would prolly stalk him like crazy just to get back at him. oh who am i kidding. that would prolly be the reason he'd try to decapitate me tennis style.

I hope this picture works. Its priceless

http://www.talkabouttennis.com/forum/showthread.php?p=527454#post527454

Caro is far from a hot mess. She is just having a slow start. JJ is working on her second hot mess year. Last year she could barely beat a top ten player while Caro is the reigning USO finalist. Go Caro, du er den bedste, Scandinavia's#1. I believe in you.

Caro is far from a hot mess. She is just having a slow start. JJ is working on her second hot mess year. Last year she could barely beat a top ten player while Caro is the reigning USO finalist. Go Caro, du er den bedste, Scandinavia's#1. I believe in you. Thank Sokol for the beautiful picture of Caro, love her dress. This girl really is something special.Proud of you.

Caro is far from a hot mess. She is just having a slow start. JJ is working on her second hot mess year. Last year she could barely beat a top ten player while Caro is the reigning USO finalist. Go Caro, du er den bedste, Scandinavia's#1. I believe in you. Thank Sokol for the beautiful picture of Caro, love her dress. This girl really is something special.Proud of you.

"that would prolly be the reason he'd try to decapitate me tennis style."
I didnt know he needed reasons to do that:)

wrote this in Nov, so be kind...

2010 Preview of Women’s Tennis – 20 November 2009

Serena Williams
She’s won 3 of the last 5 GS titles and has been ranked #1 or within spitting distance of it since Sep 2008. It looks like we are in another Serena Era, though not as dominant as the one she imposed on women’s tennis in 2002-03. US Open semi-final meltdown aside, she appears more mature and committed to the game than she was 7 years ago.
Unless she doesn’t play, there’s a good chance she will still be ranked #1 after the Australian Open since she is likely to be leading Safina by about 800 WTA points during the tournament and Wozniacki and Kuznetsova by about 1300 points. That psychological cushion might help her keep playing at the top of her game for awhile, maybe the whole year.
On the other hand, Serena has won the Australian Open all four of the last odd-numbered years and none of the even-numbered ones. If that trend holds (ok, it’s totally superstitious), the gap between her and the rest of the field could disappear.
Here’s a breakdown of the baseline ranking points to the start of the Australian Open – this is equal to the current points minus all points accumulated to the end of AO 2009: Serena 6875, Safina 6080, Wozniacki 5525, Kuznetsova 5521, Venus 5026, Azarenka 4260, Dementieva 3935, Jankovic 3685, ARadwanska 3325, and for good measure (and leaving out some players): Sharapova 2820, Zvonareva 2660, Clijsters 2340, Ivanovic 1837. The only one within decent range of Serena is Safina, and chances of her overtaking seem increasingly remote.
Serena really has nothing left to prove after such a strong 2009; plus, how much can she continue to enjoy the grind of playing so many tournaments – she played 16 in 2009, the most ever for her. Hopefully she continues to play her best tennis when she really wants to, which seems to be at the grand slams. Expect a strong performance from her in the 4 majors and more debate about the real #1.
Standing in her way, and the big question mark of 2010 will be... The Belgians.

