Sharapova impressive in Open GDF Suez 2014 opener

Maria Sharapova made an impressive start to her Open GDF Suez campaign. Sharapova had a bye in the first round as the top seed of the tournament and played Daniela Hantuchova in the second round today.

Hantuchova had won her first round against Marina Erakovic, who had to retire trailing 3-6 0-3.

Sharapova came out firing, while Hantuchova came out mis-firing. It was interesting to see that Hantuchova won just 3 points on her first serve and none of the points played on her second serve. Sharapova who has had problems with her serve, fired 6 aces and saved all 3 break points she faced as she handed Hantuchova a bagel in the first set.

Sharapova kept the momentum going on serve in the second set as she fired 4 aces, totalling 10 for the match and saved 4 break points. Sharapova broke Hantuchova to win the match. It is interesting to note that Hantuchova failed to win a single point on her second serve in the entire match.

Sharapova will face the winner of Yvonne Meusburger vs Kirsten Flipkens.

Quotable Quotes - Australian Open Day Four

Australian Open finally saw the implementation of the heat rule on the fourth day. There were some epic encounters. Sharapova toughed it out against Knapp, Navarro outlasted Voskoboeva, Delpotro was stunned by Spanish Roberto Bautista Agut. Federer and Nadal had routine wins.

Sharapova and Knapp raised concerns regarding heat rule, but it was Roger Federer who won the quote of the day award. 

Let us see what the players had to say

Roger Federer

Roger Federer

“I like the check‑ins at airports.  Packing the bags is good fun.  What else?  Playing in 42 degrees heat (laughter).” – when asked what is the best part of being Roger Federer

“Wouldn't win because these guys are already winning, so...” in response to the question ‘Andy Murray was asked a fun question the other day.  If there was an imaginary tournament of the player with the legendary coach, he thought that he and Lendl would win.  Hewitt said that he and Patrick would win.  How do you think you and Stefan would step up?’

“Thank you for the compliment.  Finally I get one (smiling).  It's been a while.” – when told that he moved well.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro

“I think sometimes the favorites lose very early in a Grand Slam, like Federer in Wimbledon or Rafa, and then other ones in the US Open.  Here is my chance to get out very early in the tournament.” – when aksed he was one of the favourites to make out his section of draw

Andy Murray

“So I think obviously after the tournament's finished, I'm sure there will be some discussions between the ATP, and the ITF to maybe shore up the rules a little bit and make it a little bit, you know, easier for everybody to understand.” – when asked if the tournament officials have been fair with the heat policy

Milos Raonic

“But I do like to watch him play.” – when asked does he watch Dimitrov much

Sloane Stephens

“Nashville, The Good Wife.  Scandal.  I watch Scandal every week.  My little shows I watch on my computer.  That's pretty much it.  I don't like to do much.  Pretty low key.” – when asked what shows she watches

"Yeah.  Like, yeah, it was intense.  Like that's the worst thing, to be outside when it's lightning or to be in the middle of the ocean like by yourself." – when asked if she could see the lighting from the court.

Victoria Azarenka

“A little bit.  Just a little bit.  I saw a little bit match of Tsonga and that's it.  And Rafa a little bit.” – when asked did she watch any other match.

“Actually my grandmother named me that.  I had have to thank her because my parents wanted to call my Daria, and I don't think that suits me at all.” – when asked about the story of her name.

Vasek Posposil

“Yeah, no, I mean, it seems I don't want to play him.  Retired against him twice now.  Really unfortunate injury for me.” When asked if he was aftraid to play Stanislas Wawrinka

Rafael Nadal

"I never felt the crowd against me.  I felt most of the times the crowd behind me, and that's something I just can say thank you very much to the Australian fans." – when asked does he feel pressure playing a local player at their home slam.

Caroline Wozniacki

"I think you always believe you can win, but you still have quite a few matches to go.  So I'm just thinking one match at a time." – when asked if she felt like she was playing like she can win the title.

