On Ya, Mates - The Dorothy Tour Awards

Anyone who saw the women's final in Melbourne (or what amounted to one, at least) knows that birds were having a grand old time chatting up the match from their perches in the (Pat?) rafters of Rod Laver Arena.

I wonder what they were talking about? Did they try to drop their own little "bombs" on Justine after she retired from the match, just like pretty much everyone else has over the last 24 hours or so?


=SINGLES=
#3 Amelie Mauresmo d. #8 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-1/2-0 ret.
=DOUBLES=
#12 Yan/Zheng d. #1 Raymond/Stosur
=MIXED=
Hingis/Bhupathi d. #6 Likhovtseva/Nestor
=GIRLS SINGLES=
#8 Pavlyuchenkova d. #1 Wozniacki
=GIRLS DOUBLES=
#4 Fichman/Pavlyuchenkova d. #8 Cornet/Dentoni
========================

The Oz Open's 2006 champion list includes a Frenchwoman, two Chinese, a Slovakian-born Swiss, a 14-year old Russian (twice) and a Canadian. There was a little bit of something for everyone at the Australian Open this year. Including, it's turned out, a little blood in the water for all the sharks to frenzy about.

Isn't it amazing how in the span of about an hour on Saturday all the apparently latent hostility built up toward Justine Henin-Hardenne over the years burst out in one ridiculously far-reaching overreaction to her having the "audacity" to retire two games into the final's 2nd set against Amelie Mauresmo? Rather she lamely -- or, if the detractors are to be taken seriously, should I say "honorably?" -- stumble though a few more games (no doubt to catcalls from the crowd, then some opportunistic beaning by commentators... until she said afterward that she was sick, which would have then led to accusations of Venus-like excuse-making) in order to allow Mauresmo to celebrate her first slam title?

Hmmm, I wonder if those same people who complained about Maria Sharapova having the "gall" to celebrate after defeating an obviously-injured Serena Williams in the '04 WTA Championships would have also hounded Mauresmo for showing any glee after defeating an apparently-diminished JHH? I doubt it.

From here, I think far too many people are still harboring ill will toward Henin-Hardenne for "the wave" against Serena at Roland Garros in 2003, a long forgotten transgression whose cobwebs were brushed away this weekend. How else can the excessive handwringing be explained in any sort of context? Considering that JHH has been one of, if not the best competitor on tour for the past few seasons, playing in various states of physical duress that caused many to think she'd pull out of a previous grand slam final ('03 U.S. Open) before the first ball was struck, only to see her go on to win the title. It was just one in a series of "heart-and-guts" performances that gave birth to "Le Petit Taureau."

How quickly people forget... about the benefit of the doubt one would have thought she'd built up, as well as the cytomegalovirus that struck her down for much of '04 and likely sends phantom shivers down her spine anytime she questions her health less than two years later. Even when someone of some stature (though, if you've ever heard her commentary on ESPN in the past, you might question that sometimes) such as Pam Shriver at least manages to dredge her memory for a possible answer to JHH's retirement on Saturday, she still judges that this one moment will tarnish Henin-Hardenne's reputation forever. Get a grip, Pam. Just because some will seek to never let others forget something, it doesn't mean that anyone's reputation is "tarnished" in any meaningful way by anyone looking at the current situation with any objectively and respect for personal history.

I, for one, freely admit I'm not entirely objective on this subject. Anyone who reads this space with any regularity knows that I've come to hold JHH in high esteem, even after the long-ago exposure of one of her "flaws."

SI.com's Jon Wertheim frets that JHH's "doesn't get" that her actions might not have been "fair" to Mauresmo. Get over it. Henin-Hardenne's not perfect (NEWSFLASH: Clijsters isn't either, though you'd have a hard time convincing people of that considering all the glowing press she garners for being so "down to earth"... squeegeeing courts and running through the water as she does and all). Shocker. She has a selfish streak? Name a top tennis player (or athlete, for that matter) who doesn't.

I enjoy jabbing at Venus Williams with a blunt stick for some of her "seemingly ungrateful" post-match comments, but that doesn't mean I think anything she says or does after a loss in any way "tarnishes" her reputation or blots out any of the great things she's done (or might still do) in her career. An isolated incident (or even incidents) does not a career besmircher (yes, that IS a real word -- I looked it up!) make, especially when it takes place at an event that has a court named for Margaret Court, who made some famously nasty remarks about Martina Navratilova's homosexuality a few years back (comments that might make her an unwelcome dinner companion -- albeit an interesting one -- for some, but doesn't disrupt her "reputation" as one of the game's all-time greats, thanks to her 24 slam titles).

If anyone persists is casting JHH as a villain now, so be it. Every sport needs it dark princes (or Queens, in this case), if only to make all the "Miss Congeniality" contestants seems more congenial (even as they screw their coaches out of money, or their Olympic team over loyalty to a sponsor). But, hey, who's keeping score on such things? Right, Killer?

If we've learned aynything from this little "Melbourne mess" it's that even the tennis press isn't above sinking to the level of tennis messageboard hater when there's blood in the water, even if it means sullying the reputation of one of the sport's greatest fighters with "no mas" sneers and "quitter" smears.

From here, that's more sad a development than anything Henin-Hardenne did or said on Saturday.

==========================

Whew! Okay, that's that. Now, on with the "Dorothy Tour" Awards, as told to Backspin by the birds of Laver Arena. I'll serve as your humble translator:

==DOROTHYS OF THE MONTH==
1.Amelie Mauresmo
2.Justine Henin-Hardenne
3.Maria Sharapova
4.Martina Hingis
5.Kim Clijsters

==SHEILAS==
1.Samantha Stosur
2.Zi Yan & Jie Zheng
3.Daniela Hantuchova
4.Nadia Petrova
5.Marion Bartoli

==GOBSMACKERS==
1.Tszvetana Pironkova
2.Elena Vesnina
3.Olga Savchuk
4.Mara Santangelo
5.Yoon-Jeong Cho

==MUNCHKINS==
1.Michaella Krajicek
2.Lucie Safarova
3.Ekaterina Bychkova
4.Ana Ivanovic
5.Victoria Azarenka

JUNIOR MUNCHKIN: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
AUNTIE EM: Martina Hingis
COMEBACKS: Martina Hingis & Svetlana Kuznetsova

==WALKABOUTS==
1.Venus Williams
2.Serena Williams
3.Mary Pierce
4.Cara Black & Rennae Stubbs
5.Jelena Dokic

==TOP PERFORMANCE==
Amelie Mauresmo in Melbourne to win her first slam, even if she didn't have to finish three of her seven matches

Chirp, chirp, chirp. (Whoops, sorry for letting that stuff slip through... if any of you can speak avian, please forgive the crude language.)

==TOP MATCH==
Australian SF - Henin-Hardenne d. Sharapova
...4-6/6-1/6-4. Suddenly, the Supernova's the "hard-luck" girl.

Chirp.

(Thanks. I'm glad you like the Sharapova '07 Scenario.)

==WORST MATCH==
Australian Final - Mauresmo d. Henin-Hardenne
...6-1/2-0 ret. Pretty stinky, even before the untimely end and unseemly response to it.

==BIGGEST UPSET==
Australian 1st - Pironkova d. V.Williams
...2-6/6-0/9-7. We'd better not learn that THIS Bulgarian tested positive for anything after the match.

==QUOTES==
Pironkova, relaying the congratulations from fellow players after her 1st Round win: "Well job. Good done."
------------------------
Venus, explaining the loss: "Obviously, she benefitted from my largesse."
------------------------

==BIGGEST COMEBACK==
Sydney Final - Henin-Hardenne d. Schiavone
...4-6/7-5/7-5. The still-titleless Italian led 6-4/4-1, then 5-3 in the 3rd in this 3:00 match. If Schiavone had retired, I doubt if any JHH fans would have complained about any "unsportmanlike conduct."

==BIGGEST CHOKE==
Australian Doubles Final - Yan/Zheng d. Raymond/Stosur
...2-6/7-6/6-3. Raymond/Stosur blew a 3-1 lead in the 2nd, then 2 Championship Points in the tie-break. Sorry, Sammy.

CHIIIIIIRRRRRPPPPPP!!!!!

(Hey! Watch it! I like Sammy, too... but a spade is a spade.)

==WORST COMEBACK==
Australian 1st - Razzano d. Dokic
...3-6/7-6/6-1. The Debutante led 6-3/6-5 in her first AO match since 2001. She held 2 MP, and celebrated when she thought she'd converted one. But a chair overrule led to a tie-break loss, then a walkabout of a 3rd set.

==WORST...(take your pick)==
Serbian media reports of Damir Dokic threats to kidnap Jelena, bomb Australia and murder an individual who helped her return Down Under. Worst. Damir. Serbian media. They're all kind of synonymous, don't you think?

Chir-chir-chir-chirrrrp.

(Boy, you can say that again.)

========================


==WTA ODDS & ENDS==

**AUSTRALIAN OPEN GIRLS FINAL**

#8 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) def. #1 Caroline Wozniacki(DEN) 1-6/6-2/6-3

**AUSTRALIAN OPEN MIXED DOUBLES FINAL**
Hingis/Bhupathi def. #6 Likhovtseva/Nestor 6-3/6-3

**CAREER SLAM TITLES - ACTIVE**
[singles/doubles]
58...Martina Navratilova [18/40]
15...Serena Williams [7/8]
15...Martina Hingis [5/10]
13...Venus Williams [5/8]
9....Virginia Ruano-Pascual [0/9]


==WEEK 5 PREDICTIONS==

TOKYO, JAPAN (I-Carpet/Indoor)
05 F: Sharapova d. Davenport
06 TOP: Sharapova/Dementieva
==============================
SF: Sharapova d. Hingis; Vaidisova d. Myskina
FINAL: Sharapova d. Vaidisova

...hey, I've got the chance to pick a Sharapova/Vaidisova final, so I'm gonna do it. We should at the very least see how quick a learner the Czech Maiden is, in this first action since her uninspired Round of 16 performance in Melbourne.


And so ends the Daily Backspin (it'll return for Roland Garros), and the return of the regular once-a-week (with occasional extras, such as the upcoming WTA Media Guide Photo celebration) schedule.

