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Justine 2.0 & Other AO Questions 01/11/2010 - 6:45 AM

Watching justine 

by Bobby Chintapalli, TW Contributing Editor

I don’t know about the players, but I’m still wondering where the off-season went. While I love tennis as much as the next gal, I could use some time to eat, sleep, google and do all those things you do when you’re not watching tennis all the time. This brings me to Melbourne, where the Australian Open starts next Monday. The main draw isn’t out yet, so I figure it’s a good time to think about who and what will and won’t happen in the women’s singles event without being constrained by the details (you know, small stuff like who’s playing who).

1) How will Justine 2.0 do?

At the French Open we wondered how Maria Sharapova would fare after nearly a year off with a shoulder injury and were pleasantly surprised when she reached the quarterfinals. At the US Open we speculated how far Kim Clijsters would take this comeback trail and were shocked when she navigated past both Williams sisters and all the way to a second Grand Slam singles title. At the Australian Open, we’re checking out Justine Henin.

We watched her some in Brisbane, where she lost to Clijsters in the final, so we know she can still hit a tennis ball or two. Now we’re talking about the first major tournament of the year. Henin may consider this a practice Grand Slam, where she can get in a few hits so she can add to her greatest hits at the Grand Slam she owned before she left the game (French Open) and then at the one she says is the reason she came back (Wimbledon). While she gets a feel for the field, we’ll get a feel for her. Is her one-handed backhand still a thing of beauty? Is her supposedly new-and-improved serve really bigger and better? Will the draw be kind to her? (Yes, Nadia Petrova, we know you want to know too.) How early would she have to face Serena Williams, who finally occupies the Number 1 ranking Henin left behind when she retired a year and a half ago?

2) What about Serena?

She’s sometimes an exclamation mark and other times a question mark, but at Grand Slams Serena is always part of the story. When the draw comes out tennis fans check to see where her name is, and surely tennis players pray it’s not next to theirs.

With Henin back, Clijsters better than ever and Sharapova likely in form again, the tennis landscape is changing. When the Australian Open is won and done will Serena still be sitting pretty, showing she dominated the scene because she’s simply the best and not simply because the rest were away? Oddsmakers can’t make up their minds. Two weeks ago Betfair thought Serena had the best odds, but this weekend they gave a slight edge to Clijsters.

Tennis aside will Serena display girls-gone-mild behavior at this Grand Slam after her girls-gone-wild behavior at the last one? How will the media treat her? So many questions and, with Serena, so many juicy answers to look forward to. Admit it – already you can’t wait to get your hands on her pressers.

3) Will the youngsters deliver? 

The young player oddsmakers are betting on is Caroline Wozniacki. As of this weekend each of the four players with better odds of winning the tournament has won multiple Grand Slam titles. In fact oddsmakers give Wozniacki a better chance than three previous Grand Slam winners, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and, most surprising, Venus Williams. Wozniacki is around a dozen spots higher than the teenager with the next best chance of winning, Melanie Oudin.

What about the other Top 10 youngsters, 20-year-olds Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska? Azarenka’s play in the first half of last year suggests she can improve on her quarterfinal showings at the French Open and Wimbledon. It will be interesting to see if she does, especially without coach Antonio Van Grichen; the two stopped working together in December after four years together. Will Radwanska show there’s a reason she ended the year in the Top 10 two years in a row? She has her strengths of course, but she lacks power. Some question how she’s in the Top 10, and a good showing here would be one way for her to tell them where to stick it.

Oddsmakers believe young players with a better chance of winning than even Radwanska are Yanina Wickmayer and Sabine Lisicki.

4) Who will surprise us?

Speaking of Oudin few players surprised us more at the US Open, where she beat four hard-hitting Russians before falling to a relatively soft-hitting Dane. And remember Jelena Dokic’s gutsy performance at last year’s Australian Open?