Karin Knapp

"I think you always believe you can win, but you still have quite a few matches to go.  So I'm just thinking one match at a time." – when asked about heat rules

Maria Sharapova

"I asked the trainer the other day, What does it take for the roof to be closed or matches to be stopped?  She said, We have no control over this." – when asked about the heat rules.

Navarro oulasts Voskoboeva in Australian Open

As Maria Sharapova and Karin Knapp were engaged in a thrilling encounter , Carla Saurez Navarro and Galina Voskoboveva made sure that the people watching their match on the show court 2, got their money's worth.

Carla Saurez Navarro won a tight first set in the tie-break 7-6(2), winning 5 more points than her opponent. Second serve return let Voskoboeva down as she won just 3 of the 11 points played on Navarro's second serve.

Voskoboeva upped her aggression in the second set posting a +2 winner-unforced error differential, Navarro on the other hand had -2 differential. Better return of second serve helped her cause and she succeeded in forcing the decider as she took the second set 6-3.

As the third set started, errors began creeping into Voskoboeva's game and Navarro welcomed those errors and won the enthralling 81 minutes 3rd set 8-6.

Navarro will try to recover from the heat and exhaustion and be ready for another battle against Dominika Cibulkova in the third round, who had a very easy match winning 6-0 6-1 over Stefanie Voegele.

Interesting Stat : Cibulkova's win took less time than the first set of the Navarro-Voskoboeva match. Cibulkova won in 57 minutes, whereas the first set of Navarro-Voskoboeva match lasted 60 minutes.

Sharapova battles past Knapp and Heat in Australian Open

It was a straight match for Maria Sharapova at least on paper, when she walked on to the Rod Laver Arena to play Karin Knapp. For quite sometime it seemed that Sharapova will run away with the match in straight sets as she won the first set 6-3.

Knapp was not willing to go down without a fight, as she fought hard to take the second set 6-4 to force a decider. It was the third set where the battle really started.

Sharapova was the first to draw blood in the third set as she raced to a 3-1 lead in the decider. Knapp kept on fighting and brought the set back to serve by levelling at 3-all.

In the 7th game of the third set, Knapp saved 4 break points but Sharapova made it the fifth time and went up a break again. Sharapova served for the match at 5-4, but Knapp was not yet ready to go down as she fought off 3 match points to stay alive in the heated contest. I mean heated literally, with temperatures souring to 39 degrees Celcius and yes, it was Sharapova's double fault on the break point that gifted the break to Knapp.

Sharapova broke Knapp again at 8-all to serve for the match a second time. Sharapova known for her fighting instincts and never give up attitude, showed that when serving for the match. She threw in 3 double faults, one of which took her down a break point again. Sharapova overcame those 3 double faults to outlast heat and valiant efforts from Karin Knapp winning the third set 10-8.

Maria Sharapova is now into the third round of Australian Open where she will play Alize Cornet.

Li Na d. Maria Sharapova (Australian Open 2013 Semi-Finals)

Li Na looked back to see if Mara Sharapova had emerged from the locker room or not, while she was waiting for her in the gallery so that the two could walk to the court. Li Na lead Maria Sharpaova to the court and never looked back again.

Maria Sharapova walked onto the court determined to make it to back to back Australian Open finals for the second time in her career. She walked behind Li Na to the court, got to the net for coin toss after Li Na and never recovered from being behind Li Na. Li Na won the coin toss but chose to receive the serve.

Sharapova opened the match with back to back double faults, and Li Na capitalised on the opportunity to break Sharapova to take an early lead. This set the pattern for the entire match. Li Na whose serve had been questionable coming to the match, saved a break point to hold her serve and go up 2-0. Both players held serve to make it 3-1.
A Sharapova double fault, preceded by a Li Na winner gave Li another opening. Sharapova saved two break points by putting pressure on Li Na's forehand but the third break point proved too much for Sharapova as Li Na drilled a winner to drown Sharapova into a 2 break deficit to lead 4-1. This was for the first time in the Australian Open that Sharapova had lost more than 3 games in a set.