Kim Clijsters
In just her 3rd tournament back after a 2 year absence, Clijsters equalled her career-best performance with a victory at perhaps the most significant tournament on the calendar, the US Open. She is arguably the second best player of2009 based on her quality of play, and in WTA points earned per tournament she actually edged out Serena 585 to 567. But with only 4 tournaments under her belt, that stat doesn’t mean much.
Ok so I just labelled the US Open the biggest tournament of the women’s calendar. This is not mere hyperbole. Since 1990 (20 years) the eventual #1 for the year has won the US Open of that same year 14 times. For Wimbledon that number is only 7, for the French Open it is 11, and for the Australian it is 7. (Of course, there are caveats: my list of #1’s is based on the WTA player of the year, and the ITF player of the year. Those lists did not agree in the following years: 1994, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2008 for which years the majority opinion is, I believe, Sanchez-Vicario, Hingis, VWilliams, Davenport, Henin, and SWilliams, respectively. ) But back to Clijsters...
With such a spectacular and satisfying comeback arriving so apparently easily for Kim, one has to wonder if she will have the motivation to keep that slam-winning intensity going. The recently departed Marat Safin said that he wanted to win the 2005 Australian Open to prove to himself that his lone GS victory to that point wasn’t a fluke. After that proof he proceeded to never win another ATP event. Hopefully Kim will not feel as much satisfaction, and will again threaten at both the Slams and other tournaments in 2010. But with motherhood constantly crying her name and having already proven she’s still got it, I suspect her comeback won’t last long. Plus it looks likely to get very crowded at the top in 2010 with the return of that other Belgian... and I don’t mean Yanina Wickmayer’s return from her (non)doping suspension...

Justine Henin
“And there was much rejoicing.”
Few people were pleased to see Henin bolt from the game in 2008. And it is with great anticipation that most fans herald her return. We know that she is entered in the Australian Open and has a long term goal to win Wimbledon.
Realistically, what can we expect of Henin in 2010? Winning the Australian may be unlikely because her match-toughness and confidence will probably not have fully returned. A 5th French Open is a real possibility if she has found her form by then. Clijsters will likely also feature highly in the bookies estimations for Roland Garros if she shows up. Wimbledon may have to wait another year for Henin until she gets a little more match-tough and perhaps lets the superlative grass court games of the Williamses age one year closer to being past their primes – although Serena’s prime does not yet appear to be waning much.... For Henin to realize her W goal will likely require more time and effort than the apparent ease of Clijsters’ US victory. A US title is in the realm of possibility for Henin; however, just like Serena at the Aus Open, a Belgian has won the US Open the last 4 odd-numbered years – so not 2010. The good news for fans is that the longer it takes for her to cop that big W, the longer she is likely to stick around playing the game. That’s assuming she stays motivated and doesn’t suffer from the burn-out-itis she caught in 2008.
An interesting fact about Henin is that the period of her GS singles victories coincided with a significant reduction in GS titles for the Williams sisters. Serena won only 3 and Venus only 2 majors between Justine’s 1st and 7th GS titles. In the two years since Henin left the game the sisters have cranked off 4 Major victories. Did the sisters’ lack of play make room for Henin? or had Henin effectively driven them from the game? Between 2003 and 2008 Henin was 5-3 against Serena and 1-1 against Venus – hardly conclusive. But given the limited number of times these top players met in 5 and a half years, it looks more like the Williamses just weren’t playing that much or weren’t making it far enough to face Henin.
It seems amazing but there has been only one Grand Slam final featuring a Williams sister facing a Belgian and that was in 2001 at Wimbledon before Justine really reached her full potential. Let’s hope for many such clashes this year. I expect Henin to have a big impact on 2010.

Venus Williams
Venus seems in danger of becoming the forgotten sister. She’s ranked “only” number 6, however she was runner-up at both Wimbledon and the Year End Championships, and won 2 titles and 3 GS doubles titles in 2009. Hardly shabby. She might even have been a legitimate contender for #1 if little sis hadn’t blocked those two big finals. It’s tempting to say Venus is getting long in the tooth, that her prime is past. She had a lot of early losses this year – seven or eight... but I’m not willing to count her out yet—especially at Wimbledon. When the juices get flowing she is formidable, maybe as good as ever. The scary thing is that her nemesis, Serena, might still be improving.