All for now.

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Oz Open Day 13: Amelie Clicks Her Heels

Who knew the 2006 ruby slippers would fit Amelie Mauresmo perfectly?



What's going on here? First Kim Clijsters wins a slam, then Mauresmo ends her career-long slam drought just four months later? A year ago, it seemed like neither would EVER win one, and now they BOTH have.

Who does Backspin have left to kick around? I thought Amelie was going to be a "safe" punching bag for quite a while longer. But, now -- poof! -- the target has been removed from her back courtesy of a 6-1/2-0 ret. win over Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Aussie Open final. For two weeks, I waited for Mauresmo to pick the "perfect" time to collapse, but it never happened. Pardon me for being a little "sad."

Seriously, though, Mauresmo WAS the smoothest player in Melbourne, even if she wasn't the flashiest over the past two weeks. She was such a "clean machine" this Australian Open, hardly making any errors per match, one is forced to wonder whether she sold her soul to the tennis gods before last November's year-end championships. This just isn't the Mauresmo we (and her opponents) have come to know and "love."

Apparently, the confidence Mauresmo gained from winning the YEC did indeed mean something, after all. Of course, having three of her seven opponents en route to her first slam title either fall victim to the heat (Michaella Krajicek), the court (Kim Clijsters), or a stomach (Henin-Hardenne) is bound to smooth out any of the rough edges the Frenchwoman might have had under pressure. The old wounds never had a chance to be re-opened, since the closest anyone came to knocking Mauresmo off stride was Tiantian Sun, who pushed her to three sets in the 1st Round.

How ironic a sight the final turned out to be. The normally shaky Mauresmo held her nerves (and her serve), again committed few errors (combined with just three winners in the 1st set), while it was JHH's guts that were rumbling, even if they weren't spilling out Sampras-style on the side of the court.

Henin-Hardenne's retirement due to an upset stomach, apparently brought on by taking double inflammatories for a shoulder ailment, was likely a foregone conclusion -- at least in JHH's mind -- before the match even began. In her postmatch comments, she said she had a bad night, nearly going to the doctor at 3 a.m., and feeling that she had little chance to win the match when it started. Normally, Le Petit Taureau is at her best under such circumstances (see the '03 U.S. Open, or the Athens Olympics), but not this time. Of course, had Mauresmo opened the door a tad to allow the Belgian to stick a foot in the match, maybe things would have been different. But, to her credit, Mauresmo didn't budge an iota, then watched one of the greatest fighters in the sport become just the fourth woman to EVER retire from a slam singles final (and the first in the Open era).

**SLAM FINALS - RETIREMENTS**
1902 U.S. - Marion Jones def. Elizabeth Moore 6-1/1-0
------------------------
1933 U.S. - Helen Jacobs def. Helen Wills Moody 8-6/3-6/3-0
------------------------
1965 Australian - Margaret Smith def. Maria Bueno 5-7/6-4/5-2
------------------------
2006 Australian - Amelie Mauresmo def. Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-1/2-0
------------------------

Maybe this was meant to be. I know I felt a tinge of "omen recognition" when I learned before the match that this was the first women's slam final matching two players with one-handed backhands since the 1998 Wimbledon final. That was when Jana Novotna met Nathalie Tauziat. Connecting the memory of an often weak-kneed Novotna ending her career-long slam drought that day to the often weak-kneed Mauresmo trying to do the same in Melbourne on Saturday was far too easy. Her 5-0 start to the opening set felt like an avalanche quickly picking up speed.

JHH's end turned out to come even quicker than ever imagined. A break to open the 2nd set, a call for the trainer, one more game lost... and the image of Henin-Hardenne making the long walk to the net to concede, then hanging her head while waiting for Mauresmo to meet her there.



And, thus, Mauresmo is NO LONGER the only women's #1 to NEVER win a slam title, and now there's been eight different slam champions in the last eight slams (that's TWO FULL YEARS with no player winning more than one). Her reaction to the end of her career-long battle was muted, considering the circumstances of her triumph. But the mixture of relief, concern (for Henin-Hardenne), and a good-natured sense of humor (during her acceptance speech) made the moment a warm one for everyone. Well, except for Henin-Hardenne, of course.

Seven years after she bounded onto the scene in Melbourne, reaching the AO final amid stories of coming out as a gay woman and catty comments (from the likes of Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport) about her muscular build and "man-like" shots, Mauresmo ends up having the last laugh. She's no Cinderalla story, having been around the block a time or two since she was that 19-year old unknown quantity in 1999, but, at 26, she's not quite Novotna, either. This probably isn't a career-capping achievement for Mauresmo, and it's certainly not one that will now precipitate her early exit from the game (Novotna played barely a year beyond her Wimbledon title before retiring at age 30).

She DID deserve a chance to fully experience victory at the end of Saturday's final, something which JHH's retirement "robbed" her of. But who's to say she won't get another shot at a "make-up" celebration in the coming months?

Did I REALLY just say that?

Something odd IS in the air. How else do you explain that as everyone picks up and leaves Melbourne until next year, we have absolutely no idea what to make of the 2006 season so far. Henin-Hardenne played great, but is sick again. Venus & Serena didn't, and probably wish they could blame it on a Henin-like ailment. Kim Clijsters is out for two months. Maria Sharapova is STILL losing big matches. Lindsay Davenport isn't even getting into them, and is no longer #1... but she'll still probably regain the top spot thanks to Clijsters' bum ankle. And, geez, AMELIE MAURESMO is now a grand slam champion... and, unlike Sharapova at Wimbledon, actually had phone service on the court after the match.

Weird. Weird. Weird.

If this is what 2006 has in store for us, we're in for a wild and crazy year. (Especially if Mauresmo has to make an early payment on that soul "deal.")


==DAY 13 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Amelie Mauresmo
...in the end, it was difficult not to be charmed by finally-content Mauresmo. So, now the question will be who could extend this different-slam-champion streak to nine straight in Roland Garros? Mary Pierce, maybe? Elena Dementieva? The Russian is the only active player who's reached a slam singles final (two, actually), but hasn't yet won one. To look even farther ahead, how about Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon to make it ten different titlists in ten slams? Sounds far-fetched? Maybe. But if Mauresmo can be Dorothy...
========================
SHEILA: Caroline Wozniacki
...the #1-seeded Girl defeated Ayumi Morita to reach the junior final.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Sharon Fichman
...yes, a Canadian tennis champion. Wonders never cease. She won the junior doubles with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Amelie Mauresmo
...at 26, she's the oldest first-time slam champ since 29-year old Novotna at Wimbledon in 1998.
========================
MUCHKIN: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
...the Russian won the girls doubles title with Fichman, and defeated #2-seed Raluca Olaru in the SF to reach the singles final.
========================
WALKABOUT: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...Backspin can't not give the Queen the benefit of the doubt on her retirement. Sure, it'd been nice for Mauresmo to have been given the opportunity to win the title (and fitfully celebrate the end of her long trek), but after JHH's past health problems with cytomegalovirus in 2004, I think she's earned the right to not push her body to the edge if she feels that she's not up to it.
========================


==DAY 13 ODDS & ENDS==

**GIRLS SINGLES FINAL**
#1 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. #8 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

**GIRLS DOUBLES FINAL**
#4 Sharon Fichman/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. #8 Alize Cornet/Corinna Dentoni

**CAREER WTA TITLES**
[active]
51...Lindsay Davenport
40...Martina Hingis
33...Venus Williams
33...Conchita Martinez
30...Kim Clijsters
26...Serena Williams
24...Justine Henin-Hardenne
20...AMELIE MAURESMO

**WOMEN'S #1 PLAYERS - 1st SLAM**
Margaret Smith-Court# - 1960 Australian
Billie Jean King# - 1967 Wimbledon
Evonne Goolagong# - 1971 Roland Garros
Chris Evert - 1974 Roland Garros
Martina Navratilova - 1978 Wimbledon
Tracy Austin - 1979 U.S.
Steffi Graf - 1987 Roland Garros
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario - 1989 Roland Garros
Monica Seles - 1990 Roland Garros
Martina Hingis - 1997 Australian
Lindsay Davenport - 1998 U.S.
Serena Williams - 1999 U.S.
Venus Williams - 2000 Wimbledon
Jennifer Capriati - 2001 Australian
Justine Henin-Hardenne - 2003 Roland Garros
Maria Sharapova - 2004 Wimbledon
Kim Clijsters - 2005 U.S.
Amelie Mauresmo - 2006 Australian
--
#--before computer rankings



All for now.

========================

TOMORROW: "Dorothy Tour" Awards (& Week 5 Picks)

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Oz Open Day 12: Sammy Up a Gum Tree

Samantha Stosur had two opportunities to shine on Friday. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out as well as she (and the Aussie faithful) would have hoped.