Li Na saved two break points but Sharapova kept fighting and converted on her 3rd opportunity to bring the deficit to one break of serve and get back to 4-2. However, that was all from Sharapova, as Li broke Sharapova right back and held her own serve to put one foot into the final. Li won the first set 6-2.

Sharapova started the second set stronger by holding her serve and getting to a break point on Li Na's serve. however, it proved to be a day when Li Na's fore-hand wont break down, as she hit a forehand winner to save the break point.  Sharapova got a look at 2nd break point in the game but 2 good first serves and an overcooked forehand from Sharapova let Li Na walk away with her service.

Both players held serve to make it 2-all. Li Na, who has been refrred as Nails, started nailing Sharapova's second serve. A double fault from Sharapova gave Li a break point and an over hit forehand from Sharapova put in one of the last nails into the coffin of Sharapova, as Li lead 3-2 in the 2nd set.

Sharapova again got to a break point on Li's serve to bring it back to serve but great first and second serves from Li Na erased any hopes Sharapova had, and Li moved ahead 4-2.

Li Na hit the final nail into Sharapova's coffin by breaking her serve yet again, to give herself a chance to serve for the match.

An excellent un-returnable serve gave Li her first match point, but a missed forehand got the game back to deuce. An ace at perfect time to bring a second match point and a return into the net from Sharapova put Li Na's second foot into the final.

The key to Li Na's win today was her forehand which did not break down. Just like I mentioned in my preview of the match, the player with cleaner stats will go on to win the match. Sharapova entered the match with a winner-unforced error of +5 on average while Li Na had a -8 differential, but Sharapova left the court and the tournament with -15 winners unforced errors for the match and Li Na left the court to walk back on Saturday with a +3 differential. Sharapova had only been broken twice in her last 5 matches but got broken 5 times today and Li Na who had been broken for 11 times in the tournament when she entered the match, was broken only once.

Sharapova will have to wait for another year to lay her hands on to the Australian Open trophy, while Li Na gives herself another chance to win her first Australian Open title.

Li Na's win ended Sharapova's chances of returning to world no.1. For now on, Li walks on and will wait for the winner of Azarenka/Stephens match in the final.

I will end the match report with this, Li Na as asked in on-court interview to comment on her age, which she replied by saying to Rennae Stubs "No, you know in truth I am younger than you".

Maria Sharapova vs Li Na (Australian Open 2013 Semi-Final Preview)

Maria Sharapova will walk into the match with the fewest games lost in the tournament in making it to the Australian Open semi-final since the 128 player draw began, an open era record. Li Na will walk back to the courts where she clawed her way back from the jaws of defeat in 2011, by saving a match point and defeating then World no.1 Caroline Wozniacki, to make it to her first ever grand slam final.

The two players have been hot since the start of the season, Li going 13-1 since the start and the only loss coming at the hands of Agnieszka Radwanska, while Sharapova still undefeated in her 2013 campaign.

This is the pair's 13th meeting, with Sharapova leading 8-4, winning the last 3 meetings in 2012. Sharapova routed Li in the semi-finals of Beijing last year, baggling Li in the 2nd set.

Both players have yet to drop a set so far in the tournament. Let us have a look at what do the numbers tell us about the performance of the players.

The stats below are the average stats of the players for the 5 matches played so far in the tournament.

Description	Sharapova	Li
Aces	4	3
Double Faults	3	3
1st Serve %age	60%	66%
1st serve points won	79%	65%
2nd serve points won	55%	50%
Net points won	62%	69%
Break points won	57%	75%
1st serve return won	54%	47%
2nd serve return won	71%	65%
Winners	20	21
Unforced Errors	15	29

The match will come down to 3 things as always

Serve: Service holds have not been a problem for Sharapova so far in this tournament, as she has been broken only twice in her previous 5 matches. Li, on the other hand has been broken for 11 times in her previous 5 matches. Add the fact that Sharapova has won 14% more points compared to Li, behind her first serve and 5% more behind her 2nd serve. Serve, a liability for Sharapova or Li?

