Court Coverage

Court Coverage Tweet Spot Archive About this Site Feedback!

Today's News Last updated at Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:53:56 GMT   Why Tennis Rules the Earth - Wall Street Journal blog One of these days men's tennis is going to get boring again... That time isn't now. Men's professional tennis may be the most satisfying sport on the planet at the moment. There is no game with so much excellence currently swirling at its top, that so reliably delivers not just entertainment, but historic greatness. It isn't to be missed. Conventional superlatives fail. Once-a-lifetime? Symphony of brilliance? Wicked good? It all sounds cheesy, inadequate. But what's happening in the men's game is as close as sports gets to unadulterated joy, the kind of outrageous viewer experience that leaves the audience gasping as if anaerobic, as it did Sunday morning, in the men's final of the Australian Open. To be clear, when I say men's tennis, I am really talking about the interactions of three players. Maybe four, if we want to be generous and include Andy Murray, who has yet to win a Grand Slam, and keeps grabbing for that glory, only to pull the doorknob off in his hand. ...They are as formidable and as entangled a trio as tennis has ever witnessed—as silly as it is to get into generational comparisons, it's fair to say that the great three of Borg, McEnroe and Connors (26 combined Slams) are on the run, in their flowing hair and short-shorts. These days are like those good old days.   Djokovic tells - Melbourne Age The three-time Australian Open champion confirmed today that the adrenalin was still buzzing in the early hours of the morning for him to summon the energy to belt out a song in a cameo performance at the post-tournament staff party. ... "Today I only slept for a couple of hours ... but it was worth it," Djokovic said a photo shoot at the Carlton Gardens. "All this effort that we both put in last night on the tennis court was incredible. It was something that we will both remember forever." But the five-time grand slam winner said it would also take time for his achievement to sink in."Now I will have time to enjoy the success because it's not just about winning a grand slam. It's really more than that. The way that we played yesterday makes me feel very proud of what I achieved."   Just grand: Djokovic outlasts brave Rafa - Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age What did not start as a great spectacle was nevertheless grinding, relentless combat, the first set lasting just two minutes less than the entire women's final, the time dragging between points and the points dragging on in the close, humid atmosphere of a centre court over which the roof hovered half-closed in anticipation of the thunderstorm threat. Djokovic was struggling with both his forehand and his first serve percentage as Nadal closed out the laborious first stage of this marathon-in-the-making with his third set point. The level rose in the second; Djokovic's particularly, as the Serb settled into a rhythm, found some forehand range, started to wrest control.   It was a smash hit of shout-and-out perfection - Melbourne Age For all that took place last week, the most enduring memory is likely to be of the Roger-Rafa semi-final. Oh, and Marcos Baghdatis destroying his racquets. (Madly brilliant. Wish he'd had 10 more in his bag.)   Azarenka vows to keep improving - Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age After her 6-3, 6-0 finals rout of triple major winner Maria Sharapova, the Belarusian restated her determination to continue as she is, for her greater mental strength has been widely credited for her breakthrough... ''I think a lot more people will have more motivation to beat me and there's going to be certain pressure from media,'' Azarenka said. ''People are going to look up and have higher expectations. So I think it's really exciting to go on the court and you have somebody on the other side who really, really wants to beat you. I enjoy that challenge so much.'' There have been other challenges, of course, notably the period of doubt after a poor first-round loss to Daniela Hantuchova in Doha last February; and the time Azarenka considered quitting the sport and going to university instead. ''But I was kind of building my mountain, rock by rock, climbing, climbing, climbing, so it doesn't matter how I got here really. I enjoyed the whole journey,'' she said. ''And I just want to enjoy it all the way to the end of my career.''   Toe-to-toe before Djoker's final blow - Jake Niall, Melbourne Age Watching Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is akin to seeing Joe Frazier fighting Joe Frazier. In this contest between two unyielding sluggers, there are few easy points, and that applies to spectators as much as to the players. The road is long, with many a winding turn. But Djokovic v Nadal lacks points of difference... At one point mid-match (during the second set), their numbers were almost identical - winners, unforced errors, forehand winners, forced errors. They were playing the same game.   Djokovic pulls off miracle to win marathon battle - Richard Hinds, Melbourne Age But it was the outcome, as much as the match itself, that left Djokovic as the king, and Nadal in his wake. The 24-year-old Serb has now won the last three grand slam finals - all against Nadal. Djokovic has beaten Nadal in each of their past seven meetings, and 10 of the past 12. If the record is not compelling, the manner in which Djokovic withstood Nadal's passionate rally in the fourth set, and came from 2-4 down in the fifth set, was incredible. Somehow, on jelly legs, Djokovic out-fought the game's greatest fighter to the final point ... The budding Djokovic-Nadal rivalry? Incredible in last night's incarnation. But it will be only when Nadal turns the tables on Djokovic in a grand slam final that their battle is truly joined. And, given the next grand slam is in Nadal's Roland Garros fortress, probably not even then.   Former clown Novak Djokovic now top of the class - Neil Harman, The Times For it was Djokovic, less than 48 hours after he had defeated Murray in five sets in four hours and 50 minutes, who returned to Rod Laver Arena and played five hours and 53 minutes more... The 24-year-old from Serbia, who faces a year in which he has to justify the victory upon victory that embellished his 2011, has started this demanding challenge to his body and soul in thrilling fashion. Is there a part of a tennis court that he cannot reach? No one has tried harder to fathom the new Novak than the old Rafa and although he almost succeeded on Rod Laver Arena, the end came in what has become the familiar fashion of Djokovic getting one more ball back into play and then thumping away a giant winner and letting out a full-throated, manic roar.   Tennis final draws 2.41 million viewers - The Australian Five of the top six spots were taken out by the tennis, despite the match not finishing until well after midnight. By the time the Australian Open presentation aired after 1.30am there were still 2.41 million people watching, an extraordinary result for that time of night. The lowest audience number for the Open last night was 1.39 million   Novak Djokovic proves king in epic final over Rafael Nadal - Courtney Walsh, The Australian The defending champion overcame a 4-2 deficit in the deciding set to win 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5) 7-5 in a 5.53-hour epic that will be recognised as an all-time classic given it became the longest grand slam final ever and also the longest Australian Open match ever. ...Djokovic, rightly, will be lauded as a deserving champion but Nadal underlined his reputation as one of the most courageous players to grace Rod Laver Arena. He, too, returned from the brink in the fourth set to ensure this match a place in history. It is a match so superb that it will be discussed whenever the great grand slam finals are discussed. It is also a most fitting finale to an extraordinary Australian Open. From Bernard Tomic's come-from-behind victory over Fernando Verdasco to the epic semi-finals between the world's four best players, the quality of tennis on display has been staggering.   Stop bashing women's tennis - Patrick Smith, The Australian If Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic won a final in such a stunning manner it would have been labelled a master class, a display of tennis perfection. But alas for the females, it is a case of "we wuz robbed". The women's game is challenged constantly. Outspoken players are too often and too easily labelled prima donnas. They are unfairly begrudged equal prizemoney when they do not play their grand slams over five sets. ...We should stop the women's tennis bashing - except for the grunting, that just has to be stopped - and appreciate it for the wonderful sport that it is.   Victoria Azarenka to play for Belarus against US in Fed Cup - She has financed the building of a country house outside her home town of Minsk, the Belarusian capital, as a 25th wedding present for her parents Fodor and Alla. Her 73-year-old grandmother is moving in too. "It's got a little garden so my grandmother can do her stuff in there," said Azarenka, who credits her family for giving her the work ethic to succeed. ...But no Belarusian had lifted a major singles trophy until now. "Emotions are too much, I can't really relax yet," Azarenka said yesterday reflecting on her 82-minute 6-3 6-0 win over a six-time finalist in Sharapova. The tall Russian, whose parents were raised in Belarus, has three grand slam trophies and told Azarenka to cherish her prize. "I am very hungry. I want to be better and better every day I step on to the court, or do work in the gym," Azarenka, now on a 12-match winning streak, said. January 28   Murray upset with late-night drug testing after loss to Djokovic - AP ...he found out drug testers were looking for him. "Just a bit annoyed ... I know the players go on about it a lot, but they've changed these rules with the drug test," Murray said. "I've just done the drug test, the urine test." But there was more - a blood test. "They just told me I need to sit down for 30 minutes before I can give blood," Murray said. "I want to get out of here, so I'm annoyed with that, which on top of losing a match like that, it's really a frustrating thing to have to go through at 1:00 in the morning."   