==DAY 12 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHYS OF THE DAY: Zi Yan & Jie Zheng

...the #12-seeded Cookies became the first ever Chinese players to win a grand slam title (Ting Li & Tiantian Sun won Athens Gold in '04), besting Raymond/Stubbs after overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the 2nd set and two match points in the tie-break. They withstood three match points against Ruano-Pascual/Suarez in the QF, too.
------------------------
SHEILA: Martina Hingis
...Hingis will get her shot at her first slam title in four years, as she and Mahesh Bhupathi will face Likhovtseva/Nestor in the Mixed Doubles Final.
------------------------
GOBSMACKER: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
...the #8-seeded 14-year old from Russia knocked out my junior pick, Dominika Cibulkova in the Girls QF, 6-4/6-3. Guess I'll have to pick her to win now. It's never a bad decision to go with the Russian. (Well, unless it's Sharapova in a slam SF, right?).
------------------------
AUNTIE EM: Elena Likhovtseva
...who thought she'd be the last remaining Russian? Sure, it's in the Mixed Doubles, but it's something. She and Daniel Nestor knocked out Dechy/Paes 3-6/6-4/7-6 in the SF.
------------------------
MUNCHKIN: Ayumi Morita
...the Japanese 15-year old, the #4 Girls seed, advanced to the SF. She'll face top-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki next.
------------------------
WALKABOUT: Samantha Stosur
...two wrongs didn't make a right for Sammy on Day 12. She lost in the Doubles Final (with Lisa Raymond) to Yan/Zheng. Then she lost in the Mixed Doubles SF (with Paul Hanley) to Hingis/Bhupathi. Australia's last chance for a home grown AO champion will come in the Boys Final, where either Nick Lindahl or Ryan Bellamy will be playing for the title. From here, though, Sammy was still this AO's "It" girl.
------------------------


==DAY 12 MATCHES==
1.Doubles F - #12 Yan/Zheng d. #1 Raymond/Stosur
...2-6/7-6/6-3. Sammy will have to be content with the two slam titles she already has (Oz Mixed with Scott Draper, and U.S. Doubles with Raymond, both in 2005), and look forward to her remaining six opportunities in 2006.
------------------------
2.Mixed SF - Hingis/Bhupathi d. #5 Stosur/Hanley
...6-3/6-3. (See above.)
------------------------
3.Girls QF - #1 Wozniacki d. #12 Paszek
...3-6/6-1/6-3. By the way, the #1-seed-won't-win-the-slam streak doesn't carry over to the junior competition.
------------------------


==DAY 12 ODDS & ENDS==

**HENIN-HARDENNE vs. MAURESMO**
[JHH leads 4-3]
1999 US Open 1st - Mauresmo 6-1/6-4
2003 Berlin SF - JHH 7-6/6-4
2003 YEC SF - Mauresmo 7-6/3-6/6-3
2004 Sydney F - JHH 6-4/6-4
2004 A.Island SF - Mauresmo 6-7/7-5/6-3
2004 Olympic F - JHH 6-3/6-3
2005 Toronto SF - JHH 7-5/3-6/6-1

**JHH IN AUSTRALIA - 2004-06**
2004 Sydney (W) - 3-0/1 walkover
2004 Australian (W) - 7-0
2006 Sydney (W) - 4-0/1 walkover
2006 Australian...6-0 (vs.Mauresmo)

**LONG 2006 WTA WINNING STREAKS**
10...Justine Henin-Hardenne (current)
7....Michaella Krajicek
6....Amelie Mauresmo (current)
6....Marion Bartoli

**DAY 12 QUESTION**
...it's been reported that Martina Hingis bested Maria Sharapova for the most number of times her AO.com bio has been viewed (at the end of the week, by a 407,000+ to 272,000+ margin). I wonder if Cammie Neviere, Marcos Baghdatis' girlfriend, would have topped both of them had she had a bio on the tournament's official site? She's surely gotten as much TV time as either of them. Not that anyone's complaining...


**FINALS PICKS**

#3 AMELIE MAURESMO vs. #8 JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE
...how can a woman as slight as Henin-Hardenne manage to be so imposing? Winning with great heart is the ultimate weapon. Le Petit Taureau is 4-1 in slam finals, with four wins in her last four appearances. She's won 13 straight in Melbourne, and 20 in a row in Australia. Mauresmo hasn't been in a slam final since 1999. I already made this pick with my original AO preview, and again before the semifinals. You don't think I'm going to change my mind now, do you? Allez, Queen Justine... lift a fifth slam title, days after new world-#1 Kim Clijsters left Melbourne Park in a wheelchair as she prepares to sit out at least two months with a torn ankle ligament.

==MIXED DOUBLES FINAL (SUNDAY)==
Hingis/Bhupathi def. #6 Likhovtseva/Nestor
...why spoil a good story?


All for now. More tomorrow.

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Oz Open Day 11: Over the Rainbow, Under Extreme Conditions

With temperatures exceeding 100-degrees Fahrenheit, Extreme Heat Conditions were in effect outside Rod Laver Arena on Day 11, as the roof was closed for the women's singles semifinals. Inside, at least figuratively, the conditions were just as extreme.

Just ask Maria Sharapova.

Everything that makes Justine Henin-Hardenne such a great champion were on display in Melbourne on Thursday. And that, plus a little "luck," has put her in position to claim her fifth grand slam title on Saturday.



As was her pattern in the quarterfinal match-up with Lindsay Davenport, Queen Justine was a little slow out of the semifinal gate against Sharapova. Still, even though she wasn't quite totally on her game, she managed to keep pace with the 18-year old Russian throughout the opening set, even getting two break point chances on Sharapova's serve at 4-4. Sharapova survived the tightrope-walking moment, then broke the Belgian to take the set 6-4.

Then Henin-Hardenne took control.

In the 2nd set, Sharapova never held serve, getting broken four times by her fitter and fresher opponent. In the 6-1 set, the Russian managed just three winners.

Sharapova is never a pushover, and she wasn't this time in Melbourne, either. And, if a few erroneous (but close) line calls had gone her way in the 3rd set, this could have been a different match altogether. The first, at 2-2, would have broken JHH's serve. The second, at 2-3, ended Sharapova's chance to stay on serve, as the constantly scrambling Henin-Hardenne broke for a 4-2 lead.

Moments later, serving for the match at 5-3, JHH blinked. Sharapova broke her, but then blinked herself. Given one final opportunity to turn around the match, the Russian couldn't gather enough from her tiring body to hold her own service game. JHH's final backhand down the line ended the match and provided another entry into the "what could have been" column of Sharapova's post-2004 Wimbledon career, while simultaneously setting the Belgian up to re-establish a dominant position in the game just as her countrywoman Kim Clijsters is set to rise to #1 next week.

Hmmm... if Le Petit Taureau can knock out Amelie Mauresmo in the Oz Open final, she'll have two slams under her belt in the last eight months. Maybe Clijsters won't be the ONLY Belgian ranked #1 in 2006.


==DAY 11 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...Le Petit Taureau's fitfully crisp backhand down the line on match point to finally dispatch Sharapova gives her 13 straight wins in Melbourne, and 20 in a row on Australian soil dating back to 2004.
------------------------
SHEILA: Amelie Mauresmo
...if JHH is like a little bull under pressure, Mauresmo is often in the role of a china shop. She defeated (outlasted, really) Clijsters, but didn't really put to rest any of the old questions. In the 1st set, she saved four set points, but then double-faulted on the 5th. With Clijsters' retirement-inducing ankle injury, Mauresmo never had the chance to get tight in the 3rd. Now we'll see if the YEC title will mean anything with JHH staring back across the net.
------------------------
GOBSMACKER: Samantha Stosur
...Sammy's singles run might have ended in the 4th Round but, along with her place in the Doubles final, she's also still alive in the Mixed. Her #5-seeded pairing with Paul Hanley knocked out #4 Morariu/M.Bryan 7-6/4-6/7-6 to reach the SF, where she'll meet up with... uh, oh... Martina Hingis again.
------------------------
AUNTIE EM: Martina Hingis
...speaking of which, in the day's final match, Hingis and Mahesh Bhupathi eliminated the #8-seeded Aussie team of Stubbs/Perry 7-5/7-6 to keep alive the Swiss Miss' shot at her first slam title of any kind since taking the '02 Aussie Open Doubles with Anna Kournikova.
------------------------
MUNCHKIN: Raluca-Ioana Olaru
...the Romanians are starting the build up their ranks in the juniors, and 16-year old Olaru -- the Girls #2 seed, and part of the #1 doubles team -- is leading the way in the AO junior draw. She was the Roland Garros Girls RU last year, and on Day 11 knocked out Chelsey Gullickson (sister of Carly) 6-4/6-4 to reach the QF.
------------------------
WALKABOUT: Maria Sharapova

...even with the Rod Laver Arena roof closed to keep out the heat, Sharapova quickly appeared gased after winning the 1st set against JHH. Likely, her training has been effected by her chest muscle injury. Finally healthy for the first time in months, it's obvious that she needs to now work on her conditioning. Certainly, something more will have to be done if the Supernova is going to escape the slam SF rut she finds herself in. She's impressively made the SF in four of the last five slams, but is 0-4 in those matches. (This is where I throw in the mention of my '07 Sharapova Scenario, just to keep it top of mind).
------------------------


==DAY 11 MATCHES==
1.SF - #8 Henin-Hardenne d. #4 Sharapova
...4-6/6-1/6-4. In 2:26, JHH pushed her record in her last eighteen 3-set matches to a distinctly impressive 16-2. Heart. Guts. (And, in this match, a little luck.)
------------------------
2.SF - #3 Mauresmo d. #2 Clijsters

...5-7/6-2/3-2 ret. Kim, you cavalierly play footsy with the "tennis injury gods" for nearly two weeks, complaining about various "serious" ailments that could end your AO participation "at any moment" yet show so little sign of being hampered that even the players in the lockerroom begin to question the veracity of your claims, and you're bound to fall prey to a little vengeful wrath. Hmmm... was it the sticky Rebound Ace surface that turned your ankle, or the mysterious invisible hand of one of the denizens of the "tennis underworld" that reached up to get a little payback? Next time, don't try their patience.
------------------------
HM - Girls 3rd - #3 Dominika Cibulkova d. Alexandra Panova
...6-1/4-6/6-1. This Slovakian is my early pick for Girls' champion.
------------------------


==DAY 11 ODDS & ENDS==

**BEST SLAM FINAL WIN PCT. (2+)**
[active WTA/ATP]
1.000 ...Roger Federer (6-0)
1.000 ...Jennifer Capriati (3-0)
1.000 ...Gustavo Kuerten (3-0)
.800 ...Justine Henin-Hardenne (4-1)
.778 ...Serena Williams (7-2)

*MIXED DOUBLES SEMIFINALS**
#6 Likhovtseva/Nestor vs. Dechy/Paes
#5 Stosur/Hanley vs. Hingis/Bhupathi

**GIRLS QUARTERFINALS**
#1 Caroline Wozniacki(DEN) vs. #12 Tamira Paszak(AUT)
------------------------
#4 Ayumi Morita(JAP) vs. #6 Amina Rakhim(KAZ)
------------------------
#8 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) vs. #3 Dominika Cibulkova(SVK)
------------------------
#2 Raluca-Ioana Olaru(ROM) vs. #5 Sharon Fichman(CAN)
------------------------

**HENIN-HARDENNE SLAM FINALS**
2001 Wimbledon - lost to V.Williams
2003 Roland Garros - def. Clijsters
2003 U.S. Open - def. Clijsters
2004 Australian - def. Clijsters
2005 Roland Garros - def. Pierce
2006 Australian - vs. Mauresmo

**MAURESMO SLAM FINALS**
1999 Australian - lost to Hingis
2006 Australian - vs. Henin-Hardenne


**DAY 12 DOUBLES PICKS**

...no, Sammy hasn't been cloned. But Day 11 does offer a double dose of Stosur. Will it be good news for Sammy, or bad? Or both?