Return: Sharapova has been hot on returns, breaking her opponents ruthlessly throughout her 5 matches. Li, has not been bad on service returns, however Sharapova has been better. Li has won 65% points behind her first serve while Sharapova has won 54% points while returning the first serves of her opponents. The major concern for Li will be her 2nd serve, where has won only 50% points and Sharapova has been punishing the players on their 2nd serves. Li will have to up her first serve %age and points won behind her first serve. 

Winners-Unforced Errors Differential: The player with cleaner stats will have more chance of making it to the final of the first grand slam of the year. Both players hit the ball as hard as they can, and keeping the unforced errors low will definitely help each player. A perfect balance between aggression and defense will be needed. Sharapova has so been been able to keep her stats clean with a +5 winners-unforced errors differential, while Li has a -8 winners-unforced errors differential.

Sharapova has Li's previous coach Thomas Hogstedt in her corner and an insight into Li's game will definitely help Sharapova. Li on the other hand has Carlos Rodriguez, Justine Henin's former coach, on her camp. It will be interesting to see how to the players go out there on the court.

 Sharapova leads Li 5-1 in the pair's meetings on hard courts, Sharapova has gone for Li's forehand in her previous meetings which is the weaker wing of Li Na and tends to break down under pressure.

Sharapova has a great chance of winning this match, however, if Li can dictate and make Sharapova run and come to the net, Li will have a chance in this match.

Li has been known for losing concentration during the match, however, she will have to razor sharp from the start to the end if she is to make it past the 2008 Australian Open champion, Maria Sharapova.

It will also come down to what type of Li we see today, an error spraying machine or a composed and winner producing player. The player making the first strike will definitely have an edge in the match.

My mind tells me to go with Sharapova, but I know that I will be rooting for Li Na.

Pick : Sharapova in 3 sets.

Who are you going for?

Maria Sharapova vs Ekaterina Makarova (Australian Open Quarter-Final Preview)

Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova meet in the quarter-finals of Australian Open for the 2nd year in a row. Last year Sharapova won in straight sets. In-fact Sharapova has won all the meetings with Makarova (4-0). For a preview of Radwanska/Li match, please go here

Makrova has the game and the fire-power to dispose off the top players, as she showed by handing Serena Williams an early exit last year, and moving past Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber this year, however, Sharapova has been in blistering form so far and has lost only 5 games so far in making it to the quarter-finals.

Let us have a look at the performance of the 2 players so far in the tournament.

The stats have been averaged for the 4 matches played by the players so far

Description	Sharapova	Makarova
Aces	4	4
Double Faults	3	3
1st Serve %age	58%	58%
1st serve points won	78%	63%
2nd serve points won	57%	47%
Net points won	59%	70%
Break points won	59%	64%
1st serve return won	59%	41%
2nd serve return won	70%	66%
Winners	19	24
Unforced Errors	15	19

Numbers clearly indicate that Sharpaova is the heavy favourite going into the match. Let us have a look at some of the vital compenents of the game, which might be the deciding factors. 

Serve: Sharapova has lost her serve just once in the tournament so far, while Makarova has been broken 16 times so far. I guess, this speaks it all. Sharapova's only loss of serve came at the hands of Venus Williams in her 3rd round match. Watch out for the difference in the first and 2nd serve points won by each player.

Net Points won : Makarova's only chance to trouble Sharapova will be by trying to bring her as much to net as possible, as the numbers favour Makarova in net play.