Surprises aren’t so fun to recall when they involve top players losing early. It pains me to even write this, but I’m thinking of Venus Williams at last year’s Australian Open and French Open and Ana Ivanovic at the US Open. This year you have to think top players will be in trouble if they’re slated for early meetings with the likes of Henin, who’s unranked, or Sharapova and Clijsters, who are still ranked lower than they should be.

For me the biggest surprise would be a new Grand Slam winner. With seven former Grand Slam singles winners in the draw (with Serena owning a third of the titles), a new winner seems unlikely. If there is a new winner, oddsmakers think it will be Wozniacki. Next on their list are Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic and Flavia Pennetta. Not a chance, you say? Well then I’d settle for a surprise semifinalist a la Yanina Wickmayer at the US Open.

5) Who won’t even show up?

Oddsmakers give Wickmayer, who won the Auckland warmup, a fairly good chance of winning (she’s among their top 15 picks), though it’s not a given she’ll even make the main draw. Entries were closed by the time her one-year doping ban was suspended, and wildcards were given out to Henin and others. Wickmayer will have to make it through the qualifying tournament to get to the main draw.

Then there are lingering injuries to think about. Vera Zvonareva, who was playing so well and reached the No. 5 ranking after last year’s Australian Open, is still recovering from an ankle injury and retired in her first-round match in Sydney. Will she be better in time for the Australian Open? And what about last year’s finalist, Dinara Safina, who spent much of last year in the Number 1 spot in the WTA rankings (if not in Serena’s heart)? She pulled out of the year-end championships and her first tournament this year owing to a back injury. She’s playing singles and doubles in Sydney, but has she fully recovered? It seems unlikely she’ll pull out of the Australian Open, but if she does, she could use the time to get stronger for the French Open, which will be here sooner than we think.
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Posted by zenggi 01/12/2010 at 02:04 PM

AM,

Excellent report. I find it very generous of you to leave Tommy for Jackie :)

Your current favourite is engaged but I think you knew that, and I don't think that "little detail" would stop you anyway.

You are getting closer and closer to Mr. Dimples. I have faith in you.

Thank you also to Mina and Nic for their reports and comments. Through you we live vicarously the Aussie tournaments. And we are enjoying every minute of it.
Posted by crazyone 01/12/2010 at 02:04 PM

great report, AM, I was laughing all the way through it. And Arun, *Poor Tommy, though MSF and Mr.X have the full license to express their thoughts about him now.*--hilarious.

Though (major OT alert) I'm not sure I needed the reminder that tall men with beautiful eyes can be, well, beautiful...sighhhh. hah.
Posted by greenhopper 01/12/2010 at 02:09 PM

ah, thanks, Arun.
Posted by malimeda 01/12/2010 at 02:10 PM

"any sign of rafa down under?"

No pics as yet, but he was sighted by Tom Tebbutt today, practicing in the slightly cooler, but windy conditions:

"MELBOURNE, Australia -- After searing heat with the thermometer rising to 42 degrees (110 Fahrenheit) on Monday, on Tuesday the winds blew and with them came lower, more seasonable temperatures.
On Showcourt 2, at one point in the afternoon while he was practicing, Rafael Nadal had to wait 15 seconds to throw up the toss on his serve because an extended gust a wind made that mission impossible."

http://tinyurl.com/ybtbpm3
Posted by Annie (Vamos Heavenly Creature) 01/12/2010 at 02:16 PM

thanks mal, hmmm well, we know rafa plays well in very windy conditions so i'm not too bothered by that. but the heat is just plain scary. should the TD close the roof over rod laver arena now and just keep it closed? oh i'll shut up. last year i was carrying on about the heat because i thought it was so dangerous for the players (AM did too if i recall she even called the facility). no one listened last year and they won't this year either. the players are just going to have to suffer. I just don't want anyone getting sick. azarenka got sick last year in fact and had to retire.
Posted by Ruth 01/12/2010 at 02:24 PM

sblily: Yes, I read Open after I finished OtL, and I found myself agreeing with so many of the comments -- both positive and negative -- that were made here at TW about it. It is very well written (as one might expect from a prize-winning ghost writer), and it does reveal a lot about Agassi that we did not know. Yet, I'm convinced that it is, at best, a three-quarters "open" book...and I guess that's OK. :)

Bobby: Just before I headed out to do some errands,I saw that Oracene video on the Medibank site. It's only two and a half minutes long, but it's the most I've ever heard her speaking...and it's fun.