==DOUBLES FINAL==
#1 Raymond/Stosur d. #12 Yan/Zheng

==MIXED SEMIFINALS==
Hingis/Bhupathi d. #5 Stosur/Hanley
#6 Likhovtseva/Nestor d. Dechy/Paes


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 10: Surrender Dorothy

The final four are set in the Australian Open. Which one will emerge from Melbourne having claimed the role of Dorothy? We'll know by the end of Saturday... but does recent history already give us a clue about which woman it will be?


MARIA SHARAPOVA vs. JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE


KIM CLIJSTERS vs. AMELIE MAURESMO

Remember those slam stats I talked about in the Waltzing Mathilda Preview? As things stand on the eve of the women's semifinals, the odd march through history could very well continue. Or at least part of it. A rundown of the possibilities:

1)The past seven slams have produced seven DIFFERENT champions. There is still one possibility (Amelie Mauresmo) who could make it eight.
------------------------
2)No player seeded in the top 3 has emerged as the slam champion the past seven times out. A fifth slam for #8-seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, or a second for #4 Maria Sharapova, could make it eight in a row.
------------------------

There're are two more "partials" at stake, as well:

1)Of the past fourteen slam finalists, only three have been seeded #1 or #2. Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport held up half of that one, and a Mauresmo win over #2 Kim Clijsters could make it 3-of-16. No #1 or #2 seed has won a slam in the past seven outings.
------------------------
2)Of the three #1/#2-seeded finalists, zero where #2 seeds (Clijsters) during the period.
------------------------

**THE PAST 7 SLAM FINALS**
2004 Roland Garros - #6 A.Myskina d. #9 E.Dementieva
2004 Wimbledon - #13 M.Sharapova d. #1 S.Williams
2004 U.S. Open - #9 S.Kuznetsova d. #6 E.Dementieva
2005 Australian - #7 S.Williams d. #1 L.Davenport
2005 Roland Garros - #10 J.Henin-Hardenne d. #21 M.Pierce
2005 Wimbledon - #14 V.Williams d. #1 L.Davenport
2005 U.S. Open - #4 K.Clijsters d. #12 M.Pierce

So, of course, there's really no need to play the semifinals and final, right? We already know how they're going to turn out. Right? Maybe not... but who am I to go against history?

The tennis gods have already surrendered the names of this year's two "Dorothy" contenders. (Check the end of this Backspin to see them.)


==DAY 10 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Kim Clijsters
...it wasn't an easy win over Martina Hingis in the QF, but the Killer's still "persevering" with her hip and back "injuries."
========================
SHEILA: Samantha Stosur
...Slingin' Sammy and Lisa Raymond defeated Groenefeld/Shaughnessy to advance to the Doubles final. Your 2006 AO "It" Girl is hereby crowned.
========================
GOBSMACKERS: Zi Yan & Jie Zheng
...the Chinese pair, QF winners over Asagoe/Srebotnik, will have the crowd against them in the Doubles final, as Australia's best chance for a title rest in Stosur's (and Raymond's, of course) hands.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Elena Likhovtseva
...the Russian vet, with Mixed partner Daniel Nestor, knocked out Zvonareva/M.Bryan to reach the SF.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Caroline Wozniacki
...the Danish #1 Girls seed advanced to the singles QF, beating #16 Timea Bacsinszky 6-2/6-4.
========================
WALKABOUT: Patty Schnyder
...Sneaky sneaked out the back door, losing meekly to Mauresmo 6-3/6-0 in the QF.
========================


==DAY 10 MATCHES==
1.QF - #2 Clijsters d. Hingis
...6-3/2-6/6-4. Clijsters held an easy 6-3/2-0, 40-0 lead before Hingis stood her ground, and Kim ceded her's, rushing her shots and hitting errors from every conceivable angle (mostly from the backhand side). Hingis won six straight to take the 2nd, and even overcame a 3rd set deficit to save two match points at 5-3. In the end, Clijsters was too much for the Swiss Miss... but has anyone re-thought whatever their ideas were about where Hingis' year-end ranking will be? Either way, Hingis seized the "Opportunity" provided her in Melbourne, becoming the first women's wild card to reach a slam QF.
========================
2.QF - #3 Mauresmo d. #7 Schnyder
...6-3/6-0. Another stress-free day for Amelie. But will she have the nerve to come through the SF for her first slam final since 1999?
========================


==DAY 10 ODDS & ENDS==

**AUSTRALIAN OPEN DESIGNATIONS**
FIRST SEED OUT: #9 Elena Dementieva (1r-Schruff)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Olga Savchuk (3r)
UPSET QUEENS: Spanish women
REVELATION LADIES: Italian women
IT GIRL: Samantha Stosur
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Martina Hingis

**CLIJSTERS SLAM SF HISTORY**
Australian: 1-2
Roland Garros: 2-0
Wimbledon: 0-1
U.S. Open: 2-0
------------------------
2001 Roland Garros (W)
2002 Australian (L)
2003 Australian (L)
2003 Roland Garros (W)
2003 Wimbledon (L)
2003 U.S. Open (W)
2004 Australian (W)
2005 U.S. Open (W)
2006 Australian
------------------------

**MAURESMO SLAM SF HISTORY**
Australian: 1-0
Wimbledon: 0-3
Roland Garros: 0-0
U.S. Open: 0-1
------------------------
1999 Australian (W)
2002 Wimbledon (L)
2002 U.S. Open (L)
2004 Wimbledon (L)
2005 Wimbledon (L)
2006 Australian
------------------------

**HINGIS in 2006**
OVERALL: 7-3
vs. Players outside Top 10: 7-1
vs. Top 10 players: 0-2

**WOMEN'S DOUBLES FINAL**
#1 Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur vs. #12 Zi Yan/Jie Zheng

**SEMIFINALS - CAREER HEAD-to-HEAD**
Henin-Hardenne leads Sharapova 2-1
Clijsters leads Mauresmo 8-3

**SEMIFINALISTS - SLAM FINAL HISTORY**
4-1...Henin-Hardenne (AO: 1-0)
1-0...Sharapova
1-4...Clijsters (AO: 0-1)
0-1...Mauresmo (AO: 0-1)


**NON-SINGLES MATCH-UPS TO WATCH ON AUSTRALIA DAY**
...the Melbourne partisans still have something at stake, as Aussies Rennae Stubbs & Todd Perry take on Hingis & Mahesh Bhupathi, and Slingin' Sammy Stosur teams with fellow Aussie Paul Hanley against Mike Bryan & Corina Morariu in a pair of Mixed Doubles quarterfinals. The two all-Australian teams could face each other in the semifinals.

**DAY 11/SEMIFINAL PICKS**
#8 Henin-Hardenne d. #4 Sharapova
#3 Mauresmo d. #2 Clijsters

...this would be Le Petit Taureau's 20th straight win in Australia (Sydney & Melbourne, 2004-06). Clijsters going out would keep the Top 2 seed non-champion streak alive, and allow one of the two current slam streaks going -- either a lower-seeded or eighth different champ. Hmmm... Justine or Amelie in the final? Is there really any doubt who'd win that one? Not from this viewpoint, there isn't.


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 9: Petrova...Off to See the Wizard?

Nadia Petrova really needs to schedule an impromptu trip to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. For more than a year now, the Empress has been just good enough to almost pull off a breakthrough performance in a slam. Her near-miss habit showed up again on Day 9 in Melbourne,

Backspin is an avowed fan of Petrova, ahead of all the other members of the Russian Horde, really. She's the epitome of the type of player that I, personally, find so intriguing. Talented, but not necessarily #1 material. Endearingly competitive, but missing one essential (mental?) ingredient that's preventing her from reaching her full potential. Here are her results from the last six slams:

2004 U.S. (QF-lost to Kuznetsova)
2005 Australian (4th-lost to S.Williams)
2005 R.G. (SF-lost to Henin-Hardenne)
2005 Wimbledon (QF-lost to Sharapova)
2005 U.S. (QF-lost to Sharapova)
2006 Australian (QF-lost to Sharapova)

To summarize, at the last six slams she's either lost to the eventual champion or Maria Sharapova. Good, but not quite good enough. It's the difference between being a slam winner and/or #1-ranked player, and a player who might spend her entire career with a forehead badly bruised from continually banging it against the grand slam ceiling that she can't quite find a way around.

Petrova climbed a small mountain last October, winning her first title in Linz. Then, in November, she traversed another hilly terrain with a 6-1/6-1 win over Sharapova in the WTA Championship Round Robin. It was a meaningless match (Sharapova had already qualified for the SF), and the Supernova admitted as much. But Petrova could make of the result whatever she desired, maybe even using it to instill more confidence in preparation precisely for a match like the one she played in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Maybe she did, for Sharapova could have easily gone down to defeat. But whatever Petrova gained in Linz and Los Angeles still wasn't quite enough to write a different ending to her latest slam chapter.

It's not as if the chances weren't there for her to script a different Oz conclusion, either. In the 1st set against Sharapova, she served for the set twice at 5-4 and 6-5, but was broken both times because she wasn't able to match Sharapova's error-free mettle on the biggest points. In the 1st set tie-break, Petrova held two set points (one on her own serve), but saw her 6-4 lead evaporate and transform into an 8-6 defeat. She double-faulted on Sharapova's set point, then opened the 2nd set by being broken at love.

In the 2nd set, after fighting back to within striking distance to 4-5, she got Sharapova into a 0-40 hole on the Supernova's serve. Sharapova won the game, and the match, anyway in a contest that included a combined 20 double-faults between the two of them. Sharapova had the mental fortitude to win this the pair's third straight slam QF meeting, while Petrova came up just short enough to lose it. Again.