Tomic faces fine or sanction from TA - Gold Coast Bulletin Tennis Australia sources last night told the Bulletin officials were considering slapping Tomic with a "please explain" for tarnishing the image of the sport during the Australian Open -- their showpiece event.   marathon match shows gap between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic is closing - The Telegraph But in fact he is still only 24, a young man searching for the answers that might unlock his potential. After yesterday’s match — in which he spent the majority of the five sets dictating terms to world No 1 Novak Djokovic — he is clearly a step closer to turning that key. This was the longest match of Murray’s career, at 4hr 50min. It was the most physically draining match of his career. And it was arguably the finest performance of his career. ...“It’s the effort that I’m most proud of, I think,” said a surprisingly upbeat Murray after the match. “You never want to come off the court having any regrets or thinking 'Could I have pushed a little bit more?’ I couldn’t have, really, so I can’t be disappointed.”   Maybe Murray's Czech mate can help him join Grand Slam masters - The Independent The worry for Murray's new and apparently influential coach, Ivan Lendl, is that his charge did everything but deliver the coup de grace. It is something that you cannot teach. It is something of the blood that is not to be found even in the most superior coaching manual.   Murray falls short but summit is in sight - Paul Newman, The Independent It was another defeat at the tail-end of a Grand Slam tournament, another day when his lifetime's ambition remained unfulfilled. But this was different. Andy Murray lost to Novak Djokovic in a spell-binding semi-final at the Australian Open, but only after delivering a performance that left him believing more than ever that he has what it takes to win one of his sport's greatest prizes.   Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to reach Australian Open final - Kevin Mitchell The Guardian In his longest ever match at 10 minutes short of five hours, and one of the truly stirring tennis fights – of this Australian Open, this week or this era – Murray lost once more to the player who can fairly lay claim to being the best in the world, Novak Djokovic, who beat him so completely in the 2011 final. It would be unfair – daft, even, and demeaning to the winner – to suggest Murray threw the match away after coming back from 2-5 in the fifth set and failing to convert any of three break points that would have left him serving for the match. This was tightrope tennis. Either man could have fallen off. Neither choked and the Serb deserved to hang on under the most intense pressure.   Stop grumbling about tennis grunting - The Guardian A major tennis tournament will inevitably get critics talking about grunting. With the Australian Open in full swing, the critics are shouting out once more. As a tennis fan, it's not something that has ever really bothered me. The constant debating of it in the press, however, does. The fury around grunting only really crops up on the women's side of the game...These players don't just start grunting at some point in their career, or even during a match. It's a physical response that they've developed with their game. Personally I find the squeaking of trainers on hard courts really annoying, so I'm demanding the ATP look into teaching young players to play barefoot. Or, I could, just, you know, turn the volume down.   Djokovic prevails over Murray in test of nerves, fitness; more mail - Jon Wertheim, SI In what is certain to be a leading candidate for 2012 match of the year, Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in the Australian Open semifinals 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5. It's nearly impossible to exaggerate the quality of this match. Run through the checklist of what it is we ask of an epic event -- swaying momentum, courage, accuracy, nerve, offense, defense, drama -- and you mark off the boxes, one by one. ... "Tonight's match was important for many reasons," Murray said. "Obviously, I wanted to win first and foremost. But, also sort of after last year, the year that Novak had, I think there's a very fine line between being No. 1 in the world and being 3 or 4. I think that gap, I feel tonight I closed it. My job over the next two or three months is to surpass him and the guys in front of me. So [it will] take a lot of hard work, and hopefully I can do it." ... I'm getting a bit hoarse discussing this. But the WTA fiddled and dismissed the base and lost control of the message -- and now it's getting drilled. I guarantee you there's been more (mocking and unflattering) coverage of the grunting than the tennis this week. In the United States, everyone from Conan O'Brien (at the 6:40 mark here) to Diane Sawyer has had a good laugh. This should be a case study in a public relations class.   Aussie Open women's final will be a real scream - Matt Cronin, Tennis Channel The Belarussian was lethal inside the baseline and in her return games in the first set, saw Clijsters yank her around when the Belgian muscled up in the second set, and then in the third set with the crowd roaring for "Aussie Kim," she kept coming. She put her blinders on, continued to attack, and seemed to hit every return an inch inside the baseline. On her first match points her hands felt like they weighed 200 kilos and she doubled faulted . On her second match point, she hit forehand down the middle, Clijsters pulled a backhand wide and she knelt down, fist- pumped and then cried some tears of joy after her 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory. “I think every single person experienced that, having nerves coming," Azarenka said. “But it just a matter how you deal with it. I don't think you have to deny it because it happens to everybody. You just have to try to control it." The Belarussian was by no means at the same fitness level in 2010 and 2011 that she is at this tournament, although last year she worked diligently to improve her condtioning. In 2010, she retired or withdrew from singles matches six times. In 2011, she reduced that number to four. But it wasn't just nagging injuries that bothered her: she was not as strong in three setters as she could have been, or as quick as she is this January. Now she’s a better defensive player which allows her to claw through points until she can set up one of her favored groundstroke blasts. She is still by no means a mellow person, but she has learned to curb her negative emotions.   Some Pain, Some Gain - Steve Tignor, Tennis.com a good three hours, the semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray here was, to put it bluntly, a mess. Both players were fighting themselves as much as the guy across the net. Djokovic was battling his body, his nose, his allergies, his nerves. He was trying, with intermittent success, to settle down and let the athleticism flow like it had last year. It took him until the fourth set to shed all of his burdens and start looking like the best player in the world again. As for Murray, he was fighting against his instincts toward safety and counter-punching, while trying his best to implement the more aggressive game plan that new coach Ivan Lendl wanted him to use. It made for a match that neither guy seemed prepared to step up and grab. After one point near the end of the fourth set, Djokovic walked away staggering in pain, while on the other side of the net, Murray was virtually on his knees screaming in anger. ...The first, and worst, of them came after Murray grabbed the lead for the first time. He ripped his way through the third-set tiebreaker—an ace at 3-3 and a roaring forehand winner three points later put a stamp on it. Now he was up two sets to one; how would he handle having nothing but the finish line in front of him? We didn't have to wait long for the answer. Serving in the first game of the fourth set, Murray suffered a quintessential brain cramp. Rather than finishing a sitter off with an overhead, he hesitated and plunked a swing volley over the baseline. A couple of wild unforced errors later and he was broken. A couple of games after that, he was tanking. Murray may have learned this maneuver from Lendl, who was famous for throwing sets and even matches early in his career. But he hasn’t mastered it yet. One thing you don’t want to do when you tank is let yourself be broken in the last game of the set. But Murray kept letting the balls go by even then, and Djokovic got to start the fifth serving. It proved to be pivotal. “I guess maybe it was normal there was a letdown in the fourth set,” said Murray, who was thoughtful and positive in his press conference after what had to be a devastating defeat. “That was something I would have liked to have done better, though. I would like to have to played a better fourth set, get off to a better start.” ...Murray followed up his break for 4-5 in the fifth with a strong hold. His momentum carried over to the next game, when he went up 15-40—two break points to serve for the final. Djokovic saved the first. On the second, the two players left exhaustion behind and fired 29 shots back and forth. Finally, pushed into a corner, Djokovic pulled the trigger and put a forehand on the line for a winner. It was this match’s version of the Shot.   Playing the Man - Grantland Still, they all seem to approach the game with something more than the score in mind, like they're playing with some abstract ideal of the tennis point as their goal. It's not go fish, or blackjack, or trench warfare. It has to be tennis, and it has to be great. At least, that's what I think about when I'm watching them. I have no idea what they're thinking. Maybe they want nothing more than to win at any cost. ...What describes the top three isn't their raw competitiveness. It's the particularity of their styles.4 Federer is so light on his feet, the way he dances in and out of his split-steps and the way he controls the points with a variegated mixture of shots. Nadal's game is dynamic and vertical, stubborn and smart, and its improbability is part of the pleasure. People call Nadal a warrior, but that speaks as much to the martial quality of his overall style. His huge heart is part of his whole game. Djokovic's style is much more horizontal and efficient-looking, with his brilliantly compact backhand and his perfectly timed slides. He plays like a machine, with an almost unnervingly inhuman quality. Even his body looks efficient, like he's eaten the exact number of calories for maximum stamina, speed, and power, and not one too many or too few. I'm half convinced that his outrageous win streak last year was the result of a secret algorithm.   