Return of Serve: Sharapova has won a whopping 59% of the points when returning the first serve and 70% while returning the 2nd serve of her opponents, Makarova is behind Sharapova in winning points while returning the second serve of her opponents, but Sharapova has won 57% points on average behind her 2nd serve which might make life difficult for Makarova and she may find difficult winning points while returning the second serve of Sharapova.

Makarova will be trying to make it to her first ever Grand Slam semi-final, while Sharapova will be eyeing to make it to her 6th Australian Open semi-final. Makarova is 0-1 in Australian Open quarter-finals while Sharapova is 5-0.

Unless, Sharapova has a very off day and Makarova has a very good day, I can't see Makarova pulling it off over Sharapova.

Pick: Sharapova in 2 sets.

What do you think? Do you see Makarova reeling off more than 3 games in a set?

Quotable Quotes Australian Open - Day 5

Agnieszka Radwanska

13 is unlucky number in Poland

Q.  Is this your best winning streak of your career?

AR:  I think so.  I think I never win 12 matches in a row, no.

 

Q.  Is 13 an unlucky number in Poland?

AR:  There is.  I didn't say that. 

Ana Ivanovic

She definitely knows how to keep things funny

Q.  What happened in the first set?

AI:  What do you mean? 

 

Q.  At the service, I mean.  You was 5 2. 

AI:  Okay, well, the same way I got to 5 2 I got to 5 All.  Didn't happen much.  

Li Na

We knew that Li Na not only fights her opponents on court, but herself as well

"You know, I always try to play my game on the court, so, yeah.  But sometimes I was fighting against myself.  I always waste a lot of energy on the court."

Novak Djokovic

Reporters definitely try to get out everything from you, but Djokovic knows how much to give

"I won't answer what is the game to beat me, that's for sure (smiling)"

Kei Nishikori

Hoping, his ankle holds up in his next match

Q.  You had a medical timeout for your ankle.  Is it okay?

KN:  Yeah, it's good.

Venus Williams

She definitely knows how to handle and answer the questions. Check her responses to the questions.

Q.  On a non tennis note, did you watch any of Oprah's interview with Lance Armstrong?

VW:  No, I didn't.

Q.  Is it something that players are talking about, his confession to doping?

VW:  I think everyone is pretty much focused on the tennis.  Maybe other players are talking about it.  I have no idea.

Q.  Do you have any reaction?

VW:  I can't talk about anything I don't know anything about, so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut.  I'm not an expert on that stuff.  That's all I can say.

Maria Sharapova

Now we all know that Sharapova wanted to win this match:

"Since the draw came out, I was really looking forward to that match-up"

Beautifully handled by Sharapova. See her response to the question.

Q.  You are thinking about the next match, but you beat Venus today.  How do you think about the performance of Serena Williams to win this title?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  She's on the other side of the draw and other players are on the other side of the draw as well.  Until you get to that stage, and if you do, if you're facing each other, that's the point when you're thinking about that particular opponent.

Stanilsas Wawrinka

A stupid question, but a spot on answer from Wawrinka.

 Were you aware that was the last American in the tournament?

SW:  You know, it's not my first problem.  I play at US Open and it was always the last American.  It's not the first time I play when it's the last American in a Grand Slam.

David Ferrer

Q.  Do you feel more pressure being the top Spaniard without Rafa here?

DF:  No, of course I'm not.  I don't mind I am the No. 1 of Spain or not.  I am only focused with myself and with my tennis, of course.

Rafael, no, is very important for us.  Is a good friend for me.  He's recovering soon, no?

That is all from today. Hope to bring to you some good collection for tomorrow as well. Enjoy the up-coming 6th day of the Australian Open 2013

Australian Open 2013 - Web-site Glitches

It is just the second day of the Australian Open, and a lot of things have been going wrong with the live score being up-dated on the Australian Open live score link. Just yesterday, as the Maria Sharapova was on her course to win a double bagel and be the first player to move into the second round of the Asutralian Open 2013, there was a disparity going on in the score, with the IBM slam tracker always trailing the live-scoring summary. Here is the picture below:

This was just one picture. In the second set, the live-scoring showed that Sharapova was up 5-0, while the IBM Slam tracker showed Sharapova up by 5-0.