So, Petrova's attempts to trek to her tennis peak will continue, and Backspin will persist in watching with bated breath. Maybe it's because of my seven-year stretch of vicariously experiencing Jana Novotna's slam travails in the early 1990's, as sometimes the long (and possibly futile) battle is even more dramatic than any particular day's smiling victor. It's why Backspin so often focuses on a player's psychology, confidence and big point prowess over their strokes and style of play. Not that such dialogue doesn't have merit, but I know I'd be very bored writing exclusively about the technical aspects of anyone's game. That's why the likes of Petrova's ongoing experiences and growing pains are establishing such a foothold around here. Blame Jana's long trip from "slam choker" to "slam champion"... I'm always on the lookout for another project that turns out to be quite a corker in the end.

As for Sharapova, might this win be a watershed moment, too? Not the match victory per se, but her actions within it. Remember, after a 2004 season that saw her win almost every big point that crossed her path, she began 2005 by blowing three match points in the Australian Open semifinals against Serena Williams. It set up a pattern that persisted all season. She won all the biggies against Petrova. Could a new pattern have been established, or RE-established?

Of course, Justine Henin-Hardenne is up next for the Supernova. You want confidence, belief and all kinds of heart and guts on the court, you look up JHH in the dictionary. Should be an interesting match.

As for Nadia... maybe she DOESN'T need to schedule that trip afterall. The experience of somehow finding what she's missing all by herself -- no matter how long it takes, or even if it never happens at all -- could be all the more exilerating than having it instantly granted by any "Wizard." Just ask Jana.

==DAY 9 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...one #1-ranked player (Lindsay Davenport) down, one former-#1 (Maria Sharapova) to go. And maybe with a once-and-soon-to-be #1-ranked player again (Kim Clijsters) waiting in the wings... unless, of course, it's another former #1 (Mauresmo or Hingis). Either way, a fifth slam title from JHH will come with an impressive row of heads on sticks lined up outside Le Petit Taureau's door.
========================
SHEILAS: Zi Yan & Jie Zheng

...the Oz doubles fortune of this pair of Cookies is still looking very positive. They knocked out #4-seeds Ruano-Pascual/Suarez in the QF, 4-6/7-5/6-1.
========================
GOBSMACKERS: Shinobu Asagoe & Katarina Srebotnik
...the #9-seeds upset #2-seeded Black/Stubbs, 6-3/4-6/6-0, to reach the doubles SF. Yan/Zheng are up next.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Lisa Raymond & Martina Hingis
...#1-seeded Raymond and Samantha Stosur are the only of the top four doubles seeds to reach the SF. While Hingis, with Mixed partner Mahesh Bhupathi, stuck it to #2 Bjorkman/Raymond to reach the QF.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Anna-Lena Groenefeld
...Girl Friday has reached the Doubles SF with Meghann Shaughnessy (the #5-seeds), beating #3 Likhovtseva/Zvonareva, and the Mixed QF with Frantisek Cermak, beating #7 Huber/Ram.
========================
WALKABOUT: Lindsay Davenport
...the #1-seed, likely because of her ankle injury, didn't hit her one and only ace of a three-set match until game point at 2-5 in the final stanza.
========================

==DAY 9 MATCHES==
1.QF - #8 Henin-Hardenne d. #1 Davenport
...2-6/6-2/6-3. Davenport will now likely lose her #1 ranking to Kim Clijsters.
------------------------
2.QF - #4 Sharapova d. #6 Petrova
...7-6/6-4. Sharapova's the only '05 Aussie semifinalist to repeat in' 06. The others: Davenport (QF), Dechy (1r) and Serena (3r).
------------------------
3.Mixed 2nd - Hingis/Bhupathi d. #2 Raymond/Bjorkman
...7-5/6-7/7-6. The "youngsters" (25 & 31) beat the "oldsters" (32 & 33) in a tight one.
------------------------

==DAY 9 ODDS & ENDS==

**HENIN-HARDENNE SLAM SF HISTORY**
Australian: 1-1
Roland Garros: 2-1
Wimbledon: 1-2
U.S. Open: 1-0
------------------------
2001 Roland Garros (L)
2001 Wimbledon (W)
2002 Wimbledon (L)
2003 Australian (L)
2003 Roland Garros (W)
2003 Wimbledon (L)
2003 U.S. Open (W)
2004 Australian (W)
2005 Roland Garros (W)
2006 Australian
------------------------

**SHARAPOVA SLAM SF HISTORY**
Australian: 0-1
Roland Garros: 0-0
Wimbledon: 1-1
U.S. Open: 0-1
------------------------
2004 Wimbledon (W)
2005 Australian (L)
2005 Wimbledon (L)
2005 U.S. Open (L)
2006 Australian
------------------------

**DOUBLES SEMIFINALS**
#1 Raymond/Stubbs vs. #5 Groenefeld/Shaughnessy
========================
#9 Asagoe/Srebotnik vs. #12 Yan/Zheng
========================


**DAY 10 MATCH-UPS TO WATCH**

KIM CLIJSTERS vs. MARTINA HINGIS
...the truth about both of them will finally be exposed.


AMELIE MAURESMO vs. PATTY SCHNYDER
...is it time for Amelie to click her heels and say, "I want to go home?"

**QUARTERFINALS/DAY 10 PICKS**
#2 Clijsters d. Hingis
#3 Mauresmo d. #7 Schnyder


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 8: The Hydrant Along the Yellow Brick Road

Sometimes you're the dog of the walk, happily following along behind Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion down the Yellow Brick Road. Sometimes you're the hydrant.

On Monday, Nicole Vaidisova was the hydrant.

Did anyone catch the license plate on that bus that ran the poor teenager over? Let me see, it was immaculately painted and its engine ran perfectly, with nary even a noticable humm.

Seriously, Amelie Mauresmo outclassed the Czech Maiden in their 4th Round meeting, barely lifting a finger in her 6-1/6-1 triumph. Rather than press the action, the French veteran was more than content with simply allowing Vaidisova to beat herself. Check out this statistic: Mauresmo had only two (two!) unforced errors in the entire match. Near perfection has rarely looked less strenuous.

Vaidisova never entered this match, save for the spare point or two that reminded everyone why so many expectations follow her around. Her serve never kicked in. She seemed tentative. She managed to try a few different things over the course of the match -- drop shots, net approaches -- but nothing ever came off crisply enough for her sustain any momentum or, more importantly, for Mauresmo to ever fear that she might. Mauresmo's game of wait-and-let-the-newcomer-lose paid off handsomely, as she'll now face Patty Schnyder for the right to face the Kim Clijsters/Martina Hingis survivor in the semifinals.

The only "bright" news in this hiccup of a match for Vaidisova was that she never lost her temper. She also never lit a fire under her own butt. Her "av-a-go-yer-mug" got up and went, so to speak. She wasn't exactly a bludger on Day 8, but she wasn't a a fair dikum Sheila out there, either.

Hmmm... could it be that Vaidisova, ala John McEnroe, needs to kick up a little dust once in a while to lift the fog from her game? Time will tell.


==DAY 8 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Amelie Mauresmo
...now, Mauresmo enters her "danger zone" -- when she looks to be the favorite in the QF, and will have a lot of people picking her to win in the SF, too.
========================
SHEILA: Patty Schnyder
...Sneaky just let Myskina stomp around the court, shoot looks at the judge calling her for a foot fault, etc. A ridiculously smooth day, really.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Kim Clijsters
...she's looking pretty healthy now, huh? Aside from a few loose points, she never really appeared to feel in danger of losing to Schiavone in their Round of 16 meeting. That'll happen when you go into a match with an 8-0 record against your opponent.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Martina Hingis
...the Swiss Miss ended Aussie Sam's singles dreams on Rod Laver, but not before her game showed a few cracks late in the 2nd set and in the tie-break. Clijsters might be able to take advantage of them in ways that the trouble-holding-her-serve Stosur couldn't.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Maria Kirilenko
...junior action is now starting up, but I'll give this to the Supernovette for her and Gisela Dulko's 6-1/6-1 3rd Round doubles win over #6 Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama. #10 Dulko/Kirilenko next play #1 Raymond/Stosur.
========================
WALKABOUT: Anastasia Myskina
...the Czarina didn't hold her serve until she was down 6-2/5-0. Yep, Anastasia was way up a gum tree.
========================


==DAY 8 MATCHES==
1.#3 Mauresmo d. #16 Vaidisova
...6-1/6-1. Just two unforced errors from your opponent is almost impossible to overcome, but Vaidisova never effectively imposed her power upon Mauresmo (especially on her serve) enough to cause the veteran to see the sense in making a stab at a few riskier manuevers. Vaidisova won't win many big matches playing this way, and that's why she'll learn an important lesson from this defeat.
========================
2.Hingis d. Stosur
...6-1/7-6. Stosur served at 5-2 in the tie-break, and saved three match points before Hingis finally prevailed. Hingis is 4-1 in her career against Clijsters, by the way.
========================
3.#2 Clijsters d. #15 Schiavone
...7-6/6-4. Finally, a competitive match for Kim. But the way Schiavone started spraying shots after taking a 4-1 lead in the 1st set tie-break said something about why the hard-working Italian has never won a title. Hard work only takes a player so far. Just ask Amelie Mauresmo. (Not today, of course... but probably a round or two from now.)
========================
HM- Doubles 3rd - #12 Yan/Zheng d. #7 Dementieva/Pennetta
...6-1/6-2. The Cookies are still trying to put some bite in the AO's "Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific" slogan.
========================


==DAY 8 ODDS & ENDS==

**QUARTERFINALISTS - BOTTOM HALF**
[best Oz results]
#2 Kim Clijsters - 2004 RU; 2002-03 SF
------------------------
un Martina Hingis - 1997-99 Champion; 2000-02 RU
------------------------
#3 Amelie Mauresmo - 1999 RU; 2002,'04-'06 QF
------------------------
#7 Patty Schnyder - 2004 SF; 2005-06 QF
------------------------

**QUARTERFINALISTS**
[by nation]
2...Belgium
2...Russia
2...Switzerland
1...France
1...USA
-----------------------
[by ranking - Jan.15]
#1 Lindsay Davenport
#2 Kim Clijsters
#3 Amelie Mauresmo
#4 Maria Sharapova
#6 Justine Henin-Hardenne
#7 Nadia Petrova
#8 Patty Schnyder
#349 Martina Hingis
-----------------------
[by age]
29...Lindsay Davenport
27...Patty Schnyder
26...Amelie Mauresmo
25...Martina Hingis
23...Justine Henin-Hardenne
23...Nadia Petrova
22...Kim Clijsters
18...Maria Sharapova


**DAY 9 MATCH-UPS TO WATCH**
...let's see, #3-seeds Likhovtseva/Zvonareva meet #5 Groenefeld/Shaughnessy in the Doubles QF. And #12 Yan/Zheng face #4 Ruano-Pascual/Suarez. But it's really about the SINGLES Quarterfinals, right?:


LINDSAY DAVENPORT vs. JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE
...Davenport's got a bum ankle. JHH looks happy and healthy. Should be elementary, right?


