Thursday, January 17
Last updated at 10:00 pm EST
AUSTRALIAN PRESS
Dellacqua off Target and taking advantage - Linda Pearce, Melbourne Age
CASEY Dellacqua's story is a charming tale of Monaro-driving aspirations, Target tank-top realities, an ecstatic extended family of nans and aunts and cousins so large that extra tickets had to be bought yesterday to fit them all into Vodafone Arena.
SO MUCH of sport is about the moment. The greats seize it, revel in it. The also-rans equivocate and are lost in the rush. Some just panic and throw it away. Then there are those who have the moment ripped from their hands, like Alicia Molik.
TWO YEARS ago here, coach Tony Roche was preparing his charge for a match against Denis Istomin, the Ukbekistani No. 1, who regularly corners the Australian Open's Asian wildcard market.
IT was Roger Federer who first dubbed the Australian Open the 'happy slam'. Given the events of the past two years, it is a phrase which has taken on a distinctly mocking ring. An event once synonymous with a relaxed, barbecue atmosphere and long, hot days of tennis is now known worldwide for ethnic clashes between Serbian and Croatian supporters and the use of capsicum spray by Victoria Police.
MARCOS BAGHDATIS will attempt to dictate terms to 2005 Australian Open winner Marat Safin tonight in a match that will decide Lleyton Hewitt's next opponent, should the Australian survive his second-round match against Denis Istomin today
ONCE ridiculed for being unfit and overweight, blossoming Australian Casey Dellacqua is fast becoming the tour's marathon woman after claiming her biggest scalp in five years on the circuit at Melbourne Park yesterday.Dellacqua, 22, came from a set and 3-0 down to outgun Swiss Patty Schnyder, the world No15, 4-6 7-5 8-6, in a performance testament to her improving fitness and mental toughness.
RUSSIAN Maria Sharapova may have stunned Lindsay Davenport and wowed the Melbourne Park crowd last night with her brilliant 6-1 6-3 win, but she knew at least one person was far from impressed. Sharapova, resplendent in a cream dress but determined to go one match better than last year when she played bridesmaid to Serena Williams, revealed after the win she had been getting the evil eye from a crowd member: Davenport's son Jagger."I felt bad because I thought I saw her little kid giving me dirty looks," Sharapova said.
A POLICE officer claims the use of capsicum spray on unruly Greek fans at the Australian Open saved him from serious injury after he was surrounded and attacked."It was a very volatile situation," Leading Senior Constable Steve Old said yesterday. "I was spat on, I had bottles thrown at me, I was pushed, I was shoved. I was very fearful.["]
BELGIAN "sisters" Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters were united by history and the pride of a tiny tennis nation, but beyond that they had little in common.Another European country is celebrating the arrival of two female champions, but just like their Belgian forerunners, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic have little in common except for their ability to hit a tennis ball.
SPORT has moments that are breathtaking. That's why we watch it, attend it, read it. Roger Federer paints games. Little Lleyton wrestles them. Tiger Woods plays golf shots that opponents cannot even imagine possible. Asafa Powell disappears in a blink. Chris Judd appears from nowhere.But there is another element that has nothing to do with the spectacular or the outrageous. Sport allows us to share intimate and important moments in other people's lives. Sometimes sad, sometimes wonderful. We weep with them, we glow with them.
RAFAEL NADAL has ruled the French Open on clay for three years and is the only player on the planet who can legitimately say he has Roger Federer's number, to some degree, with a career 8-6 record against him.But there are a few things that Federer has that Nadal doesn't - namely Grand Slam titles on hard and grass courts.
AUSTRALIAN Open organisers have been rocked by a report that a young girl was inappropriately touched by a drunk man.
