Tuesday, January 8
Last updated at 12:55 am EDT
AUSTRALIAN PRESS
Aggressive Hewitt shows he still has plenty of fire - Sydney Morning Herald
He then went on to lament that the bad calls had happened repeatedly. However, Hewitt wasn't the only one complaining about the umpiring; Mahut also voiced his dismay with several line calls.Line calls aside, the resurrection of Hewitt's volley was another aspect of his game that has re-emerged since combining with Roche. "I guess in the past I've always been more of a counterpuncher," he said. "You've still got to be able to take that from the practice court onto the match court and pick the right balls to do it."
News that Roche's former pupil Roger Federer would not play at Kooyong in Melbourne, a vital lead-up event to the Australian Open, did not stir Hewitt. The Australian noted that the world No.1 would cope. "Between the French Open and Wimbledon he didn't have any matches either and it didn't worry him too much last year," Hewitt said.
Asked by former Hawthorn full-forward and MC, Jason Dunstall, how he'd cope with Thursday's forecast temperature of 41, the Scotsman sounded a little surprised. "That's pretty hot," he replied. "But I've been doing that Bikram yoga, which is in a 42-degree room, so hopefully I'll be used to it."
He is likely to play a specially scheduled match at Kooyong either tomorrow or Friday, just as Becker played a one-off against Pete Sampras before winning the title at Melbourne Park two weeks later. "I got something in my stomach, and just didn't feel good, and it hasn't really left me," Federer said yesterday. "I'm just trying to rest up; the doctor told me to take it easy a little bit. "Asked if he was concerned about its potential impact on his chances for a third consecutive Australian Open title, Federer said: "Honestly, no, otherwise I would have left already, but I still hang around, and I definitely think it's going to turn for the good."
...Federer confirmed he had taken himself to Epworth Hospital, but tests on Monday failed to disclose the nature of the affliction that left him with gastro-like symptons and limited his practice sessions on the new Melbourne Park Plexicushion to Friday and Saturday.
His agent, Tony Godsick, told The Age from the US that Federer was "bed-ridden for some time".
"Tennis Australia made it pretty difficult for us in the early days. There is still an element that does not like us, particularly in New South Wales, but I think they have come to acknowledge we create publicity for the Australian Open they just could not buy." '..."Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Michael Stich, Boris Becker and Michael Chang all said to me 'We want you to change the surface down there to Rebound Ace and to do something the week before the Open'," said Stubs.
"I can safely say none of us up here are worried about Roger's preparations for the Australian Open," quipped Roddick, who was humiliated by Federer in last year's Open semi-finals and has a 1-15 career record against the champion Swiss. "I don't think we are worried for him. I think I'll sleep OK tonight.["]
However, the yelling during Razzano's ball toss in the 11th game of the final set clearly affected the Frenchwoman. Razzano pointed the handle of her racquet in the direction of the soccer-shirted fans and gestured at them as if to say "You come down and play then".The Serb support provided last year's Sydney International with plenty of colour, although not necessarily at the right times. Yesterday, Ivanovic expressed her concern at the standard of etiquette. "I didn't feel really comfortable if they said something between her serves," Ivanovic said. "They're still learning how because they're used to watching team sports - football or basketball - so tennis is completely different. It's also new for them."
...Despite having tested the new courts in early December, the Plexicushion surface still took Ivanovic by surprise after playing on the indoor carpet in Hong Kong last week. "Their court was really extremely fast, so coming back here to the slow court, many times I didn't move forward as much as I should have just because I'm used to the ball coming to me," she said.
"So that was definitely a thing that I was very frustrated with, but I tried to work my way with it and tried even to come to the net more often."
But the two-time Sydney champion (2006, 07) found the new Plexicushion surface unsatisfactory."Maybe it was him, maybe it was the court, but it seemed so slow it was tough for me to put balls away," Blake said, adding that his rain-interrupted weekend practice sessions didn't help.
SLEEP-deprived tennis promoter Colin Stubs gratefully shook the hand of a bearded Cypriot in a function room at Kooyong yesterday.A bemused Marcos Baghdatis, the intended target, was standing behind his swarthy cousin and reassured Stubs that mistaken identity was a regular gaffe when he brings family to the Australian Open.