Dinara Safina
Safina has certainly had her chances in the last 2 years – 3 grand slam finals and 26 weeks at #1. Her critics love to draw comparisons with her emotional and flamboyant brother. But in many ways Safina is very different. If anything her flaw has been wanting it too much, not Marat’s apparent indifference.
It takes time to adjust to the top. But after trying and failing in three Major finals, we can only hope Safina’s psychology has not become the self-fulfilling prophecy of “I’m never going to win.” It seems that self-doubt is spreading in her game. The last half of 2009 was riddled with surprising losses and little to cheer about.
The prognosis is not good for her in 2010. It seems unlikely she will channel the cool-headedness she needs and with the top crowded by Williamses, Belgians, and hopefully Maria Sharapova, Safina looks likely to slip a few spots in oh-ten. Of course, that wake-up call and some stiffer competition might be just the thing to help her reduce expectations and tip the balance from over-intensity to detachment and concentration – and allow her to mine her significant talent.

Maria Sharapova
2010 will be a telling year for Sharapova. She appears as mentally sound as ever, the greater question mark is the shoulder, or maybe the changes it has necessitated in her game. Will she be able to match the form that has taken her to 3 grand slam titles? Theoretically, and I delve into superstition again, this is her year to win the French. Every even-numbered year she wins the “next” grand slam. Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian in 2008, so “logically” the French in 2010... seems far-fetched, but why not? I for one, won’t be betting on her. The Belgians have a much better track record and make a more compelling case at the French than does Sharapova’s game which has not seemed particularly suited for clay – only one of her 20 titles has come on clay.
I’d expect her to make more noise at the Australian Open on a faster court with the sure footing she seems to like and with some key opponents lacking match-toughness. I wouldn’t count her out of the US Open either, problem is, by then her opponents will be match tough too. Realistically, I don’t see her as the favourite for any of the majors in 2010 – in the mix at the top, but not a favourite.

Svetlana Kuznetsova
The number 3 from 2009 continues to baffle. Just when we thought she really was an OSW she surprised just about everyone with a victory at the French. It’s tempting to say she won by default – the Belgians were gone, the Serbians had deteriorated significantly, the Williams sisters have always been a little awkward on clay, and Sharapova was injured. All that was left was to show up and accept the title that Safina seemed so intent on thrusting her way. But she still had to win 7 matches to do it. Painted in another light, Kuzzie took out the top 2 in the world, including a spirited 7-5-in-the-third fight from a determined Serena Williams and a demolition of the top seed in the final. However you call it, after raising suspicions she was a head case for years, Kuznetsova showed both the talent and calm detachment of a champion.
After that success, she had a rather middling summer and led us to think the highs of the year were past. But she surprised with a victory in Beijing and two extremely close matches with the Williams sisters at the YEC.
What on earth will 2010 bring for her? Kuznetsova is one of the few players who can hang with anyone on any given day if she’s finds the balance between intensity and calm that allows her to explore the breadth of her game. She might surprise us with a big victory in 2010 but it’s a long shot.

Caroline Wozniacki
It is a sign of the almost embarrassing richness of talent and depth at the top of the women’s game that the eighth player up for consideration is the world #4 and one of the hottest youngsters on the tour. And we haven’t even gotten to the Serbians...
Close observers expected Wozniacki to make some significant strides in 2009, but few expected her to make a GS final and finish the year at #4. She stands a significant chance of rising to number three by the end of the Aus Open and seems like a real contender for the top.
However, she has shown little aptitude for beating the big dogs, unless you count two victories over each of Kuznetsova and Dementieva in 2009. There is doubt about the depth of her talent, and the lack of a big weapon in her game has not gone unnoticed. Often those who become Major champions have intangible qualities that are not easily quantified. She’s still very young (19) and there may be reserves of mental toughness and “fire in the belly” that will allow her to one day hoist a Grand Slam trophy or the #1 ranking. I’m not betting on it. I expect there to be some big girls laying it down this year and I have my doubts that Wozniacki will be able to keep up. Still, it would be interesting if she proved me wrong and added another name to the champion list.

Elena Dementieva
At 28 she’s no spring chicken and I expect her to lose more ground in 2010. Her game can be lovely to watch and positively ferocious, but she rarely seems able to channel it all when she needs to at the latter stages of the big tournaments. The 2008 Olympic medal was a huge victory that released the choker-albatross she seemed to feel hanging around her neck. It seems she is now free to explore her limits without so much negative pressure, but with so many big guns at the top of the game, the chance of her breaking through at a major are increasingly unlikely. I’d expect a top 10 finish from her in 2010 but wouldn’t be shocked if even that didn’t happen.