Now, in today's matches, I was watching the Roger Federer - Benoit Paire match, and when the match culminated with Federer winning the match 6-2 6-4 6-1, I went on to check the live scores of other matches and I found out that Di Wu, who had already made history in Chinese tennis by being the first Chinese male player in the open era to play at Australian Open, added one more chapter in the history of tennis in China when he became the first Chinese player of the open era to be seeded at a grand slam.

As per the live score web-site of Australian Open, Di Wu is the 17th seed for the Australian Open 2013

What is going on at the back-end of the live-scoring, only the Australian Open team knows, but here is to the hoping that such things don't happen.

P.S Our 17th seed lost a tight first set 5-7 to Ivan Dodig. O! I just checked, he won the second set 6-4, but is down a break 0-2 in the third.

Enjoy these small glitches till they last.

Australian Open Draw Analysis - WTA

First of all, apologies for bringing the draw analysis to you people so late. I slept after the draw and had to go to office and you all know the routine ;)

10 a.m Australian time and 4 a.m Pakistani time, was the time the draw was supposed to be made. However, the 65 year old boat carrying the defending champions, Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka and their trophies, took ages to reach, and the draw started more than half an hour late. You can judge with this, how professional the Australian Open organisation is. There was a good tweet when we were all waiting for the good old boat to arrive, saying that the boat should be penalised with time penalty. It was my first time watching the Australian Open draw being made live, and it was not a good experience, given the delay in proceedings they made. I can continue to rant on and on, but I think, this will be enough for the time being, let us move on to the draw.

All the eyes were on where Serena Williams, the 5 time Australian Open champion, will land in the draw. The wrath of the draw gods fell on Azarenka as she drew Serena for a possible semi-final match-up. Sharapova must have breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.

There will be 3 way battle for the top spot at the Australian Open. Last year there were 4 contenders for the top spot, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, and we all know how it ended. This year however, there are 3 players in a race for the top spot, 2 of the players are the same as the last year, the new name is familiar to all you, yes Serena Williams. Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, all be vying for the top spot.

Let us have a look at how the draw unfolded.

FIRST QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Victoria Azarenka and Sara Errani

Also here

- Last years’ Australian Open top seed, Caroline Wozniacki who faces a very tough first round against the   German Sabine Liscki

- Brisbane International runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

- The younger Radwanska; and

- The American, Varvara Lepchenko

Returning Player

Svetlana Kuznetsova

ANALYSIS

Victoria Azarenka opens against Monica Niculescu. Azarenka is 4-0 life-time against Niculescu and has lost only one set in the 4 encounters. Niculescu made the semi-finals at the Shenzhen tournament where she lost to Zakopalova, and quarter-finals at Hobart, losing to Kristen Flipkens. Azarenka withdrew from her semi-final match against Serena Williams at Brisbane International due to toe infection caused by bad pedicure. Azarenka said that she had been training for the last few days and feels well, but how well she is will be determined in her first round match against Niculescu. In the 2^nd round Azarenka faces the winner of Daniilidou and Pliskova, while her possible 3^rd round opponent can be the younger Radwanska or the rising American youngster Jamie Hampton, who impressed in her tight straight sets loss to Radwanska in Auckland.

Roberta Vinci is seeded to meet Azarenka in the 4^th round. Vinci opens against Soler-Espiona against whom she is 4-0, can face Elena Vesnina in the 2^nd round who is at the moment in the final of Hobart. Vinci will be hoping for Vesnina to lose in the 1^st round since she is 1-3 life-time against the Russian. Vinci is seeded to meet American Varavra Lepchenko who enters the Australian Open on a 4 match losing streak.