Stubs' error was understandable. Aside from enduring a frantic 24 hours seeking a replacement for world No. 1 Roger Federer at the Kooyong Classic, Baghdatis is barely recognisable this year with his new clean-shaven image.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
Santoro, 35, will be in the spotlight at the Australian Open next week when he plays his 62nd Grand Slam event, eclipsing Andre Agassi's record of 61. He will also become the leader, among active players, with 38 in a row, taking over from Dominik Hrbaty, who has 44, but is injured and not playing. "It's very symbolic in the sense that it means I've had a long career," Santoro said of the record, "and indicates a certain longevity in terms of ranking [he has been as high as No. 17 and in the top 62 a total of 16 years, including the past 11 consecutively] and fitness. Playing 62 Grand Slams means you haven't been hurt much. I've never had surgery. It's a record that means a lot to me."..."To be truthful, more and more I think that spectators come to see a show," Santoro said. "Of course, when I play I want to win. [But] the people paid to see the match, and as a player, je me suis régalé [literally, I was regaled] and Federer had a good time. In the end, the loss was of no importance.
"We talked in the locker room 10 minutes later. It was incredible, we'd just been through a great experience. I've never played another match that was like that one, never."
...When asked about the best compliment he had ever received, he does not hesitate.
"It would to be from Pete Sampras when he called me the magician," he said. "Coming from him, it's something I'll never forget."
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Raymond and old friend Francesca Schiavone of Italy have agreed to play together in Sydney and Melbourne, and perhaps in Doha and Dubai....Things get a little bit more complex when it comes to who is actually going to represent the United States in doubles [Fed Cup]... Raymond chose her words carefully, saying she'll play with any partner Garrison feels is best for the common cause. "The powers that be will have to sit down and think about who they want," Raymond said. "It's definitely an odd situation, given the fact that [Huber] just became an American citizen. If she plays, another girl is going to lose a spot. It'll be interesting to see how Zina handles it."
Lindsay DavenportMoms wins still another post-childbirth title, taking ASB event in Auckland, New Zealand. She moved past Monica Seles with this, her 54th career title. Aussie contender, you ask? Why not?
There's no question that top-ranked Justine Henin, the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic do not want to open up against the powerballer, who rarely chokes and is as accurate as they come off the ground when she's feeling right.But Davenport, too, would likely prefer to face another unseeded player or a lesser seed, because trying to bring out her best early and often against competitors that can match her stroke-for-stroke is not a desirable scenario for a player who is still a bit rusty.
"A lot of times the best time to knock somebody out is early on before they get their groove on. There are probably about five girls I'd rather not get in the first round," said Davenport, who didn't name the other two past Henin and the Williams sisters, but Sharapova, who owns a 4-1 record against her, No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who bested her in the '04 U.S. Open semis, and the fast-rising newbie Ivanovic are probably good choices for the others that she'd like to avoid.
QUALITY SYDNEY WINS OF THE DAY: Props to qualifier, Kaia Kanepi, who overcame the Next Great Eye Candy, Dominika Cibulkova, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) in Sydney, and to Daniela Hantuchova, who bested Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Hantuchova will face Nicole Vaidisova, who overcame Camille Pin, 6-1 2-6, 6-2. On the men's side, top-seed Richard Gasquet looks good after he finally got over on Igor Andreev 6-3, 7-6. However, that Gasquet is the top seed says that too many stars are choosing exos over this very legit tournament....GUGA TO RETIRE AT YEAR'S END: Didn't the great Brazilian already call it quits. No matter, three-time RG champ Gustavo Kuerten, 31, will play his farewell season in 2008, but said he wants Roland Garros to be among them and will also play Brazil and Miami. "I want to play in tournaments that are special for me," Kuerten said.
So there you have it. It's hard to imagine that the various threats posed by on-line gambling can ever be fully eliminated, but having an Integrity Unit that was created and has been supported by all the major constituents (ITF, WTA, ATP, Grand Slams) sends the right signals. Rees and Gunn certainly have outstanding credentials, and I think the Lords acted with much-needed alacrity and common-purpose on this issue.The other day, in a conversation (if memory serves), someone made the counter-intuitive point that the good thing about having a robust on-line gambling industry is that it helps monitor the respective sports. On-line booking agents, even when they are just bet-matching instead of actually taking action and betting against customers, are also concerned with the reputation of the game, and the "Integrity Unit" (now there's an post-modern concept if there ever was one) most of them have provides a first line of defense against corruption. Actually, it's the booking agents who have alerted the ATP and other constituents to irregularities or suspicious betting patterns. I wonder if that is going to change now - will the review end up calling for tennis to assume the burden of monitoring betting activity?
4. Will Rafael Nadal’s punishing style begin to take a toll?Grinders generally don’t last as long as attacking players. See Jim Courier and Lleyton Hewitt. Or do they? No one lasted as long as Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors, neither of whom got many easy points over the years.