Novak Djokovic shouldn’t eat so shadily during changeovers - Yahoo blog Most players eat something during long matches, whether it be power gels or bananas or protein bars. What was strange about this is that Djokovic felt the need to eat the unidentified object behind the [towel]... Why the mystery?   Murray gives Djokovic biggest test yet - Richard Evans, Foxsports After 4 hours and 50 minutes of the most extraordinary tennis — some of it ordinary, much of it brilliant and all of it riveting — Djokovic went through, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5. The pair met here in last year's final but that straight-set victory for the Serb pales when compared to the drama that kept the prime minister of Australia, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgman and other champions gasping in their seats until 12:35 a.m. in Melbourne as these two incredible athletes ran, reached and lunged in prolonged rallies which defied belief. ...During his on-court interview Djokovic recognized Laver in the president's box and apologized for all the baseline play — in recognition of the fact that the man they called "The Rocket" was a great serve and volleyer. "I will try and do better," he laughed.   Novak Djokovic guts out five-set thriller - Sandra Harwitt, ESPN The real battle ignited midway through the fifth set. Djokovic led 5-2, but Murray wouldn't go away. At 5-3, Djokovic was serving for the match, but uncharacteristically failed to close it out, losing his serve at love with the last two shots being powerful Murray forehand winners. Murray looked on the winning track at 5-5 when he held three break points on Djokovic's serve in a game that lasted 12 points. But Murray couldn't capitalize on those opportunities, allowing Djokovic to hold on. Those break points would turn out to be the Scot's last stand. The end finally came when Djokovic broke serve in the final game. From 15-15, Murray would make three blunders, the first two unforced backhand errors and the final a forced forehand into the net off a scorching flat forehand power shot from Djokovic.   Tennis' Golden Age?‎ - New Yorker blog Here’s an argument for your barstool this weekend: Men’s tennis is the most entertaining sport around. Discuss. The case is an easy one if we limit the survey to this weekend. There’s no football for the first time in months (the Pro Bowl doesn’t count), and basketball and hockey are in their midseason nadirs. Elsewhere: Is Tiger Woods still playing? When’s the next World Cup? Where’s Albert Pujols playing again? Here’s your best sporting option: early Sunday morning, in American time zones, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will play in their third straight Grand Slam final. Casual fans pay little attention to tennis from mid-September to mid-May, but this year, with this Australian Open, that would be a mistake. The past two days featured a pair of thrilling semifinals contested by tennis’ Big Four—Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray—a group that has held the top four spots in the world rankings almost uninterrupted since 2008. Federer was ascendant then, followed by Nadal, and now Djokovic. (Murray still needs to win his first Grand Slam.) You want to avoid boxing metaphors—no one comes away from a tennis match bloodied or concussed—but watching the sport now feels like the closest thing to following boxing in the sixties and seventies.   Why Complain When Tennis Girls Just Want to Have Fun? - Tom Perrotta, Wall Street Journal Stop asking questions. Don't even pretend that there are answers. Just embrace present day women's tennis for what it is: Unpredictable, whacky, nervous, suspenseful, and, for all its faults, remarkably entertaining. As the men's tournament at the Australian Open went smoothly along, with all four top seeds reaching the semifinals for the third time in four Grand Slam events, the women's event at times looked more like a lottery than a competition. Li Na, a finalist last year, had four consecutive match points against Kim Clijsters in the fourth round. She lost.   Djokovic Outlasts Murray to Reach Final - Christopher Clarey, New York Times But when Friday night had turned into Saturday morning in Melbourne and Novak Djokovic lay spread-eagled on his back with a serene look on his stubbled face, the status quo had been preserved. Despite Roger Federer’s winning streak and enduring ambition, despite Andy Murray’s improved attitude and new coach Ivan Lendl, the men’s singles final at this Grand Slam tournament will again match Djokovic against Rafael Nadal. .Djokovic, who has long suffered from allergies, appeared seriously short of breath for big phases of the second and third sets. Those who think he takes a great deal of time between his first and second serves should have seen how slowly he walked to his chair at one stage. “I’ve seen doctor, and I’ve talked with some people,” he said. Djokovic said he had spoken with players who were having allergy issues this year in Australia who had not had them in recent years. “I suppose that’s my problem as well,” he said. “I’ve been trying to, you know, do everything possible to clear that out. But you know we are all surrounded with the flowers. It’s really difficult to take that away. “But still, you know, no excuses. It was very physical from both sides, from both players all the way through the end. For these kind of matches you really practice all your life to be able to be a winner out of five sets.”   All but Over, Except for the Shouting - Christopher Clarey, New York Times It will be power and competitive fire against power and competitive fire Saturday when Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka meet in the women’s final at the Australian Open. It will be expatriate against expatriate, two-handed backhand against two-handed backhand and, just in case you thought we were in danger of neglecting the obvious, it will be shriek against shriek. “It’s going to be a very musical final,” said Sam Sumyk, Azarenka’s coach. Musical might sound like a euphemism to those who dislike the sound-and-fury-track that Sharapova and Azarenka provide. They and others of their musical tastes have set off a long-running debate, one that has flared up again in Australia, with the Melbourne crowd sometimes mimicking Azarenka’s grunts and the W.T.A. issuing a communiqué about its desire to turn down the volume on the next generation. But the subject deserves to be background noise in a final where so much, in tennis terms, is at stake. It deserved to be background noise Thursday, too: a fine day for the women’s game when both semifinals went the distance and were long on intense, big-hitting rallies full of acrobatics and suspense. It seemed fitting that each match lasted precisely two hours and 12 minutes. ...Whoever wins under the lights in the final Saturday night will become the new No. 1 player in women’s tennis, supplanting Azarenka’s friend and Monaco neighbor, Caroline Wozniacki.   Leading Off: Intense Tennis for Insomniacs - New York Times We understand if you prefer to watch that match in an endless loop on replay — because we know there are not that many insomniacs who watched it live — rather than tune in for the women’s final. It’s not that Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova aren’t marvelously talented and lovely, and fighting for the No. 1 ranking, it’s that their match might be about as pleasant to watch as a livestock auction.   In the new order, it's the battle of the baseline - Jake Niall, Melbourne Age Tomorrow, a weary Novak Djokovic will play Rafael Nadal in a third consecutive grand slam final. Same combatants, different venue. Nadal has never played Federer in three finals on the trot. Djokovic and Nadal have won the past seven slams. Tennis has confirmed a new order that has almost gone unnoticed. In the new order, the baseline rules. Forehands and the second serve are huge, and mental hardness matters more than variety, as Djokovic's laborious five set, almost five hour, escape from a tougher Andy Murray attested. And as in most team sports, it is the better defence that tends to prevail. Sadly, Djoker v Rafa doesn't contain sufficient contrasts to be a great story. Not yet, anyway.   Tennis star Bernard Tomic hires top lawyer Chris Nyst over traffic infringements - AAP Initially Tomic contacted former Gold Coast mayor and qualified lawyer Lex Bell to act on his behalf, but this afternoon Mr Nyst and his associate Jason Murakami visited the budding star at his parents' Southport home. Mr Nyst then confirmed he was consulting with Tomic and would meet with police to get to the bottom of the matter. Tomic allegedly accused Gold Coast police of harassing him because "you think I'm not Australian" "They've given me three tickets and one officer feels like he wants to get me and it's not a good feeling," he said earlier.   Tomic might face more traffic charges - AP Police say the 19-year-old was issued with two tickets after twice being intercepted driving his high powered BMW M3 yesterday afternoon. ...It was the third encounter that led to a standoff at the Tomic home in Southport. After being followed home by a police car with lights flashing, Tomic parked his car in the driveway behind locked security gates and refused to talk to police until his lawyer arrived.   Azarenka adds steel to shriek - Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age For all her shoulder issues and serving yips, Maria Sharapova was always known as one of the sport's steeliest competitors; for all her talent, volatile Victoria Azarenka was, well, not. ''Her forehand would break down, her serve would get slightly tight, and her attitude would explode,'' said former doubles star, now commentator Rennae Stubbs. ''I mean, she would have exploded so many times in that semi-final, the old Azarenka. But everybody in the locker-room knows now she's not exploding, the forehand is so solid, she's hitting the ball unbelievably, so therefore where do you go?