Now, I'm off to check out your tweets (right word?) and Steve's piece on the Belgians. I've been reading the "Wow, great" comments from some folk who saw just the highlight video from that match and comparing them with the despairing comments that were filed by some TWibers when they were actually following the match plus the comment from a blogger who thought the match, especially Kim's losing 8 games in a row, was no better or worse than any other WTA match he'd seen. Cynic! :)

Somewhere between the two extremes of opinion, I would guess, truth lies!

Posted by Tfactor 01/12/2010 at 02:28 PM

On a shallow note and as we await AO, it may be a good idea to review the Nike and Adidas outfits we'll see the players wearing. This was probably posted before but it may be useful to try and get used to seeing some of those combinations (esp Rafa's) :-/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aat5CM0bCSk&feature=fvsr
Posted by robbyfan 01/12/2010 at 02:31 PM

Whoa-Rafa's shorts are hideous.
Posted by Ruth 01/12/2010 at 02:33 PM

Bobby: When I click the twitter link, I get "sorry, that page doesn't exist." Wassup?
Posted by aussiemarg [Madame President in Comma Rehab for 2009] 01/12/2010 at 02:36 PM

Good Morning Everyone

Thank goodness we have a bit of a change overnight and todays temp in Sydney will be cooler.

Seeing I will be all day at Medibank reporting I welcome this change and so does my hair for starters
Posted by greenhopper 01/12/2010 at 02:36 PM

Ruth, try that link without the dot/period in the end. :)
Posted by Arun 01/12/2010 at 02:38 PM

Borg to play in Boston - http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/1387
Posted by robbyfan 01/12/2010 at 02:39 PM

AM-thank you so much for your hilarious stories. I look forward to them each day. Stay cool!
Posted by aussiemarg [Madame President in Comma Rehab for 2009] 01/12/2010 at 02:40 PM

Also great news,Spain will play in The Bullring for their 1st tie in 2010

I remember the crowd,the atmosphere when they played the USA in a s/final

Way to Go Spain

Vamos.
Posted by aussiemarg [Madame President in Comma Rehab for 2009] 01/12/2010 at 02:42 PM

Thanks Robbie fans and to the rest of the TW posters,

What can I say,I try to do my best',

Though today it will be my usual hard hitting reporting from Medibank as Moi

Look out I leave no stone unturned lol!
Posted by Novela Nadalesca/Celia(Princess of playing hookie) 01/12/2010 at 02:46 PM

Okay I just saw Rafa's outfit for AO and my mom and I have this to say,"EWWWWWWW!!!!!!" WTF Nike? Stripes and checks? STRIPES AND CHECKS? Those NEVER go together! NEVER!!!!!! What were you thinking Nike? WHAT?????
Posted by sokol 01/12/2010 at 02:46 PM

Melanie Oudin about her career goals (this is a translation, not her exact words):

"My main career goal is to become #1. I'm not sure how long it will take or if I'll be able to achieve it, but I'll try. For this season I want to be in top 32 to be seeded at RG, and in top 20 before USO"

big plans :-)
(this is sokol, in case my moniker is changed :-))
Posted by robbyfan 01/12/2010 at 02:46 PM

new post up
Posted by Bobby 01/12/2010 at 02:48 PM

greenhopper, you are good! The period caused the problem. Ruth, here's the link again. By the way I think you said you read Wertheim's 'Venus Envy', right? It's old, but it's my favorite tennis book of all. OK, Ladies, leaving now and will check in this evening. http://twitter.com/bobbychin
Posted by Tfactor 01/12/2010 at 02:52 PM