MARIA SHARAPOVA vs. NADIA PETROVA
...what will Sharapova do if she actually gets into a competitive match? The same can be said for Petrova, to be honest.

**QUARTERFINALS/DAY 9 PICKS**
#8 Henin-Hardenne d. #1 Davenport
#4 Sharapova d. #6 Petrova


All for now. More tomorrow.

========================

READER NOTE: You'll need to register a user name to leave comments now. I was going to fix that feature earlier, but never got around to it. Nothing against "anonymous" postings, but it's too difficult to tell how many individual voices are in the mix, not to mention it being potentially confusing. Thought I'd go ahead and do it now before we get too many more weeks into the '06 season. Thanks.

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Oz Open Day 7: Amelie or Nicole...for which one will it be apples?

Amelie Mauresmo and Nicole Vaidisova. Both have similar goals, but their windows for achieving them are frighteningly different.



Mauresmo's a 26-year old Frenchwoman with a great talent for playing bonza spin-and-touch tennis, but also has a penchant for coming up ugly on the sport's biggest stages (that is, except when she manages to win a big title, which serves to shine an even harsher light on her grand slam failures). Vaidisova's a bonza 16-year old Czech with a Bollettieri style game of simple power strokes, but also has a sometimes-ugly temper that could bring her down (that is, except on the days when it inspires her to greater accomplishments).

When they face off in Melbourne for the right to reach the quarterfinals, one's immediate fortunes will suddenly be apples. The other will get a pat on the back and an "on-ya mate," then head off on her merry way. Two months ago, Vaidisova's 18-match winning streak (fueled by her angry reaction to missing out on her last slam QF opportunity in Flushing Meadows?) was stopped cole by Mauresmo in Philadelphia, 7-5/7-5. Both will give it a burl this time, too... but will Mauresmo be as effective with as much at stake?

Mauresmo, who broke through with an Oz Open RU result in 1999, is watching her slam opportunties slip away like sand through an hourglass. With the next wave of Vaidisova-like would-be stars now approaching their potential, her chances to win her elusive first slam get progressively smaller with every new teen that hits the scene. Mauresmo's already lost to teen Ana Ivanovic at last year's Roland Garros (and again this year), and every slam defeat makes it less and less likely that she'll ever fulfill her "full potential." Vaidisova, on the other hand, is simply poised at the starting line of what might be a superior career. She's already only the sixth player in WTA history to claim five tour titles before turning 17, and she'll leave Melbourne none the worse for wear even if she loses to Mauresmo on Monday. She'll have many more opportunites for her breakout slam performance.

But why wait? Like Maria Sharapova, Vaidisova appears to have the same ahead-of-schedule career tract committed to memory with midnight diary entry sincerity. A win in this match, and the Maiden will catapult herself into the worldwide tennis headlines that might get exponentially more spectacular as the week goes on.

Mauresmo has been in this position before, and she has the "slam glass ceiling" result pencilled onto her itinerary four times a season. It's just a matter of which round she pulls out the ink pen to finalize her schedule. Why wait? The Round of 16 in Melbourne is just as good as the quarters or semis, right?

Either way, Vaidisova will emerge unscathed. Mauresmo's slam clock will continue to click away.


==DAY 7 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Justine Henin-Hardenne
...JHH won the 1st set of her 4th Round match with Virginia Ruano-Pascual at love. Guess she was ready, huh? The suddenly-all-smiles Belgian has now won eleven straight in Melbourne (and is 16-1 there since 2003), and next faces Lindsay Davenport, who's nursing an ankle injury.
========================
SHEILA: Nadia Petrova
...everyone won on Sunday who was supposed to (of the matches that were played, that is, since the heat closed all the arena roofs and decimated play on the outside courts), including Petrova. But, come on, she deserves a nod just for her new WTA bio photo. Quite an improvement over her old one.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Daniela Hantuchova
...Wonder Girl didn't beat Sharapova, but the 6-4/6-4 score at least shows that she didn't deem her tournament over and "mission accomplished" just because she upset Serena Williams. That's a good sign.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Lindsay Davenport
...Davenport's win over Svetlana Kuznetsova gives her nine QF-or-better results in Oz, but the ankle injury sustained during the match by the Last Seppo Standing raises some big red flags for her QF match-up with JHH.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Ana Ivanovic
...with very few players to choose from here, I'll go with AnaIvo for her and Mixed partner Novak "The Man with Two Last Names" Djokovic's 6-7/6-2/7-6 win over Igor Andreev & Maria Kirilenko.
========================
WALKABOUT: Virginia Ruano-Pascual
...a 6-0/6-3 loss to JHH. Now Ginny can focus on the doubles.
========================

==DAY 7 MATCHES==
1.#4 Sharapova d. #17 Hantuchova
...6-4/6-4. No Serena? No problem for the Supernova. Also: are these two all long arms and legs, or what?
------------------------
2.#1 Davenport d. #14 Kuznetsova
...6-2/6-4. While teens like Michaella Krajicek fall to the heat, the veteran Davenport shows that time (and better training techniques) can eliminate that liability with enough hard work.
------------------------
3.#8 Henin-Hardenne d. Ruano-Pascual
...6-0/6-3. Why is this woman smiling? Oh, I see.
------------------------
4.#6 Petrova d. Vesnina
...6-3/6-1. The Empress' moment of truth has arrived. Bring on Sharapova.
------------------------
5.Doub.3r - #1 Raymond/Stosur d. #16 T.Li/T.Sun
...6-3/6-4. No matter what happens on Laver against Hingis, Sammy still has a "backup" plan for a homegrown championship.
------------------------

==DAY 7 ODDS & ENDS==

**QUARTERFINALISTS - TOP HALF**
[best Oz results]
#1 Lindsay Davenport - 2000 Champion; 2005 RU; 1998-99,'01 SF
------------------------
#8 Justine Henin-Hardenne - 2004 Champion; 2003 SF; 2002,'06 QF*
------------------------
#4 Maria Sharapova - 2005 SF; 2006 QF*
------------------------
#6 Nadia Petrova - 2006 QF*; 2005 4th; 2000,'03 3rd
------------------------

**DAY 7 QUESTION**
...which is worse? The rain of Wimbledon, or the heat of Melbourne?


**DAY 8 MATCH-UP TO WATCH**
...well, I've already touched on Mauresmo-Vaidisova. And I won't get close to Clijsters-Schiavone because of Clijsters' she-says-she's-hurting-but-she-still-wins-with-ease hip ailment. Hingis-Stosur is tempting, but I'm worried for Slingin' Sammy's chances after her you-break-me-I-break-you match against Bammer, so I'll go with:

PATTY SCHNYDER vs. ANASTASIA MYSKINA
...it could be the loudest (well, unless Vaidisova's in a really bad way), craziest, most dangerous (for those with virgin ears, and bad courtside reflexes) match of the day. May the player the most in touch with on-court sanity win. Which side of the bed either Sneaky or the Czarina wake up on will likely determine which one that is.


**ROUND OF 16/DAY 8 PICKS**
#2 Clijsters d. #15 Schiavone (I'll buy the true severity of the injury when/if Kim loses because of it)
Hingis d. Stosur (with my head, not my heart)
#16 Vaidisova d. #3 Mauresmo (at this point, maybe with my heart rather than my head)
#7 Schnyder d. #12 Myskina (just a wild guess, really)


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 6: Pay No Attention to the Woman in the Tennis Skirt

Do we have an impostor in our midst? Is the limp real? Is the wrap REALLY necessary? Is Kim Clijsters pulling the wool over our eyes?

A week ago, Killer Kim was fresh off her withdrawal from the Syndey quarterfinals with a hip injury, and her participation in Melbourne was up in the air. Since then, she's talked of playing with pain, taken injury timeouts, and held abbreviated "practices" away from prying eyes. She was Creaky Kim, the #2-seed with the big question mark etched on her forehead.

Or at least she was SUPPOSED to be.

We're essentially at the Oz Open half-way point, and these are Clijsters' round-by-round scorelines:

1st: def. Yoon-Jeong Cho 6-3/6-0
2nd: def. Meng Yuan 6-4/6-2
3rd: def. Roberta Vinci 6-1/6-2

Am I missing something here? Come on, Kim, are you REALLY hurt? Is the competition really so lackluster that you aren't even remotely challenged even while not playing anywhere near 100%? Or are you just playing opossum with us? Are you actually Crafty Kim? Not that I'm looking to launch any conspiracy theories or anything (not yet, anyway). Clijsters' Round of 16 opponent is scheduled to be Francesca Schiavone, so maybe we'll get a better idea about the Belgian's true condition soon.

Hmmm, Clijsters vs. Schiavone. Why does that sound familiar? Oh, yeah. That was the match-up that never happened in the Sydney QF... so Francesca didn't get an '06 preview of her opponent. Why, if I didn't know any better I'd think that Clijsters had an "inside source" that told her that the AO draw was likely to set up this little meeting.