["] ...The women have split their six career meetings, and all four on hardcourts.   Confident Nadal thrilled with dream run - AAP The cause of his anguish still isn't entirely clear, but he'll continue wearing a heavy bandage around his right knee at least until he knows. ''Twenty four hours before I played my first match, I was in my hotel room crying because I believe I didn't have the chance to play in Melbourne,'' he said. ''Two weeks later, I am here in the final. So it's a dream for me.'' ... But against Federer, he proved there was. ''I didn't play as I played hundreds of times against him … against his backhand,'' he said. ''For moments, I had few mistakes with the backhand. But I am trying with the backhand to not go behind the baseline, to stay in the baseline, to hit the ball earlier than before. ''That's something that I am working on and something that we believe that I have to keep improving, to don't lose court, to play more inside.''   Too much air in the tennis package - Melbourne Age I completely agree that many spectators present apparently have no interest in sport whatsoever - only things such as tennis player-based celebrity gawking and soap opera, and being seen publicly in face paint beyond the primary school age where this might be deemed vaguely acceptable. I also don't quite follow the post-dubbed porno movie shrieking that some players apparently regard as essential. This will make sense to me around the time, on building sites, when you see the average worker, wielding pick or shovel, howling like Iron Maiden's lead vocalist on every stroke. And I don't understand tennis commentary, John McEnroe excepted. Unlike, say, a Paganini solo violin piece, it just can't be as hard as it sounds   Locker room a great place to meet the stars - Bob and Mike Bryan, Melbourne Age Rafa... A couple of years ago, we saw him on a flight from Madrid to Rome, after he won the final there. We were on some budget airline, there was no first-class on this flight, so we were surprised to see him on it. There were all these kids on the flight, on spring break, and they couldn't believe it when Rafa walked on. For the whole two- hour flight there was a steady stream of people wanting to get his autograph, and he signed one for pretty much everyone. Even the pilot came back. It's probably the last time he's flown that airline, but he came on with a bag of McDonald's. He's an incredible athlete. You see him at breakfast eating chocolate doughnuts. He must just be an amazing genetic specimen. Novak Djokovic is the one you'd call the funny guy. He's always joking around, wisecracking. He rapped on our album, which was great, because most of the top guys get protective of their image. Even Andy Roddick didn't want to do it, and he's our good friend, but Novak totally played up to it. ... Roger is Mr Relaxed. It will be five minutes before the Wimbledon final and he'll look like he's having an easy Sunday afternoon. Andy Murray is really into sports. He's into the fantasy basketball in the US and is in a bunch of leagues. Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez definitely use more hair gel than anyone else. They're the pretty boys. Ivo Karlovic is really quiet, but then he gets on Twitter and cracks us up   Screeching halt just a flight of fancy - Richard Hinds, Melbourne Age As Azarenka put a full-stop on the Australian Open career of Kim Clijsters yesterday, only chair umpire Evanthia Asderaki did not appreciate the magnitude of the Belarussian's agonising acoustics. After a barely audible sound in the crowd, Asderaki demanded: ''As a courtesy to the players, please keep the noise down during play.'' That brought shrieks of laughter from polite spectators who had been like a congregation of Trappist monks in comparison with Azarenka.   The final farewell - Linda Pearce, Melboure Age For Clijsters, the four-time grand slam winner, it was a disappointing end to a difficult summer. In her Brisbane International comeback from an abdominal issue thigh spasms curtailed her semi-final against Daniela Hantuchova. Then, in the Open's fourth round, an ankle was sprained before four match points were saved against Li Na. That the defending champion was not 100 per cent yesterday was not offered as an excuse, although Clijsters confirmed her pride in her ability to ''fight through tough matches''. ''I felt like I have given it my all these last two weeks, and it's unfortunate,'' Clijsters said. ''The match was very close. There were a few deciding moments where I think I maybe had a little bit of an advantage - in the third set, especially, that first game where I had break point. But she definitely played really well. She was playing very aggressive tennis, moving really well. So she deserved to win at the end.''   The final farewell - Linda Pearce, Melboure Age For Clijsters, the four-time grand slam winner, it was a disappointing end to a difficult summer. In her Brisbane International comeback from an abdominal issue thigh spasms curtailed her semi-final against Daniela Hantuchova. Then, in the Open's fourth round, an ankle was sprained before four match points were saved against Li Na. That the defending champion was not 100 per cent yesterday was not offered as an excuse, although Clijsters confirmed her pride in her ability to ''fight through tough matches''. ''I felt like I have given it my all these last two weeks, and it's unfortunate,'' Clijsters said. ''The match was very close. There were a few deciding moments where I think I maybe had a little bit of an advantage - in the third set, especially, that first game where I had break point. But she definitely played really well. She was playing very aggressive tennis, moving really well. So she deserved to win at the end.''   With stakes this high, mateship's put on hold - Andy Murray, The Australian It's not that we're not mates - we're good friends - but I'm already learning from Ivan the importance of conserving energy, of using your time wisely; and playing football four or five days before a tournament isn't the best thing to do. It is fun - don't get me wrong - but there are other things you are better off doing before a grand slam. ...As I've said, I get on well with most of the guys on tour - just before Novak's match on Wednesday night, I was asked by David Ferrer's coach if I'd like to go and train with the Spaniard for a week or so later this year, which is something that wouldn't happen if you didn't respect and spend time with other players - but I'll be putting my friendship with Novak on hold tonight. You have to make sure you put that all to one side. I'll be doing whatever it takes to win. If that means hitting Novak to win a point as Nicolas Almagro did to Tomas Berdych at the start of the week, that is what I will do. You can bet Novak would do the same. It is the way it should be when the stakes are so high.   Roger Federer not about to call time, despite his lean spell - Courtney Walsh, The Australian While disappointed to lose 6-7 (7-5) 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in another classic against Nadal, Federer insisted he would move on. And quickly. After all, he has lost just twice in the past five months, both in epic grand slam semi-finals. "It's not that bad. Don't feel too sorry for me," he said. "Obviously I would have loved to have come through and, you know, gotten a crack, a chance at winning the title here again. "But then again, (what is) important is the reaction from now. Where do I go from here? You start planning other trips, start planning the preparations, and again, have a good reaction, like I showed after the US Open."   Roger Federer not about to call time, despite his lean spell - Courtney Walsh, The Australian While disappointed to lose 6-7 (7-5) 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in another classic against Nadal, Federer insisted he would move on. And quickly. After all, he has lost just twice in the past five months, both in epic grand slam semi-finals. "It's not that bad. Don't feel too sorry for me," he said. "Obviously I would have loved to have come through and, you know, gotten a crack, a chance at winning the title here again. "But then again, (what is) important is the reaction from now. Where do I go from here? You start planning other trips, start planning the preparations, and again, have a good reaction, like I showed after the US Open."   Earplugs necessary when screamers Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka contest final - Margie MacDonald, The Australian January 25   It’s Getting Routine: Top 4 Men Are Final 4 - Christopher Clarey New York Times Then, when asked whether the gap between the top four players in the world and men like Ferrer could be closed, he looked surprisingly resigned for a determined Spaniard who chases down ball after ball as if more seminal things than pride and prize money were at stake. “No,” he said. “I don’t think so.” ...Nadal and Federer were to renew their long-running rivalry Thursday night in the first semifinal. Djokovic and Murray will play Friday night. “And now ... May the tournament begin,” wrote the veteran Ivan Ljubicic in a Twitter message. So it would seem. This is the third time in the last four Grand Slam tournaments those same four players have reached the semifinals.   Where did talent go? U.S. tennis' 'Lost Generation' - Douglas Robson, USA Today Though a decade separates 29-year-old Roddick and the USA's brightest prospect, Ryan Harrison, the spigot of talent in between didn't suddenly slow to a trickle. But the players once pegged for success rarely can be found on the sport's biggest stages. Few of these players, all highly touted juniors between 24-26 years old, has ever cracked the top 100. ...Some, such as Brendan Evans, Scoville Jenkins and Scott Oudsema, hung up their rackets and returned to school. Others, slog away on the outer reaches of the sport. Evans, who last fall enrolled at the University of Virginia, has few regrets. But he thinks he and his cohorts would have benefited from some time in school. "I think we all should have gone to school for a year or two," says Evans, who is pursuing an economics degree. "I think we got the wrong message. We were supposed to be the next great generation. That's a lot to put on the shoulders of 17-year-old kids, expecting them to be in the top 20 in a year or two. People propped us up to be better than we were. By 21, we were cast off."   