Now that there is a new post up I don't feel so bad about continuing to post less than relevant stuff (I'm a bit idle at the moment, obviously) :)
A cute vid of little Dinara. It's not new and it may have been posted before but I really enjoyed it, esp the part where she falls backwards after serving :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6xz4LZuTVY&feature=related
Posted by Master Ace 01/12/2010 at 03:09 PM

Robbyfan,
Thanks for letting us know about the new post:)
Posted by tennisesq. 01/12/2010 at 03:13 PM

Bobby,
Looks I just missed you. That vid of Oracene was priceless. I cannot believe she quoted Whitney.
Posted by Annie (Vamos Heavenly Creature) 01/12/2010 at 03:31 PM

for the most part the clothes are terrible. Roger's kit is by far the classiest. love the raspberry and gray combo. rafa's brown shorts are ca-ca. the white version i can barely live with. and i don't like the addidas shirts either. except a nice yellow one. so all in all, for me, it's a fashion fail. except for roger. i will say that i prefer this AO outfit to last year's sky blue shorts/shirt cotton candy day outfit rafa wore. i was embarassed for him in that one. but why do they need to be so garish. doesn't anyone have any taste?

sorry about the rant. i just don't get it. however, i saw sampras and agassi circa 1995 on the tube last night and their stuff wasn't any better. agassi had on acid washes faux jean short kind of thing with a colliding striped shirt. it was awful.
Posted by VC 01/12/2010 at 03:34 PM

I like the Adidas striped ones a lot, particularly the one Verdasco's wearing, but maybe I just have bad taste.
Posted by Ruth 01/12/2010 at 03:45 PM

Thanks, greenhopper. I'll try the adjusted link now.
Posted by andrea 01/12/2010 at 03:47 PM

Very interesting site!
Posted by Tfactor 01/12/2010 at 03:50 PM

Annie,
Don't you think Rafa has something to say in all of this? As much as I love the boy, he doesn't seem to have the greatest fashion sense :)
Posted by greenhopper 01/12/2010 at 04:11 PM

First match back after a long break, against RSod. And after he loses that, Ljubster.
Welcome back to hell, Jo.

Kooyong classic starts at 7PM TW time today.
First up, Ljubicic vs JMdP.
http://bit.ly/5lMKJb
Posted by Annie (Vamos Heavenly Creature) 01/12/2010 at 04:29 PM

Tfactor: sadly, i think you're right about the taste. I just can't picture him putting this stuff on and having everyone say "oh yeah, rafa. that's great." He must be after the preppy/grunge look vs. fed's classic traditional style. let's face it, how many ways can you do tennis clothes and keep them looking fresh and different? someone came up with the sleeveless/piratas and the first time i saw those i hated them. so what do i know?

btw, How are you feeling these days, Tfactor? you 'sound' great.
Posted by Annie (Vamos Heavenly Creature) 01/12/2010 at 04:30 PM

andrea: wait 'til the AO begins and this place starts to hop, 24/7. hope you stop by.
Posted by lollipop 01/12/2010 at 04:30 PM

oops, i think i posted this on the wrong thread. reposting:

Kooyong starts today! :)

Nothing excites me more than the pre-tourney photos:

http://www.novakdjokovic.rs/photo.php?jezik=2&id=105

bring. it. on.
Posted by Tfactor 01/12/2010 at 05:58 PM

In case you read this Annie, sorry I left the office after I posted my last comment and just got home.
I'm doing Ok, thanks :)
Hope everything is Ok with you too.
Posted by just a note 01/13/2010 at 05:53 AM

BlueDog - naps are good :) although I just read he lost so no naps in sight just practice courts! (Sorry for late response :) )
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