Nadal-Hewitt is not a perfect comparison, anyway. Rafa is a stronger athlete and player who doesn’t rely on getting one more ball back than his opponent. Like everyone else, Hewitt has begun to miss more as he’s aged. This, along with injuries, is bound to happen to Nadal as well, who puts in more miles and plays with more intensity than anyone. A slight dip in that intensity could mean a big dip in results. Nadal could also be compared with a young Monica Seles, who, like Rafa, went into a kind of competitive trance on court. Monica lost her iron will after she was stabbed, but I don’t see Rafa being attacked by a crazed Federer fan any time soon (wait, there are a few people around here who may fit that profile...). In other words, the head shouldn’t be as much of an issue with Nadal as the nicks and bruises he’ll gather over the years.
For now, Nadal has begun to implement preventive measures, like improving his serve, shortening his forehand backswing, and trying to end points a bit sooner. At 21, he’s got at least three more years of top form in him. There’s no reason to pick anyone else in any clay event he plays in the immediate future, and the medium-slow surface in Melbourne should suit him.
Roddick and Davydenko carried on an animated conversation, frequently punctuated with hearty laughter and Safin and Baghdatis did a little kibitzing later.The players were quizzed about the new Plexicushion courts and Safin added more laughs with a decidedly non-technical answer. “I think it’s a little different because we’re used to playing on green,” he said. “The first impression was a little bit not normal. But you can get used to it. But it’s still a little bit better with the green – in my opinion.”Gonzalez smiled and said to Safin, “it’s a different color, but it’s just a color.”
...The Kooyong event may not have seen the last of Federer for 2008. Event director Colin Stubs claimed he had only communicated with Federer through his management, saying. “I’ve had basically little contact, I’m going to have a little more as the week goes on because there’s a suggestion that he might like to come out and play a match outside the format, just to get a match under his belt if he’s physically able to do so.”
...Reports from the Sydney International (officially the Medibank International) have it that tournament communications manager Craig Gabriel has come up with a novel scheme. Frustrated that major media outlets are not using the officially name of the tournament but simply calling it the Sydney International, Gabriel has added a different twist to the common practice having a contest where media types try to forecast the outcome of matches. The daily prize will go, not to someone correctly predicting the winners, but to whomever has the most mention of “Medibank International” in their copy.
Stat-of-the-week: Five metres. That is the distance that world No. 1 Justine Henin got from some giraffes during a trip to South Africa after she won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in November."We had an amazing time," Henin recalled in Sydney on Sunday. "I was there with my best friends and their six-year-old boy. I think the most moving thing was when we were on safari on horseback. Each of us was on a horse. We were able to get within five metres of some giraffes, we were really close. Then we stopped to have an aperitif. We let the horses go and they went back to the lodge. We had an aperitif and watched a magnificent sunset. It was, how can I put it . . . ‘Out of Africa.’ That’s really what it was."
"For sure I can't play. I can't even hit slowly with the ball," he said. "The best thing is to rest and get treatment. In two or three days, start hitting slowly again and see how it goes."He said the pain came gradually in the middle of his back over an hour but became so intense he could not do anything.
"I felt fit, great and ready to go. It was just bad luck today, warming up," he said. "It's bad luck."
..."It's very disappointing but all I can do is wait and try and be ready for the Open with a good feeling by Monday."
And former top-10 star Mario Ancic, on the comeback trail after missing six months of last season due to illness, today claimed he was in serious doubt after withdrawing from Auckland with a stomach bug."If it wasn't the Australian Open, I would straight away tell you 'no', but it's a grand slam," Ancic said.
"I'll prolong the decision but it's a very small chance ... it's not looking good."
There are even more worries among the women.
Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 Open champion, withdrew from the Sydney International this week with an adductor muscle strain, 2007 Open quarter-finalist Lucie Safarova pulled out today with a sore buttock and world No.3 Jelena Jankovic is recovering from a thigh injury that forced her to forfeit two matches at last week's Hopman Cup.
BRITISH PRESS
Both Green and Little are fans of Bikram yoga, which involves doing eye-watering stretches and poses in a temperatures of more than 40C. Together they have made Murray a convert to the art, so much so that he spent much of December locked in a sweltering room with several other people, contorting himself in ever more painful ways. What is even more surprising is that he actually seemed to enjoy it."I've done five or six classes now and it's been really good fun," he said. "You can't talk about how hard it is until you do it. I did some tough fitness work in the off-season and that's one of the hardest things to do. With no windows, and with 20 other people in there, and just trying to hold postures and stay balanced and concentrated the whole time, it's really tough."
..."I can't really do any of the good stuff yet but I think if I keep doing it, then in about six months I think there'll be a huge improvement in flexibility and also strength as well because you're having to do stuff like this . . ." At this point, Murray stopped to hold his leg straight in the air at 90 degrees before pulling it higher and higher by increments, a move which attracted some funny looks from those passing en route to Tennis Australia's nearby office.
AMERICAN PRESS
Americans John Isner, Sam Querrey and Donald Young will join 19-year-old Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center Feb. 9-17.
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