Not quite from Russia with love - Richard Hinds, MelbourneAge Tour insiders laud Sharapova's professionalism. Practice court trojan, tough competitor in a land of mental pygmies, strong return from career-threatening malady (shoulder surgery, not laryngitis) and, usually, a courteous soul - although don't expect a Christmas card. But for many, it is Sharapova's haughty, often sullen demeanour that makes her hard to love. Despite her unfortunate childhood address, the woman does not radiate charm. Particularly in press conferences, where a look of utter contempt often crosses her face after she is asked a reasonable question, prompting reporters to check their shoes for dog droppings. Perhaps Sharapova's sour manner is the protective mechanism to be expected of a woman exposed to the world by a demanding father at a tender age. ...Predictably, Sharapova was less jocular when told Agnieszka Radwanska had suggested the WTA Tour should investigate grunting. ''Isn't she in Poland?'' she sniffed of the beaten quarter-finalist. Besides: ''No one important enough has told me to change or do something different,'' Sharapova said. And therein lies the problem with Maria. Too often she gives the impression no one is more important than herself.   Serves and volleys - Melbourne Age Roger Federer says he is surprised by the on-court actions of some of his female counterparts. The four-time Australian Open champion's comments came when asked if he felt any sympathy for Caroline Wozniacki - the women's world No. 1 who is yet to win a grand slam. Federer said Wozniacki's situation wasn't unusual, but the behaviour of some women players was ''surprising''. ''Many world No. 1s in the past have not won slams … so it makes it difficult out there on the court I guess,'' he said. ''I see many women's players being extremely sort of tense and fist-pumping after every single point. It's to me pretty surprising to see that. I have fist-pumped maybe five times at the most, and they do it in one game. It's incredible to see how intense they are.''   Waiting for Rafa and midnight Pringles - Bob and Mike Bryan, The Australian We were asked if we wanted to move to Margaret Court Arena, after the second set of Rafa's match. But we declined. It's a smaller court and there would have been no one out there, no atmosphere. Rod Laver Arena is probably our favourite court in the world, so we didn't want to move. It probably cost us a few hours' sleep, but the atmosphere wouldn't have been the same. It was around 2.30am Wednesday by the time we won the third set. It was rough on all the guards and the locker room attendant, because he had to stay there until 3am, just for us. There were still about 10 drivers waiting around and we didn't think we'd have to do any press at 3am, but there were two reporters who had stayed and wanted to do a couple of articles, so that was wild. When you lose, you have to do drug testing, so the poor Polish guys had to stay back and do that. A lot of times, when you're dehydrated, that can take ages, sometimes two hours just to go in the cup. They had to come back and play mixed doubles today, so that was rough.   Win or lose, it's a good start - Rafael Nadal, Melbourne Age Well, this is new for me to write a column for a newspaper before a semi-final match. I suppose there's always a first time for everything. ... Here I am again in a semi-final of the Australian Open. After the past two years reaching the quarters of this tournament and not being able to finish well in the matches - I had to retire in 2010 against Andy Murray and last year got injured after the third game against David Ferrer - finally I am playing again in a semi and I'm very excited about it. For me, it is very important and a happy moment to start the season. Win or lose, it is a good start considering the end of the season I had last year with many doubts.   Brutal conditions part of a true Open - Andy Murray, The Australian I've seen heaps of YouTube clips of Lendl, and my favourite is when he unloads straight at Emilio Sanchez, who I know really well given the couple of years I spent as a teenager training at a tennis academy in Spain. It truly is funny, both due to the context of the match but also because of Lendl's reaction. They were playing in an exhibition match, a mixed doubles of all things, when it happened. The perfect hit. Lendl lined up Emilio and thumped a forehand that smashed him in the chest and sent him straight to the ground. And the funny thing about it? Lendl just started laughing while Emilio was writhing on the ground in pain. ...That, though, is a lot different to what happened between Berdych and Almagro. In case you are not aware, Almagro thumped a forehand that hit Berdych on the arm but then, after winning, Tomas refused to shake hands with his opponent. I was watching on television and I don't think I've heard someone booed like that after a tennis match. Don't get me wrong. I'd be annoyed too if someone lined me up, but I can't believe that he didn't shake hands. Berdych tried to justify it by saying there is an unwritten rule that Almagro had broken, but I think he has it wrong on this one.   Make some real noise and cut the screaming - Partick Smith, The Australian They did not act when Monica Seles began to punctuate every shot with a scream and thus it is part of the modern game, absurd and disruptive; an unnecessary vocal flourish that only deafens the game and may well be intimidating to opponents. John McEnroe's behaviour was accepted for the nave and timid reasons that he brought people and money to the game. The sport lost its self-respect in the process. According to new ATP boss Brad Drewett, the game globally has never been more popular. ...And so women's tennis would make a lot more noise, too, if it just stopped the screaming.   Emotional rematch for big guns - Courtney Walsh, The Australian When reminiscing yesterday in a live interview with Rod Laver, who presented him with the 2006 Australian Open trophy, a moment that also saw him break down in tears, Federer joked it was too regular an occurrence. "They are so respectful in Melbourne. The stadium goes all quiet," he said. "This is when I am like, 'Oh my god, I am emotional.' It has happened more often than not in Australia." ...And, certainly, one that Nadal is looking forward to. "The ranking is important, but when we talk about a player who has won 16 grand slams and I won 10 -- and we played a lot of matches between each other -- all the ones (have been) very important moments for our careers and very high moments," he said. "For everything . . . all the matches against him are special and will be special even if we are 20 against 25."   Andy Murray's demons look to have vanished in charge to semi-finals - Courtney Walsh, The Australian Murray, too, had a lot of fun when dominant against Nishikori yesterday. "There was a lot of good points. Most of the fun points he was winning," he said. Nishikori, who effectively announced his arrival as a player of prominence this fortnight when becoming the first Japanese player to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals in 80 years, indeed claimed the most fun point of the match when trailing 1-3 in the first set. It did not last the 42 strokes of a rally a game earlier but it nonetheless demonstrated the touch and skill of both players. After chasing down a lob volley from Murray, he surprised the Scot by returning the compliment, although his lob was a trick shot played between the legs.   Ailing Novak Djokovic finds enough power to see off David Ferrer - Courtney Walsh, The Australian In the first set Djokovic reached for his stomach on a regular basis and his towel just as often. In the second he grasped initially at his left hip flexer and then at his hamstring. He breathed heavily throughout. Whatever his ails were, Djokovic hardly presented as the intimidating force that he was through his amazing 2011. Following the victory, he admitted struggling but put it down more to an exacting first set lasting 59 minutes than any physical problem. "After the first two games, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is going to be a long night,'. I was very lucky to get through the second set," Djokovic said "You have to hang in there, especially with a player like Ferrer. He is a great competitor (and) I needed to come up with the winners. "I wasn't feeling very fresh after playing one hour, one set."   Ailing Novak Djokovic finds enough power to see off David Ferrer - Courtney Walsh, The Australian In the first set Djokovic reached for his stomach on a regular basis and his towel just as often. In the second he grasped initially at his left hip flexer and then at his hamstring. He breathed heavily throughout. Whatever his ails were, Djokovic hardly presented as the intimidating force that he was through his amazing 2011. Following the victory, he admitted struggling but put it down more to an exacting first set lasting 59 minutes than any physical problem. "After the first two games, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is going to be a long night,'. I was very lucky to get through the second set," Djokovic said "You have to hang in there, especially with a player like Ferrer. He is a great competitor (and) I needed to come up with the winners. "I wasn't feeling very fresh after playing one hour, one set."   It's all in the mind forVictoria Azarenka - Margie Macdonald, The Australian But new coach Sam Sumyk and physio Jean-Pierre Bruyere do not see themselves as life-changers, just tennis experts. "I didn't change her, it's all credit to her, seriously," Sumyk said yesterday. "She wanted to be better in a lot of aspects of the game. It was not about purely tennis but better physically, better behaviour, better mentally. She is facing up to, and accepting situations better than she has before. She copes better with everything." January 24   Victory will be what gets Murray making merry - Richard Hinds, Melbourne Age ''We have a similar sense of humour,'' said Murray, evoking visions of coach and player rolling about at the sight of a drowning puppy. Ominously, Murray says he would like to be more ''robotic'' on the court, like Lendl. What next? Maria Sharapova pledging to become more self-absorbed?   