DESPITE a performance which featured 75 per cent of his first serves in and 34 clear winners, Andy Roddick found himself sheepishly talking about two fresh-air swings after cruising into the third round of the Australian Open tonight.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS
So it seemed, as the 20-year-old Sharapova looked quick and intense and the 31-year-old Davenport looked two steps slow and pensive on a cool, gusty night in Rod Laver Arena. But perhaps it is better to wait and see just how Sharapova does in the year's first Grand Slam tournament before dismissing Davenport's prospects of riding her heartwarming comeback after maternity leave to a place at the top of the women's game.The lopsided, second-round defeat may look quite a bit better in 10 days if Sharapova is holding up something shiny. After ending her frustrating 2007 season on an upbeat note by pushing Justine Henin in the final of the year-end championships in Madrid, Sharapova has arrived in Melbourne exuding health and a healthy appetite for more titles.
Playing the Australian Open with pricey, glittering diamond earrings that boost her bling quotient, Serena Williams insists she is having the time of her life. "I'm always happy and smiling. I think maybe because I have made it about me — I put Serena as A, and A is first."She arrived second after Venus in the Williams family line, fifth if one counts her three older three half-sisters, and stands in solidarity with others of her family rank. Asked about the coming NFL playoff game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, Williams enthused, "Go Giants, because I like [quarterback] Eli Manning. He's a younger brother [of Cooper and Peyton]. Younger brothers rock. I'm always rooting for the younger sibling." Maybe it is also because Manning is one of the surprises of the NFL playoffs, something she can identify with after her unexpected Australian Open success a year ago.
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She smiles, she moans, she laughs, she cries. She's rarely serious, even when her body is aching, and after scratching out a 6-2, 7-5, second-round victory over Romania's Edina Gallovits at the Australian Open on Wednesday, she spoke of adding a splash of red to a sometimes blue sports world.
"I'm very outgoing and I like to have fun. I like to be a copy of myself and I have my own image and attitude," Jankovic told FOXSports.com. "It's a very small amount of people in tennis who have a good sense of humor and have a good time and just be themselves.
Most are serious and try to do their job and not to show any emotion. They are kind of plain."
...Jankovic herself says she can do a more than fair impersonation of the serial ball bouncer Djokovic, and sitting in a garden at the Australian Open, she did a fine imitation of her Serbian rival Ana Ivanovic's mini close to the chest fist pump and victory routine, where Ivanovic waves and blows little kisses to the crowd. Jankovic termed both rituals as "just like Sharapova's."
After the smashing success since her return last fall, Davenport suddenly looked like a thirtysomething mom Wednesday against Sharapova. I say who cares? She's motivated, she's seemingly happy, she's a nice storyline to follow. If her movement, her serve, her sleep deprivation ... whatever ... prevent her from hitting Slam pay dirt, so be it. She can (re)retire knowing she tried to answer any lingering questions. Beats sitting home and reading The Hungry Caterpillar for the 500th time.On a happier note, I spoke with Sesil Karantancheva the other day. She's back from her bizarre doping suspension and playing a $25,000 USTA event in Surprise, Ariz. Inasmuch as one can deduce anything from a 15-minute phone call, she appears to be in healthy spirits and willing to play the "minor leagues" if that's what it takes to get her ranking back.
The 18th-seeded Mauresmo fell out of the top 10 for the first time in seven years last fall and took a real cruise to get away."I needed some time off," Mauresmo said Wednesday after she labored to a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over No. 85 Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia to advance to the third round. "I needed to spend some time for myself and really quality time to figure out what I really want for the -- first for the rest of that season, but then for the future, as well. Make sure I really, you know, rest.
"I went on a boat on the Mediterranean Sea and not doing really anything special but just relaxing. That was it."
Canon and Tag Heuer have renewed the three-year deals they signed after Sharapova won her first major -- Wimbledon in 2004.
...Prince signed her to its only lifetime contract and Nike NIKE Inc pays her enough so that there's not one other on-court advertisement on her body during matches.
She's still being paid to drive a Land Rover; last year she signed on with Gatorade/Tropicana and she recently changed phone deals -- from Motorola Motorola Inc to Sony Ericsson -- for a huge payday, we're told. Over the four-year term of the deal, she'll pull in more than the $10.2 million she's won on the court from the folks at Sony Ericsson (a JV of Sony [SNE 52.55 -1.23 (-2.29%) ] and Sweden's Ericsson [ERIC 23.56 0.08 (+0.34%) ] ) to be the face of the brand.