Jelena Jankovic
She’s hardly old at 24, but it seems her best days are behind her. Like Wozniacki, she lacks the big weapon that could make her a Major champion. The stint at #1 in 2008 almost seems puzzling now – how did that happen? It’s looking more and more like good timing and the absence of some big names helped her out. Jelena has shown a lot of inner competitive fire in the past, but that may not be enough to take her to the top of a talent-laden 2010. She has a good chance of finishing the year in the top 10.

Ana Ivanovic
The best case scenario is that 2009 was Ivanovic’s sophomore slump. Will she find the form that took her to a French Open title and a stint at the #1 ranking? Hopefully she hasn’t gone Chakvetadze on us. Her comments about trying to cling to the #1 ranking sound alarmingly Safina-like in their desperation. My guess is she will start to rebuild in 2010 but the march forward will be slow. She’s still young (21) and her peak in a couple years could coincide with the retirements or declines of the Williams-Belgian hegemony. That could leave her battling for the top with Sharapova and Wozniacki – not insurmountable. However, chances are a new wunderkind will have arisen by then. In the meantime she might be able to battle back into the top 10 in 2010.

Victoria Azarenka
It’s looking increasingly like Azarenka’s all or nothing game could beat anybody. But it also looks like she doesn’t have the consistency or mentality to string together enough wins to do much better than she did in 2009. She won her first 3 titles this year and she’s 20, which is reasonably old in women’s tennis. By the end of the year she turned twenty Serena had 11 titles, Clijsters 19, Hingis 35, and Graf 44. On the other hand Henin had only 6, but I’m not sure I see the kind of thoughtful development and consistency that advanced Henin’s game happening in Azarenka’s. She’ll be lucky to be in the top 10 by the end of the year.

Top 20 Prospects

Vera Zvonareva - A brilliant start to 2009 including SF at AO and the title at Indian Wells fizzled after injury kept her out of the clay season. She’s streaky and could threaten the top 10 in 2010 – which is not a move in the right direction.
Agnieszka Radwanska - great game, lovely player, just doesn’t seem to have the weapons to make an impact at the top. She will have done very well if she can hold onto yearend #10 for a third straight year.
Whether Yanina Wickmayer wins or loses, the fight with WADA over failing to meet the anti-doping whereabouts requirements could derail her upward trajectory. Is the 20-year old even a serious contender? Starting with her US Open run she finished the year on a 14-3 streak. Those are top-5 numbers. But there were no spectacular baton-passing wins in that run, and the top player she beat in her SF showing at the US was #18 Razzano. Another top 20 finish in 2010 would probably represent a triumph of sorts.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – a SF at Indian Wells and QF in Beijing in 2009 look promising, as do two wins over VWilliams and one over Jankovic. She has not been showing the consistency of a future top-tenner, but at just 18 and with some big game, that could still develop.
Melanie Oudin was Vlad the Impaler of US Open 2009, leaving a trail of Eastern European corpses in her wake. We have yet to see how she will fare playing more frequently in deeper waters, but at 18, and with proven mental toughness, a top 20 finish in 2010 seems possible.

Really dark horses
Kimiko Date Krumm appears to have reserves of will and ability that could help her improve on 2009’s showing. Jelena Dokic will do well to match 2009. Sorana Cirstea (age 19) and Alexandra Dulgheru (20) had some big wins in ’09 and could threaten the top 20 in 2010. Youngsters Michelle Larcher de Brito (16) and Christina McHale (17) look to have the talent to move up. They may make some noise in 2010 but they’re probably too young to approach the top 20 till 2011.