Williams no match for the Makarova makeover - Melbourne Age It was as though the fans had suspended belief in the notion of Serena Williams, five-time champion, losing to a Russian most of them had never previously heard of. Williams was in trouble in her fourth-round match against Ekaterina Makarova, to be sure. But she has found trouble before and blasted her way out of it. Nobody fights like Williams; nobody plays the big points better. A match point was saved with an ace. Another match point saved, and then another. Finally, on the fourth attempt at closing out the win of her life, Makarova rifled a return back at Williams and the American missed with her backhand. Makarova, unheralded until now and ranked 56th in the world, held her arms to the sky. ... The Russian earned every point, slapping her ground strokes, blocking back Williams' first serve when it landed in, and serving well herself. Williams served so badly she could not even utter the word she thought would describe it. ''I served like a … I guess that's not appropriate. I served, I don't know. I can't even describe how I served, to be honest. It wasn't good, though. My lefty serve is actually better than that. Maybe I should have started serving lefty.'' Williams served seven double faults, and four in one game, at 2-2 in the second set when it all overcame her. She made too many errors, period. ''She [Makarova] went for broke on a lot of her shots. I made 37 [unforced] errors. That kind of tells the story of the match.''   Petulant Czech no favourite as he prepares for Rafa - Melbourne Age But after refusing to shake hands with his vanquished opponent, Nicolas Almagro, on Sunday because he was upset that the Spaniard had aimed a ball at his face from close range, Tomas Berdych was booed from the court by the offended crowd. Thus not only does the crowd now have a hero one side of the net, they also now have Dick Dastardly on the other side. Nadal is, of course, Spanish and a friend of Almagro's. One can assume he felt aggrieved on Almagro's behalf. One can assume this not only because of a presumed friendship born of national kinship, but because Nadal already had his own reasons to dislike the easily offended Czech - they have a history of their own.   Lleyton Hewitt to maintain rage for a while yet - Margie MacDonald, The Australian His give-it-all attitude and reaching back into his cellar of tennis to find some of his best shots and tenacity again, propelled him into the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open. He was only stopped by the world No1 Novak Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena in the early hours of this morning. In a final gesture, Hewitt took a set off the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion to lose 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-3. ..."Last few months, I've just really been focusing on trying to get as much out of myself as possible this Australian summer, more so here in Melbourne," Hewitt said. "So now I'll focus on that. But right at the moment, I don't know." But he doesn’t intend giving away the shots of adrenalin just yet, especially before his hometown crowd. "Towards the end of the third set and the whole fourth set, the crowd got involved in it. It's great. They're the moments you play tennis for, to be out there in those situations.["]   Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has got it all: Martina Navratilova - The Australian And Navratilova came with a box of matches to Melbourne Park yesterday. "Clearly nobody feels that Wozniacki is a true No 1," said Navratilova, 55, who won 18 grand slam singles titles. "If we still had the same ranking system we were using six years ago when they were giving bonus points for beating players, Kvitova would have ended up No 1 because she has beaten more top players than Wozniacki."   Kvitova looked mildly frustrated yesterday with all the talk about the No 1 ranking. "I try to be focus only on the tennis and think of nothing else around," she said. "I mean everybody is talking about the first position. But, you know, many players can be No 1 after this tournament. So it doesn't matter to talk about this right now."   Andy Murray had little to do as his opponent was drained after 10 gruelling sets - The Australian There is an old school view in tennis, one formed during a bygone, my-shorts-are-tighter-than-yours era, that you should stay out on court until the last point, no matter how bad you are hurting, out of respect for your opponent. "I thought it was best he retired because it was pointless," Murray said after securing a place in the quarter-finals in well under an hour (6-1 6-1 1-0 ret). "He wasn't running. The people probably weren't enjoying the match that much. I certainly wasn't because nothing was happening. Sometimes it is just best to stop. There was nothing happening on the court." ...For Kukushkin, it was a miserable way to finish the biggest match of his professional career. Having endured 10 sets of gruelling tennis in his previous two matches against Viktor Troicki and Gael Monfils, Kukushkin woke on Sunday morning to discover he could barely lift his left leg. What was soon diagnosed as a hip flexor injury meant the Russian-born Kukushkin could not run and had no power on his serve, which he failed to hold throughout the entire match. January 22   Tomic can stand tall amid the groaners and tantrums - Melbourne Age But Tomic has shown he's good - and more. At the age of 19, he's handled himself publicly in a way to put many of his predecessors, not to mention some currently in action, to shame. He has performed with grace under pressure and spoken with a rare and refreshing straight-forwardness. Marcos Baghdatis provided a flashback to some of the excesses of tennis's recent past with his display of self-indulgent petulance on Wednesday night. If the sport genuinely cared about the messages it transmits through such incidents, the Cypriot would have been hit with a sanction to deliver some genuine contrition. Then there are the screechers and groaners. When, in her US Open final against Sam Stosur, Serena Williams gave an anticipatory yelp of triumph while a ball was still in play, she was rightly penalised. Yet the game indulges players, female and male, who make far louder, more distracting, and - one suspects - less spontaneous sounds almost every time they play a shot. Indeed much of the grunting occurs after shots are completed.   Backed by cast of thousands - Bob and Mike Bryan, Melbourne Age This tennis thing is such a machine and involves so many people that if we don't play here, we lose our No.1 ranking and that would affect contract payments not for this year, but for next year. And Michelle's so supportive. All she said was to go, play tennis and do your best. She's the one telling Bob to keep focused. The same goes for Lucille. She knows there's 'Regular Mike' and 'Tournament Mike'. As Tournament Mike he's a little bit more needy, a little bit more selfish. Sometimes she'll catch him at home and say 'are you still in tournament mode?' That kind of stuff doesn't fly at home, but we get away with it on the road and we actually get pretty pampered. Everything revolves around us being happy, which is kinda weird.   Brats lose out to Hawk-Eye - Jake Niall, Melbourne Age McEnroe and Cash were recounting this moment, in the first game of the fifth set of Tomic's triumph, on Fox Sports last night. McEnroe felt that Tomic, whose raising of his hand might have influenced his opponent's miscued shot, had pulled a swifty. ''Bernard should have owned up to it here,'' he said. ''We need the replay system here.'' It's tempting to say that McEnroe, to borrow from his most celebrated utterance, cannot be serious. Regardless of whether Tomic should have ''owned up'', one cannot imagine ''Mac'' doing the same... If the brat is all but gone, a new, unsavoury tactic and form of gamesmanship has taken its place - the well-timed medical time-out. Players today call for trainers when they're hurting and can force their opponent, who might be on a hot streak, to sit down and go cold. It is clear that this rule is being exploited ruthlessly by players to reverse the flow. Newk considers the misuse of medical time-outs to be a travesty. ''The medical breaks they're taking are a joke,'' he said.   Serves and volleys: Nalbandian fights water with fire - Melbourne Age Novak Djokovic was happy to answer a question from the press about whether male tennis players should have the same opportunities as their female counterparts when it comes to posing near naked in raunchy sporting publications. ''I'll have to chose my next words very carefully," the defending Australian Open champion said. "We all should have equal rights. But I'm not thinking about it too much. I guess women are more attractive than we are and they have a lot more to show than us." When asked if he would bare all, Djokovic quipped: "I'm not getting naked for anybody - except my girlfriend."   Great expectations, as a hopeful faces his hero - Melbourne Age Tomic and his girlfriend Donay Meijer were alone as they left Melbourne Park shortly after midnight on Friday night, except for the cameraman backing down the corridor ahead of them, recording their atmospheric alone-ness and nodding his gratitude when his alone-ness footage was done. Tomic was unfazed. One of the striking things about him is his composure in the ever intensifying public eye. This applies off court and on, where nothing appears to ruffle him. The bigger the crowd and occasion, the more comfortable he looks.   Can he do it? - Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age Bernard Tomic beat Roger Federer? Probably not, is the consensus, but Wally Masur takes a positive answer from the fact the question is even being asked.   