Amelie Mauresmo - Yeah, I know she's a big star and all, but she's temporarily relegated due to her comi-tragic performance against Yaroslava Schvedova. Sure she won, but this "unusual"paragraph from the official website's news story kind of said it all: The eventual tie-breaker was played in an unusual fashion with both players opening with double faults and Mauresmo squandering two match points with two consecutive double faults, before finally taking the match on her third attempt.Third attempt? In all, Mauresmo needed ten match points to close out her match with the no. 75 player in the world, although Shevdova didn't seem to mind. She was actually laughing when things went from ugly to avert-your-eyes horrific.
Very impressed with Sharapova's serve tonight. Her toss is still too high, but her rhythm is great and she has abandoned the abbreviated take back she adopted last year after she hurt her shoulder; Robert Lansdorp liked that she gave it a shot, and Carlos Rodriguez has said the abbreviated swing has helped to protect Justine Henin's shoulder. But I've spoken to a number of coaches/biomechanists who suggest there are not benefits from one swing to the other--just a matter of preference. Certainly no scientific evidence that one is healthier than the other. Sharapova's motion tonight looks so much more natural; perhaps best to stick with what she finds comfortable.
And after that, as Santoro carries on with what will probably be his last year on the circuit, there will be just one more dream left. “Hopefully I will have a chance in a couple of months to play on Wimbledon Centre Court,” he said. “I [have] played on center court of... every Grand Slam except Wimbledon.” There’s something deeply touching about watching a player take as much pride and satisfaction in fulfilling his individual goals as someone like Roger Federer would in his own lofty achievements.Another persevering player reached a personal milestone today – Vince Spadea came from two sets down to defeat Radek Stepanek and win the 300th match of his career. After just missing out on marking a triple century a couple of weeks ago in Adelaide, it had slipped his mind during today’s match. “If I’d remembered I probably would have choked,” he said.
Isner, meanwhile, hadn’t been aware that he was playing a new record holder when he faced Santoro. “Is he? Nice. I’ll be the answer to a trivia question, I guess.”
Yuri Sharapov wore a Nike fatigue jacket during the match and looked a little scary. "He looks like an assassin," Maria said. "I swear, he's a really nice guy. I told him, 'You look like an assassin with that jacket on.' He's like, 'Well.' He has a cold so he told me that he had to put the hood on tonight."...Speaking of politics, here's the first major revelation in the WTA Roadmap 2009: There just might be a way for the Williams sisters to avoid suspension for skipping Indian Wells – which they vowed they will never play again – if they claim emotional distress. Apparently, there's a loophole in the rulebook and if that's the case, the sisters will drive a truck through it.
Former French Open quarterfinalist Sesil Karatantcheva launched her comeback from a two-year ban for doping this week at the Coca Cola Futures Stars presented by the City of Surprise, a $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s event at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz., which is about 20 miles west of Phoenix.
Earlier in the day, Mardy Fish gave American tennis a boost by playing what he described as "one of the best matches I’ve ever played." He had just beaten the No 11 seed Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 which amounts to a pretty big upset in anyone’s book.There had been an inkling of just how much Robredo’s game suited Fish when the Floridian led 4-1 in the fifth at the US Open. But Mardy blew it with the winning post in sight and was determined to gain revenge here.
At least Radek Stepanek has got his priorities right. The Homer Simpson look alike and No 30 seed was bounced out of the draw in the first round, blowing a two set lead to the rap meister Vinnie "He ain't afraid o'ya" Spadea on Tuesday. But rather than lose sleep over the loss of a simple tennis match, Stepanek, the one time squeeze of Martina Hingis, sought out his new love interest, Nicole Vaidisova, for a little comfort and solace.Now there's a euphemism if ever there was one.
That would be the same Vaidisova who appeared on television the other day to deny the rumours that she and Homer were engaged. She even went as far as to suggest that they were not even an item. Presumably, then, they were only having an intimate, informative and involved conversation on the relative merits of the western over the semi western grip when they stood face to face in close proximity outside the players restaurant following Vaidisova's victory over Alicia Molik. Well, at least that would explain what Stepanek was doing with his hands.
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