Ah... where's Damir Dokic when you need someone to hatch a hair-brained scenario that'll get worldwide attention? (Don't answer that, for the sake of the Serbian "media" and all that is holy in merry ol' land of Oz.)


==DAY 6 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Francesca Schiavone
...Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo didn't know what hit her on Saturday, as the #15-seeded Italian double-bagled her in the 3rd Round of a slam. How embarrassing. Now, Schiavone gets another shot at a Belgian. She missed her Clijsters match in Sydney, then blew a nice lead in the final against Justine Henin-Hardenne. Will the third time be the charm?
========================
SHEILAS: Patty Schnyder & Anastasia Myskina
...while everyone's talking about the Williames losing, watching Hingis & Sharapova and raising an eyebrow about Clijsters (well, at least someone is), these two have crept through the draw to set up a meeting that will result in one of them reaching the QF. "The Other Swiss," Schnyder's yet to lose a set in Melbourne (she handled Aiko Nakamura 6-2/6-3). Meanwhile, Myskina, "The Other Russian Slam Winner" who erased Sofia Arvidsson 6-3/6-1 in the 3rd Round, has lost just one set (a typically Czarina-esque 20-minutes-or-so-long 6-0 walkabout, against Jamea Jackson). Hmmm, Myskina vs. Schnyder. Should be the most argumentative match of the tournament... but exactly who these two powderkegs will get mad at first -- themselves, their coaches or the world (I'm talking about Sneaky Patty there, of course) -- is anyone's guess.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Nathalie Dechy
...last year, French Pastry Dechy reached the singles SF and had #1-seed Lindsay Davenport dead to rights before letting the biggest win of her career slip through her fingers. This year, she lost in the 1st Round to Zi Yan. On Saturday, though, her fortunes brightened a bit when she and Mixed partner Leander Paes upset the #1-seeded team of Cara Black/Wayne Ullyett in straight sets.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Martina Hingis
...you know Martina's having a nice week when she has to pull out Saturday's early 1st set deficit of 1-3 against Iveta Benesova to "prove" to everyone that things really haven't been quite as easy as she's made them appear this week. Sammy Stosur is up next. Well, at least Martina might have a fair portion of the crowd against her. You take "adversity" where you can get it, I guess.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Nicole Vaidisova
...Vesuvius has yet to appear, largely because things have gone so well for Vaidisova in Melbourne thus far. Her quick work 3rd Round defeat of Flavia Pennetta came in Saturday's only women's match that matched up two seeded players.
========================
WALKABOUT: Michaella Krajicek
...Krajicek's found her way past almost every opponent she's faced in 2006 so far, but she couldn't beat Mother Nature. After barely making it through the 1st set against Amelie Mauresmo (losing it 6-2), the 17-year old retired due to heat stress and left the court in tears.
========================

==DAY 6 MATCHES==
1.#16 Vaidisova d. #20 Pennetta
...6-4/6-2. In November in Philadelphia, it was Amelie Mauresmo who ended Vaidisova's 18-match winning streak. The final score was a tight 7-5/7-5. The two meet again in the Round of 16. Has Maiden #1 improved enough in two months to reverse that score?
========================
2.Hingis d. Benesova
...6-4/6-1. #30 Zvonareva is still the top-ranked player that Hingis has faced in Melbourne. Next up is unseeded Stosur for a trip to the QF. Where's Damir, again?
========================
3.Stosur d. Bammer

...7-5/4-6/6-3. Whew! A little too close for comfort there, Sammy. You'll have to hold onto your serve more often (there were a total of nine service breaks in the 1st set here) against Hingis to keep this boat afloat. A Stosur Did-You-Know fact: her WTA bio says that one of her nicknames is "Samoid."
========================
HM- #2 Clijsters d. Vinci
...6-1/6-2. Make sure you rest that hip, Kim. (Wink, wink.) We wouldn't want it to tighten up or anything.
========================


==DAY 6 ODDS & ENDS==

**ROUND OF 16 - BY NATION**
5...Russia
2...Belgium
2...Switzerland
1...USA
1...France
1...Czech Republic
1...Italy
1...Slovakia
1...Spain
1...Australia

**SAMANTHA STOSUR SINGLES RANKING PROGRESSION**
2000: #682
2001: #276
2002: #265
2003: #153
2004: #65
2005: #46
2006: #98 (as of Jan.15)
...#98? That's what happens when you start '05 by making back-to-back finals, then in '06 play the Hopman Cup and face Vaidisova in the 1st Round in Sydney.


==OZ OPEN SPECIAL AWARD UPDATES==

**Ms.OPPORTUNITY CONTENDERS**
[bottom half]
...the winner of the Stosur/Hingis 4th Round match will have a leg up on everyone for "Ms.Opportunity" barring a surprise SF-or-better run from a top half contender. Of course, the same goes for either Vaidisova or Schiavone, who both face big challenges (Mauresmo and Clijsters, repspectively) in their next match.

**IT GIRL CONTENDERS**
...Hantuchova's upset of Serena makes her the favorite now, but Hingis, Stosur and especially Vaidisova can still surpass her if Wonder Girl loses to the Supernova in the Round of 16.

**UPSET QUEENS**
...the Spanish gals have the title, unless Schiavone upsets Clijsters.

**SLAM REVELATION LADIES**
...but the five Italians who reached the 3rd Round get the consolation prize in this new Backspin slam award category. Hmmm, if Schiavone wins a title soon, I think the Italians are going to have to be given a collective nickname.


**DAY 7 MATCH-UP TO WATCH**
...a rematch of the 2004 U.S. Open semifinal:

LINDSAY DAVENPORT vs. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
...in Flushing Meadows, the Contessova turned around a deficit and beat Davenport in a 6-4 3rd set. Is THAT Kuznetsova back? We'll soon find out.

**ROUND OF 16/DAY 7 PICKS**
#1 Davenport d. #14 Kuznetsova
#8 Henin-Hardenne d. Ruano-Pascual
#4 Sharapova d. #17 Hantuchova
#6 Petrova d. Vesnina

...keep an eye on Kuznetsova, though.


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 5: Toto, I Don't Think Serena's in Oz Anymore

One hundred degree-plus on-court temperatures. Wind gusts up to forty miles per hour. Heat restrictions, and closed roofs. Day 5 was not a particularly nice one to be a professional tennis player in Melbourne.

That was especially true if your name was Serena... but for completely different reasons altogether.

A year ago, Serena Williams arrived at the Australian Open with a mission. She wanted to prove everyone wrong who said her time at the top of the game had passed. Two weeks later, after both periodically spotty and brilliantly gutsy play, she'd accomplished her mission and won her seventh career slam title in her most "soulful" performance to date.

Ever since then, what she accomplished in Oz has grown even more remarkable considering how far her results, health and fitness have slipped. Oh, there were whispers, pictures and shouts this week in Melbourne about Serena's muscle-to-flab ratio... but Serena being Serena, no one wanted to underestimate her. They just waited to see what would happen in her rematch with Maria Sharapova in the Round of 16. As it turned out, that match won't happen. Courtesy of Daniela Hantuchova.


==WEEK 5 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Daniela Hantuchova
...why, Wonder Girl, as we live and breathe. The 22-year old Slovak would-be star has been drifting in and out of the tennis world's consciousness for the last few years, but it was wins like her 6-1/7-6 3rd Round upset of Serena that caused so many to tout her as the star/champion that Maria Sharapova turned out to be a short time later. But Indian Wells '02 has become ancient history. If Hantuchova is ever going to reclaim her position as one of the "next wave" of champions, she has to make a move in '06. This is a good start, but we'll know a great deal more after she faces off against Sharapova. Serena wasn't at her best physically in Melbourne, no matter how often she kept saying this week that she "wasn't tired" after her matches.
========================
SHEILA: Nadia Petrova
...the #6-seeded Scarlett Empress hasn't really been tested yet, winning on Day 5 6-1/6-2 over Maria Elena Camerin, and might not be against Elena Vesnina in the 4th Round, either. As it is, she's 7-0 in 2006 matches that actually finished (she retired from a defeat in Week 1, then had a walkover loss in Week 2). So, technically, no one's truly beaten on a level playing field. Of course, that won't matter for much longer. Armed with her best-ever ranking and confidence from a late-season title, a quarterfinal matchup with Sharapova (or even Hantuchova) could be her "moment of truth." Rise or fall.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Elena Vesnina
...the 19-year old Hordette outlasted qualifier Olga Savchuk in three sets, 5-7/6-2/6-4, to claim the top half of the draw's most unlikely Round of 16 survivor slot. She'll emerge from Melbourne with her career-high ranking, somewhere inside the Top 100.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Virginia Ruano-Pascual
...the 32-year old Spanish vet is still out there plugging away, beating Laura Granville in the 3rd Round. As the world doubles #2, she's in the doubles draw with (finally) healthy again Paola Suarez, and should break back into the Top 100 in singles with this Round of 16 result, her best slam result since a 2003 QF in Melbourne. She faces Henin-Hardenne next, but she's already won more matches at this Australian Open (3) than she won in all four slams combined (1) last year.
========================
MUNCHKIN: Maria Kirilenko
...the soon-to-be 19-year old Russian put up a nice fight against Lindsay Davenport, taking the 2nd set before a short break from the heat (and blisters on her feet) turned her fortunes in the deciding stanza.
========================
WALKABOUT: Serena Williams
...a few Did-You-Know facts to ponder about Serena:

1)Serena had won 16 straight matches in Melbourne before Friday
2)She's advanced past the 3rd Round in 19 of her last 21 slam appearances
3)Both of those losses (Craybas at '05 Wimbledon) have come in the past year
4)After she'd won the AO a year ago, Serena had advanced to the QF-or-better for sixteen straight slams, a streak that went back to her '99 U.S. Open title. Since last time in Melbourne, her slam results have been 3rd-4th-3rd.
5)Serena's ranking dropped to #15 before play began on Monday. If she's not out of the Top 20 when the next rankings are released, she might be soon.
========================