10 Reasons to love ... Australian Open tennis - Melbourne Age Everyone's an Aussie Given the lack of local talent at the serious end of the competition, you have to love the way we always find a connection that allows us to cheer for such well-known locals as ''Aussie Kim'' Clijsters (all the way from that good ol' Aussie state of Belgium) and Marcos Baghdatis, who, although actually a Lebanese-Cypriot, is embraced as a home-grown product of the world's second- largest Greek city, Melbourne. ... It's an equal-opportunity sport The prize money may still favour [sic (for Grand Slams)] blokes but tennis is one sport in which there is as much interest - if not more - in the women's game [sic?]as there is in the men's. ... The commentators What do they know? How can you not love the whingeing about the commentary team? It is part of the tradition. Boofheads and know-nothings stating the bleeding obvious - ''that ball was clearly out'' - while trying to get into the minds of people focused only on the next 200km/h serve.   Your daily dose of all the backroom chatter at Melbourne Park - Melbourne Herald Sun Soon after winning just two games against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Mahut was presented with a 30th birthday cake by Willis in one of the interview rooms at Melbourne Park. ...Sharapova is making light work of opponents, but doing it heavy in the reading stakes. The Russian superstar revealed George Orwell's 1984 was on her bedside table. "My trainer actually picked it up for me ... I have to be nice and read it," Sharapova said. "He spent $20 on it ... so got to be nice."   Your daily dose of all the backroom chatter at Melbourne Park - Melbourne Herald Sun Soon after winning just two games against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Mahut was presented with a 30th birthday cake by Willis in one of the interview rooms at Melbourne Park. ...Sharapova is making light work of opponents, but doing it heavy in the reading stakes. The Russian superstar revealed George Orwell's 1984 was on her bedside table. "My trainer actually picked it up for me ... I have to be nice and read it," Sharapova said. "He spent $20 on it ... so got to be nice."   Your daily dose of all the backroom chatter at Melbourne Park - Melbourne Herald Sun Soon after winning just two games against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Mahut was presented with a 30th birthday cake by Willis in one of the interview rooms at Melbourne Park. ...Sharapova is making light work of opponents, but doing it heavy in the reading stakes. The Russian superstar revealed George Orwell's 1984 was on her bedside table. "My trainer actually picked it up for me ... I have to be nice and read it," Sharapova said. "He spent $20 on it ... so got to be nice."   Your daily dose of all the backroom chatter at Melbourne Park - Melbourne Herald Sun Soon after winning just two games against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Mahut was presented with a 30th birthday cake by Willis in one of the interview rooms at Melbourne Park. ...Sharapova is making light work of opponents, but doing it heavy in the reading stakes. The Russian superstar revealed George Orwell's 1984 was on her bedside table. "My trainer actually picked it up for me ... I have to be nice and read it," Sharapova said. "He spent $20 on it ... so got to be nice."   Murray the smiling assassin Down Under The Telegraph - The Telegraph Time and again the Frenchman came charging in, with the desperate courage of an infantryman rushing a machine-gun emplacement, and time and again the ball came fizzing back past him. As the setbacks stacked up, Llodra became increasingly baffled, and by the final set he had resorted to clowning around. He hit “tweener” shots through his legs, threw up absurdly high lobs, and even imitated Murray’s grunt on the final point of the match. “Every point seemed to be a fun point. He was coming up with some unbelievable gets on the volleys and I was managing to dig up a lot at the net,” Murray said.   Andy Murray crushes Llodra - Kevin Mitchell,The Guardian When Murray came off court in the Hisense Arena, he had left behind the wreckage of a cultured but outclassed serve-and-volley exponent in Llodra, who found his defence near impenetrable and attack relentless. How, his television inquisitor wanted to know, would he prepare for Kukushkin. "I think I'll go out and get hammered," he said. Now that would be a photograph. He was happy, too, to have his father, Willie, make an appearance. "It was a Christmas present from me and Jamie. He's been to the US Open and Wimbledon, I don't think he has been to the French. He went to Sydney for a few days and really enjoyed it. He is due to go back Thursday but I hope to keep him here a bit longer."   Serena Williams turns back clock and turns up pace - Christopher Clarey, New York Times She arrived in Australia trimmer and fitter than usual after changing her diet, partly to show solidarity for her older sister Venus Williams, who is attempting to combat the anti-immune disorder Sjogren’s syndrome and did not make the long journey here. “Venus changed her diet, and we live together, so I can’t bring bad food into the house,” Serena Williams said. “I kind of joined the train instead of being off it. I’ve always been a pretty clean eater, but I’ve just never, like, been this clean.” Williams said she was eating more vegetables and uncooked foods and rarely ate meat, but her diet did not protect her from more health concerns. She tore ligaments in her left ankle during her warm-up tournament in Brisbane, forcing her to race the clock to get ready for the Open... But she has moved and played surprisingly well, producing big serves at critical phases and continuing to generate the intimidating pace that has helped make her a champion (she has the fastest serve of the women’s tournament so far: 118 miles per hour). “I think she’s fine,” said Aleksander Bajin, her longtime hitting partner. “Too bad she twisted her ankle, but after three days we were out there hitting balls again. We didn’t waste any time.”   Aging Hewitt wows crowd in upset win - Richard Evans, Foxsports On Saturday night while Serena Williams — a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Hungary's Greta Arn — was talking about kinesiology papers, management classes and wanting to get a business degree, Lleyton Hewitt, who had followed her on Rod Laver Arena, was trying to win a tennis match. You can be sure that Hewitt's focus was on nothing other than a fuzzy yellow ball as he tried to track the 140 miles per hour serves of the powerful young Canadian Milos Raonic and when he won by 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 the Australian collapsed in a sweaty heap while 15,000 people rose to acclaim their hero.   Lesson learned for Milos - Tom Tebbutt, Tennis Canada It was a disappointing performance by Raonic, especially after the first set when he broke Hewitt (on a double fault) to lead 4-3 and then was strong in closing out the set in 38 minutes – losing just one point in his next two service games. The scenario for a victory carried on well into the second set. Raonic was belting the forehand with authority, hitting the backhand fine – including two beauty down-the-line winners – and serving well enough that he did not face a break point in his first eight service games. But once Hewitt broke to 5-3 on an overhead hit just long by Raonic, the tide had turned. Gradually Hewitt neutralized his opponent’s power, with Raonic later explaining that the 30-year-old Aussie’s ability to keep the ball low had caused him problems that he was unable to correct technically. Hewitt called on all his guile and savvy to hang on and eventually take control – but just barely. It probably all hung on the third-set tie break, which was an uneven affair that ended with Raonic missing a high forehand volley into the net. It was a shot that Hewitt later said the Canadian would make “99 times out of a 100.” Raonic was a gracious loser, giving Hewitt a solid handshake accompanied by quick verbal exchange at the net. Later in the media interview room he went further: “Doesn’t matter how hurt he’s been, how old he is,” Raonic said, “he’s as much of a competitor as he always was. He got me with that.”   More chair umpire controversy in Oz - Ravi Ubha, ESPN King led 2-1 in the second on the Ivanovic serve and won the first three points. So 0-40. But after Ivanovic won the ensuing point, British chair umpire Alison Lang incorrectly announced the score as 15-30 instead of 15-40. When Ivanovic also won the next three points, rather than it being advantage to the Serb, Lang called, "Game," even though Ivanovic had served the last point on the deuce side. ..."I thought I was up 40-0, and we're on the deuce side, and then it just didn't feel right," King said. "I got really confused." King said she didn't think to question Lang. "Sometimes I forget the score," she said. "I was confused but I had to move on because we went into the next game. I couldn't dwell on it too long, but if someone would have yelled at me I would have addressed it." Kings said nerves had a role in playing on a show court. "I hadn't played in a big stadium in a while," she said. "It wasn't her game or anything. I wasn't able to relax and focus on what I needed to do." January 20   Serena Williams makes move on title No6 - Margie MacDonald, The Australian   Marcos Baghdatis tantrum is just a click away as 'naughty days' haunt Melbourne - The Telegraph When the issue was raised in Andy Murray’s post-match press conference at the Australian Open on Thursday night, Murray replied that we are all more sensitive than we used to be. “I think it's pretty mild compared with what happened [in the past],” he said. “I mean, before the guys were way worse behaved and said way, way worse things to the umpires. "I saw some clips of John McEnroe yesterday, I think he was playing Anders Jarryd in Sweden, [and] he's like smashing bottles like into the stand and stuff.” Asked whether he would enjoy rewinding the clock, and playing in a more free-wheeling atmosphere, Murray came up with an interesting response. "For you guys” – ie. the reporters exploring the subject – “it would probably be more interesting. [But] I think tennis nowadays, because of the level of it, you don't really need all the other stuff.” On this point, he is probably right. It is easy to romanticise the 1980s, because it was an era of bitter rivalry between powerful characters. But to our modern sensibilities, constant griping and caterwauling from the leading players would soon become an irritation rather than a thrill. Even when Serena Williams tore into the chair umpire during last September’s US Open final, it hardly made for edifying viewing. ...As members of the media industry, we have done more than anyone to take the sharp edges off the game. Physicists say that by the very act of observing an event you you change it, and that is unarguably true in this case. ..Yet there is still plenty of passion on show in top-level tennis; it could hardly be otherwise, when the sport represents a form of ritualised hand-to-hand combat.   