Sara Errani is on the bottom of the quarter and opens her 2013 Australian Open campaign against Caral Saurez Navaro, against whom she is 3-1 life-time. Errani’s possible 2^nd round opponent is Christina Mchale. Errani is 3-0 against Mchale with the pair’s last 2 match going the distance. Mchale enters the Australian Open on a 7 match losing streak. A possible block-buster 3^rd round match can be the show-down of Errani against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova is coming off an injury lay off and had a good run to the quarter-finals of Sydney before going down to Kerber. A good thing for Kuznetsova is that she is 5-1 against Errani.

A blockbuster first round match puts to test two contrasting styles in Caroline Wozniacki against Sabine Liscki. The match promises to be a great one. Wozniacki could not have asked for a more tough 1^st round match. Liscki is 2-1 against Caroline Wozniacki, although the 2 have not met since their 4^th round match at Wimbledon in 2009, won by Liscki. The winner of the match is likely to face Anastasia Pavlyunchova in the 3^rd round, with the winner facing probably Errani or Kuznetsova.

First round matches to watch:

Liscki vs Wozniacki; Hampton vs U. Radwanska

Black Horses : Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Svetlana Kuznetsova

Players to keep an eye on : Jamie Hampton, Su-Wei Hsieh and Lauren Davis

Likely Early upsets : Caroline Wozniacki, Urszula Radwanska

Quarter-finals : Azarenka d. Liscki (I have to give the girl a chance, she lost a tough 3 setter to Sharapova here last year)

SECOND QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova

Also here

- Golden set winner Yaroslava Shvedova

- Auckland runner-up Yanina Wickmayer

- The newly engaged Maria Kirilenko; and

- 2010 French Open champion and former top 10 player Franchesca Schiavone

- Hobart Semi-finalist and talented American Sloane Stephens

Oldest Player

The 42 year old veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm, who enjoys playing tennis

ANALYSIS

The 5 time Australian Open champion Serena Williams starts against Edina Gallovits-Hall, and is seeded to play Yaroslava Shvedova. Serena is 2-0 against the Kazakh, however the last time they played Serena had to dig deep to sent Shvedova home. The pair played at the fourth round of Wimbledon and Serena won 7-5 in the third.

Yanina Wickmayer, the Auckland runner-up, opens against Australian Jarmila Gajdosova, against whom she is 3-1 life-time. Maria Kirilenko opens her campaign against the American Vania King and  the winner is likely to play the winner of Rebecca Marino and Shuai Peng.Kirilenko is 1-0 against King and 2-1 against Peng. She is seeded to meet Wickmayer in the 3^rd round. The two have never played before, however, I will take Kirilenko to make it to the 4^th round. Kirilenko has made it to the quarter-finals of Australian Open before and she definitely knows what it takes to to do well, Wickmayer on the other hand has made it out of the 2^nd round only once during her 4 visists at Australian Open. So, I will go with Maria Kirilenko to make it to the 4^th round.

Petra Kvitova sits at the bottom of the quarter, and faces a tough opener in the former of 2010 French Open champion Franchesca Schiavone. Schiavone and Kvitova both have been having hard time recently with Schiavone winning just 2 of her last 10 matches (including Hopman cup), and Kvitova winning one more match than Schiavone, 3 of her last 10 matches. The winner is likely to face the British youngster Laura Robson in the second round. Kvitova is seeded to play Stephens in the 3^rd round. Stephens is coming off a quarter-final showing at Brisbane and a semi-final appearance at Hobart. I think Kvitova will right her ships just in time to make a run here at the Australian Open. Kvitova has made it to the quarter-finals or better of Australian Open the last two years.

Nadia Petrova plays the oldest player in the draw Date-Krumm and is seeded to play Lucie Safarova in the 3^rd round. Petrova has twice been a quarter-finalist here at Australian Open, while Safarova has also been a quarter-finalist at Australian Open. Petrova and Safarova both have yet  to win a set in 2013. Petrova ended her 2012 campaign on a high note and should make the 4^th round at least. A lesser result will be a big disappointment.