GS Summary
So after all the prevarications and contradictory statements above, here’s my top 6 list (in order) for each Major in 2010:
Australian Open – SWilliams, Sharapova, Clijsters, Henin, VWilliams, Wozniacki
French Open – Henin, Clijsters, Kuznetsova, SWilliams, Sharapova, Safina
Wimbledon – VWilliams, SWilliams, Henin, Clijsters, Dementieva, Sharapova
US Open – SWilliams, Henin, Clijsters, Sharapova, VWilliams, Kuznetsova

2010 Yearend Top 10 Projection
1 SWilliams
2 Henin
3 Clijsters
4 Sharapova
5 VWilliams
6 Kuznetsova
7 Wozniacki
8 Safina
9 Jankovic
10 Dementieva

And Ivanovic in a close 11th...

So, thoughtful prognosis or total crap? I admit I’ll be happy if a quarter of it actually comes true. But it really got me thinking about what we saw in 2009. I’m hoping 2010 will be a block buster clash of the titans between the Williamses, the Belgians, and Sharapova. I’d love to hear your projections.

Mr X Due to Sams game which is total Crap at the moment

Flavia didnt start off that well yesterday.Like her 1st serve percentage stats were 33%??

Though she picked it up in the 2nd set

I know that was a totally Fan Boy comment

Yeah, thanks for that report, Mina, I really enjoyed reading it. Just so you know, mina, I am also one of the few people who does not mind the grunting. In fact, I actually kind of like it. It's a chicken and the egg question with me though-- can't remember if I liked grunting therefore I love Maria or if I love Maria therefore grunting doesn't bother me. But I also like Vika and hope she does well this year.

BTW, the person who wrote "So is Caro :)" or whatever in response to Samantha's post about Hot Mess Jank being out in the first round w/ the name "observer" on the post wasn't me. Odd coincidence, hopefully.

well, then JJ could plead slow start as well. its her first match of the season, while Woz got schooled by MaSha of the bionic shoulder, massive lay off and lower rank fame.

i just love me my Eastern Euro meanies! LOL. Davai and Ajde!

Sorry didn't realize my post went through. Also, who has achieved more Ni Li or Caro?

Sorry didn't realize my post went through. Also, who has achieved more Ni Li or Caro?

Mr X and Samantha, even if i'm not a Woz fan i still took pics of her practicing (a LOT) and enjoyed seeing her hit. she looked totally cool and calm while making her hitting partner kill himself out there. hee.

"Caro is far from a hot mess."

I'd say she's about 3/7 of the way there.

Master Ace -

Totally agree with you on Lil' Alize (Cornet). Her 2009 was a huge mess - the girl went into full-on headcase mode. There were definitely several times when she was winning and just...lost it. As far as I could see, the problems weren't physical. She wasn't injured (seriously), and she didn't have any major "hitches" in her game. It all seemed to be mental - she started melting down in matches.

Here's hoping she's got her head sorted out, because she's a fun player with a lot of talent. I hope she makes something of it.

Well after witnessing the Shriek of Azarenka myself at Medibank at least I know she "shrieks" even in practice.

I could her her from 2 courts away.I am not kidding at all.

To me Shrieking is unneccesaary and pointless

oh Samantha, swallow the bitter pill of defeat already. us JJ fans did. move on. no need to bring out Na Li's records or lack thereof compared to Woz. not even the craziest Fed KADs did that when he lost to Benneteau late last year. cos its ridonk. :)

I was gonna answer, AM, but i see by your last line that you got what i was saying. It's kind of your thing with, ummm, what's his name again? Tommy something?:)
You know i was just teasing, mina:)
By the way, is there any way to see these pics?

May I add The Hot Woz isnt Hot no more

Please the pale grey frilly lamp shade dress?

Fashion Disaster

That is your opinion Grant. Caro is considered the best of the young player with the highest ranking and most title. She alway proves the doubters wrong and she will do it again.

That is your opinion Grant. Caro is considered the best of the young player with the highest ranking and most title. She alway proves the doubters wrong and she will do it again.