The Milos-Lleyton buzz - Tom Tebbutt, Tennis Canada On Friday, I got the opinions of some informed observers about the match, asking each of them (except Roger Federer) to make a prediction no matter how uncertain they might be about the outcome. Here they are: ROGER FEDERER: “It’s going to be a good match. Obviously Raonic is on the rise, and Lleyton such an established player and playing with home crowd advantage. “I haven’t seen Raonic play in a while now because of injury or whatever happened. I practiced once with him in Wimbledon, so I got a chance to hit some with him there. “I think it’s going to be an open match because Lleyton doesn’t give away anything. I’ve seen that happen so many times that I’ll just pick Lleyton because he’s playing well and he’s playing at home.” PAUL ANNACONE (former player and Roger Federer’s coach): “I think with Milos’s game, he can compete with anybody. It’s obviously going to be a challenge playing Lleyton here. With Lleyton, it’s tough to say because he hasn’t played a lot of matches. He looked pretty good last night (Thursday against Roddick) even though Andy got hurt. His style of play makes you work so hard point for point for point. With young guys, it’s a bit of a challenge to do that over three-out-of-five sets.Prediction: “It’s tough...if Lleyton had been playing a bunch, it would be much easier. With Milos’s power, he’s in there in every match. Raonic.”   Federer Headlines a Clash of Generations - Christopher Clarey, New York Times But Tomic still looked more than a little star struck when asked how he would prepare for Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam singles champion, on a relatively slow Melbourne hard court. “I don’t know if there is an answer to that question,” Tomic said. “Just pray to God. Maybe he’ll be sick or something. I got to go out there and have fun. Playing Roger is an experience that I’ll always remember.” Tomic is emerging and improving at the sort of pace teenagers usually reserve for typing text messages. “He’s progressed a lot,” Federer said. “Four months ago, I would have said I preferred playing him on hard courts rather than grass, but I’m not sure I still feel the same way. We’ll see.” What Tomic and the 23-year-old Dolgopolov share is an irresistible urge to carve shots that less subtle young men would be inclined to rip. The result was a deeply pleasing and paradoxical match that was both a peek at the future and a throwback as they traded sliced, single-handed backhands on the crosscourt diagonal for big stretches.   Milestones ahead for Bob Bryan, including a baby - Douglas Robson, USA TOday Go for an unprecedented 12th Grand Slam title, or stay home in Florida to witness the birth of his first child? His wife Michelle is due on Jan. 28, the same day as Australian Open men's doubles final. "I'm going to stick around until the tournament's over," Bob told a small group of reporters following his second-round win with twin brother Mike Bryan on Friday night. "Hopefully I won't have to have a Skype baby."   Lara Dutta, Mahesh Bhupathi welcome daughter - Wires   Five-set magic runs out for John Isner - Ravi Ubha, ESPN Referring to Isner and his battle with Nalbandian, Lopez said, "The day after you feel tired, it's tough to recover for the next [match]." Tough indeed. Isner had a nasty blister on his toe that bled through his sock and other toe issues, said his coach, Craig Boynton. He was fortunate to get to five sets, since Lopez failed to serve out the second. ...Wozniacki made a concerted effort to move forward, approaching the net 25 times. Was that because of the wrist (an effort to end points quicker) or because she wants to improve that aspect of her game? Maybe both. Even though she won only 15 of those points, it's a positive development. "I've worked quite a bit on my volleys," Wozniacki said. "I still think I could have finished up a few more points up there, but I'm improving and I'm trying to move in when I can sometimes." Wozniacki is in the midst of changing her two-handed backhand volley to a more orthodox one-hander.   U.S. tennis struggles with generational divide - Doug Robson, USA Today "How awesome is she?" gushed Stephens, 18, recalling a recent locker-room encounter in which she exchanged words with 13-time major winner Serena Williams for the first time... Christina McHale, a 19-year-old New Jersey native who lost to No. 13 seed Jelena Jankovic in the Australian Open's third round Friday, says she has never spoken to Serena. Neither has Jamie Hampton, a 22-year-old qualifier who lost to Maria Sharapova in the second round Thursday. ...None of the young Americans interviewed in Melbourne offered any criticism. Instead, they said the contact gap is an unfortunate byproduct of an individual sport where globalization, large sums of money, and celebrity seal top players off from their peers. "They become superstars," said Vania King, 22, who upset No. 15 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia on Thursday to reach the third round here for the first time. "You don't see many of the top female players going out and helping the younger generation." The experience gap is particularly pronounced when compared to the current crop of American men. Fueled by their eagerness to suit up for Davis Cup, players such as Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish have routinely trained with younger American men and actively mentored prospects such as Sam Querrey and Ryan Harrison. They are close-knit and chummy. King, Hampton and McHale have all had some contact with Venus on Fed Cup teams. But the sisters have played sparingly for their country in recent years. Serena, for instance, has not participated in Fed Cup since 2007. Nor have the sisters been regular faces on tour.   Tomic confident umpire got it - AAP But the match against Dolgopolov swung on controversy after Tomic benefited greatly from an umpiring decision in the opening game of the fifth set, in which he appeared to challenge a call mid-point. His raised racquet and eyebrow went unnoticed, he won the point and the game, leaving Dolgopolov fuming and playing catch-up for the rest of the set. But the 19-year-old denied he challenged the call. "I looked at the ref, but I didn't say a thing, I continued to play," Tomic said. "In my mind, I didn't challenge."   David Nalbandian to fight $US8000 fine - Foxsports.com.au "I fully deny throwing water after the match I played against Isner," Nalbandian wrote on his Twitter account. "During anti-doping control, I was washing my hands and the doctor incredibly accused to me of throwing water at him. "Two injustices - one inside and another one outside the court. I am going to appeal the sanction."   Fed up: local hopes soar as Bernard Tomic scores - Courtney Walsh, The Australian This was a classic encounter between two men boasting styles most unusual. As Tomic quipped, it was like he was playing himself. "Isn't it like a mirror? Jesus," he said. "It was like I was playing myself. Wow." Tomic may yet have a career in Canberra as a politician post his time on court, such was the extent of the spin he deployed on the ball last night. In Dolgopolov, he had an equally talented and willing adversary. The slice has been somewhat undervalued in an era of prodigious top spin but to watch these artists carving at a ball as if dismembering a Christmas roast was both a joy and a masterclass that showed just how offensive a weapon the spin can be. As commentator Bruce McAvaney quipped, Tomic played "cat and mouse with the dog", not that Dolgopolov was short of magic himself.   Why all Australia wants to spend weekend with Bernie - The Australian This is the week when Bernard Tomic became Bernie... Bernard was someone we were never quite sure about. Bernie is a bloke we are getting to know, and apparently like. "We have become buddies," Pat Cash says of the way Tomic has been embraced by the public this summer. "If you are Australian, whatever name you have you have a nickname." After victory last night, Tomic has progressed further in the tournament than he managed last year. And tournament organisers agree this Australian Open has been all about Bernie. On the days he has played, television figures have soared.   Hewitt braces for Raonic's lethal serve - Courtney Walsh, The Australian   Maaaate, salute our flag - Melbourne Age I know what you Yanks will say, but as if our The Fist wasn't going to beat the pants off old A-Rod anyway. As if we believe the hamstring thing? Our Lil' Bleeder would have played on after a double amputation.   Li Na profits as Anabel Medina Garrigues tumbles - Margie MacDonald, The Australian The 29-year-old collapsed to the surface of Rod Laver Arena on the baseline after she went to change direction and rolled her right ankle. The knee injury she suffered against Monica Seles in the fourth round of the 2002 Australian Open was the same leg and most in the crowd thought she had repeated that injury... After a 10-minute medical timeout, while WTA trainers strapped her right ankle, Medina Garrigues, playing in her 39th grand slam singles, bravely stepped out onto the court to resume the match. it didn't take long for the Spaniard to realise she could not run very far to retrieve Li's shots. She began crying again, looked up to her coach's box where four-time Spanish grand slam winner and former world No 1 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was also crying, and then walked up to shake Li's hand. This site is not responsible for the content of external websites and does not vouch for the accuracy of material excerpted above. This page is updated Monday-Friday except as noted. Comments, corrections and suggestions may be made via email.

Reuters Headlines   'Tweet Spot'              >> More