==DAY 5 MATCHES==
1.#17 Hantuchova d. #13 S.Williams
...6-1/7-6. Serena still had fight left in her at the end, though, saving three match points (the last with an ace) to force a tie-break, then saving a fourth before finally falling. Before this match, Wonder Girl had never taken more than four games off Serena in a single set. Oh, two more Did-You-Know facts about Serena: she's only played all four slams in a season twice in her career, in 1998 and 2001... and, along with Venus' 1st Round exit, this is the earliest both sisters have ever lost in the same slam.
------------------------
2.#1 Davenport d. #25 Kirilenko
...6-4/4-6/6-2. If Davenport plays as loosely against Kuznetsova as she did in the 2nd set here, she'll be in trouble.
------------------------
3.#4 Sharapova d. Kostanic
...6-0/6-1. The Supernova was probably ready for Serena if this match is any indication, but now the pressue is off. Is that good or bad?
------------------------
HM- Vesnina d. (Q)Savchuk
...5-7/6-2/6-4. Only two of Friday's eight matches went three sets.
------------------------


==DAY 5 ODDS & ENDS==

**MS.OPPORTUNITY UPDATE**
=TOP HALF CONTENDERS=
..obviously, Daniela Hantuchova has now stepped into the spotlight as the potential winner of the award for the player who takes the most advantage of her big slam opportunites. Of course, she might meet a brick wall in the 4th Round. Kuznetsova has to get past Davenport. Petrova needs to beat the player she's supposed to (Vesnina), then go for broke in the QF against the Sharapova/Hantuchova winner. If the semifinalist out of that section isn't named Maria, Melbourne's "Ms.Opportunity" will likely have been crowned. (Tomorrow: "Ms. O" contenders in the bottom half of the draw)

**THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON...**
...Slingin' Sammy. Stosur isn't playing against a top seed or well-known contender -- hello, Sybille Bammer -- but she's been awarded the plum 7:30pm night match on Laver for Day 6. Stosur vs. Hingis could be coming soon.

**DAY 6 MATCH-UP TO WATCH**
...there's a temptation to pick Clijsters/Vinci here, with Clijsters' hip still being an issue. But, while the end result will likely turn out to be disappointing, I'll go with:


MAURESMO vs. KRAJICEK

...maybe Richard will have some more pointers for Michaella for this match. Certainly, Mauresmo wasn't one of the women he was talking about a few years ago when he said that 80% of the women's Top 100 were "fat, lazy pigs." Say what you will about her, Mauresmo's never been accused of being that.


All for now. More tomorrow.

Read more...

Oz Open Day 4: Mary Melts in Melbourne

To borrow a quote from a certain green-skinned lady in a pointy hat, "I'm melting! I'm melting! What a world, what a world!"

I doubt if such thoughts were going through #5-seed Mary Pierce's head as she went down in straight sets to the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova in the Melbourne heat on Day 4, but they would have been appropriate.

On second thought, maybe skipping the Dorothy Tour tuneups and opening the season at the Australian Open isn't necessarily the best course of action for a veteran who probably needs a running start to put together a two-week slam run. In other words, now Pierce is going to have to cross her fingers and hope her health holds up well enough to try this all over again in Paris and Flushing Meadows.

But, hey, at least it was a Maiden who threw the bucket of water on Pierce's chances. So it wasn't a total loss, as far as Backspin is concerned.

==DAY 4 PLAYER AWARDS==
DOROTHY OF THE DAY: Iveta Benesova
...the 22-year old has achieved her best-ever slam result by advancing to the Final 32. Ranked #42, she should get a nice bump when this is over (but not as nice as the one she'd have gotten by getting quality points for a slam win over a Top 5 player, of course). Her immediate reward? A meeting with Martina Hingis, who's play is looking very crisp at the moment. Benesova will likely need all the optimism found in her favorite movie -- "Forrest Gump" -- to reach the Round of 16.
========================
SHEILA: Samantha Stosur
...Slingin' Sammy lives! Her "upset" over #21-seed Ana Ivanovic (which I'll mention that I called in my Aussie Open preview, just to try to forget the fact that I had Pierce in the final) allows the Last Sheila Standing to match her career-best slam (a 3rd Round at the '03 AO) and assures an unseeded quarterfinalist in what was the Pierce/Ivanovic section of the draw. For Stosur to be the one to survive to the delight of the Aussie crowd (and maybe face an ailing Clijsters), she'll probably have to beat Hingis on Rod Laver in a featured night match. Hopefully, we'll get to see that match. Dokic and Molik? Phew! Stosur has a chance to become a star in her own right at this year's AO.
========================
GOBSMACKER: Aiko Nakamura
...the 22-year old from Japan has been laboring in obscurity over the past year, but her results have been steadily improving, so her nice result here isn't really a huge surprise (I picked this one, too, but had her losing in the 3rd Round... forget about the Pierce pick yet?). Of course, her 6-1/6-1 whitewashing of #31 Gisela Dulko was a bit more lopsided than one would have expected. Nakamura's ranked #59. By the end of the year, she might be the top-ranked Rising Sunner on tour.
========================
AUNTIE EM: Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo
...the 28-year old Spanish vet knocked out #22-seeded Girl Friday Groenefeld, 4-6/6-4/6-1, one round after having upended Lucie Safarova. At Roland Garros last year, she upset defending champ Anastasia Myskina.
========================
MUNCHKINS: Michaella Krajicek & Sofia Arvidsson
...the Lollipop Guild had quite an active day on Wednesday. Krajicek won her seventh straight match by upsetting #32-seed Sania Mirza, continuing her steady stream of great results in the season's opening weeks. Meanwhile, Sweden's Arvidsson, 21, easily handled #19-seed Dinara Safina 6-4/6-0.
========================
WALKABOUT: Mary Pierce
...Pierce's fine '05 season didn't hit stride until Roland Garros, so there's still time for her in' 06. But while time can be a friend to a 31-year old tennis player, it can also be an enemy to one who's always capable of being saddled with injuries.
========================

==DAY 4 MATCHES==
1.Benesova d. #5 Pierce
...6-3/7-5. Looks like match play was important, huh?
------------------------
2.Stosur d. #21 Ivanovic
...6-3/7-5. Hingis vs. Stosur would be verrrry fun. Potentially. Like I've said before, Stosur should have played a real event in Week 1. She's playing so well, she might have gotten her first title.
------------------------
3.Krajicek d. #32 Mirza
...6-3/7-5. Another match with the same scoreline? If 6-3/7-5 pops up again, we might have to start applying "Lost"-like importance to such "coincidences." Better luck next time, Indian Princess... you can't help that you didn't have a Wimbledon-winning big brother providing you with tips on how to win like Michaella had for this match.
------------------------
4.#16 Vaidisova d. Chakvetadze
...6-2/6-1. Ouch, Anna. After a great end to '05 and a Sydney SF, Vaidisova has come into Melbourne with some expections on her back. So far, she hasn't blinked. Last time she had a frustrating loss (U.S. Open 4th vs. Petrova) like the one to Schiavone in Sydney, she ran off 18 straight victories. Well, she has two so far.
------------------------
5.Nakamura d. #31 Dulko
...6-1/6-1. Dulko is just 2-4 so far in 2006.
------------------------
HM- Hingis d. Laine
...6-1/6-1. Hingis is developing a bit of an aura again in Melbourne, but she hasn't really been tested yet. If Stosur can't do it, and Clijsters' hip (she's toughing it out despite a lot of pain -- and calling injury timeouts -- but will that continue when the competition gets tougher?) doesn't hold up, the Swiss Miss could be facing the Mauresmo/Vaidisova survivor in the (yikes!) semifinals. Suddenly, seven straight finals isn't quite fool's gold anymore.
------------------------

==DAY 4 ODDS & ENDS==

**1st Round UPSET/UPSETTING 2nd Round, Pt.2**
Zi Yan (def. #11 Dechy, lost to Bammer)
--
...of the eight 1st Round seed conquerors, only Hingis & Santangelo won 2nd round matches

**LAST QUALIFIER STANDING**
Olga Savchuk... after both Meng Yuan lost to Clijsters on Wednesday.

**"UPSET QUEENS" UPDATE**
...as of now, it looks like the early round "Upset Queens" will be either the Spaniards or Italians. Spain's Sanchez-Lorenzo (def. Safarova/Groenefeld), Ruano-Pascual (Likhovtseva) and Martinez-Granados (Sugiyama) have one more round to overcome the quiet rise of the Italians, with Santangelo (Golovin/Srebotnik), Camerin (Bychkova) and Vinci (Bartoli).

**"SLAM REVELATION" UPDATE**
...raise your hand if you thought there would be more Italians in the 3rd Round than Americans, Czechs and Frenchies, and only one fewer than the total number of surviving Hordettes. The final five: Francesca Schiavone, Maria Elena Camerin, Flavia Pennetta, Mara Santangelo and Roberta Vinci.

**FINAL 32 - BY NATION**
6...Russia
5...Italy
3...USA
2...Belgium
2...Czech Republic
2...France
2...Spain
2...Switzerland
1...Austria
1...Australia
1...Croatia
1...Japan
1...Netherlands
1...Slovakia
1...Sweden
1...Ukraine

**DAY 4 QUESTION**
...so, there were Serbian press reports that Damir Dokic is planning to kidnap Jelena, kill an Australian who helped her return Down Under and bomb the Land of Oz in revenge. Said Jelena, "I have spent my life recovering from events such as this. I have not spoken to my father for a number of years and we do not agree on anything." Damir later denied making the comments. The question? When will everyone else realize what anyone who follows Dokic's career already largely knows -- that the Serbian "media" is about as reliable as the British tabloids?

**DAY 4 MATCH-UP TO WATCH**
...oh, it's so boring and obvious to pick Serena-Hantuchova here. It'll be Serena's first legit "test" in Melbourne, and the last "tune-up" before the probable rematch with Sharapova. But, somehow, I wonder if this match won't really be a big disappointment, with Serena advancing easily. For the record, I'll go with this one:



But, just to be more interesting, I'll also keep an eye on the all-teen battle between Elena Vesnina & Olga Savchuk because one will have a big career breakthough with a Round of 16 result, and a likely match-up with Nadia Petrova...and one never knows which Empress will show up.


All for now. More tomorrow (including the first Oz "Ms. Opportunity" contender update).

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