It is tough to pick a quarter-finalist from the bottom of the quarter, the draw could open up for Petrova. However, I would love to see a 4^th round show-down between power player Kvitova and Petrova.

If Petrova can make it to the quarter-finals, she will give Serena a head ache. Although the head to head is in the favour of Serena 7-3, their last 5 encounters have all gone to the 3^rd set.

First round matches to watch:

Petra Kvitova vs Franchesca Schiavone; Yanina Wickmayer vs Jarmila Gajdosova; Sloane Stephens vs Simona Halep

Black Horses : Sloane Stephens, Nadia Petrova

Players to keep an eye on : Shuai Peng, Shahar Peer

Likely Early upsets : Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova (You can never count on these two)

Quarter-finals : Nadia Petrova d. Serena Williams (I know it is not likely to happen, but on any given day Petrova is capable of any upset.)

THIRD QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na

Also here

- German power-house, Julia Goerges;

- Chinese star Jie Zheng, who made the semi-finals here in 2010

- The Aussie hope Samantha Stosur;

- Pair of former world no.1 Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic; and

- Mona Barthel, who will be playing to defend her Hobart title tomorrow.

Players with former glory at Australian Open

Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Jie Zheng and Li Na.

ANALYSIS

At the top of the quarter sits Chinese trail blazer Li Na, 2011 French Open champion and 2011 Australian Open runner-up. She opens against Sesil Karatantcheva, and is seeded to meet Romanian Sorana Cristea. Li leads Cristea 3-1 in the pair’s head to head. Cristea has never been past the 3^rd round of Australian Open, and with the current form of Li Na, seems like it will be tough for Cristea to move beyond the 3^rd round.

Julia Goerges made the second week of a grand slam for the first time here last year, so she must be eager to do well here. She opens against a qualifier and will face the winner of Oprandi and Pironkova. Goerges has never played Pironkova, but she will be poised to do well here and should make it to the 3^rd round, where she is seeded to meet Australian Flag and hopes bearer Smantha Stosur. Stosur opens against Kai-Chen Chang and can play Zheng Jie in the 2^nd round. I have a feeling that this will be Stosur’s time and she will make it to the 3^rd round here at least, however, she will have trouble against Julia Goerges, if the two meet. Goerges has won 3 of the pair’s 4 meetings. Stosur enters Australian Open on a 5 match losing streak. I will take Goerges to make it to the 4^th round.

Sitting at the bottom of the quarter, Agnieszka Radwanska is the only WTA player with 2 titles in 2013. Radwanska is on a 9 match winning streak, her last loss coming at the hands of Serena Williams last year in the semi-final of year end championships. Radwanska is seeded to meet Mona Barthel in the 3^rd round. The two have played only once before, in the second round of Montreal last year, where Radwanska rallied from a set down to win 7-6(5) in the final set. Given Radwanska’s form and her demolition of Cibulkova in the finals of Sydney, Radwanksa should easily sail to the fourth round.

Ana Ivanovic opens against Melinda Czink and is seeded to meet Jelena Jankovic in a block buster 3^rd round show-down. Ivanovic is 7-3 life-time against Jankovic. Ivanovic had some good matches at Hopman cup, although she lost her singles rubber in the final, which started the demise of Serbia. You have to like Ivanovic’s chances of making it to the 4^th round here.

Black Horses : Mona Barthel, Jie Zheng

Players to keep an eye on : Heather Watson, Daniela Hantuchova

Likely Early upsets : Samantha Stosur (Although I had said that I have a feeling she will do well here), Jelena Jankovic

Quarter-finals : Li Na d. Agnieszka Radwanska (I have a feeling that this time around, if the two meet, Li will turn the tables of Radwanska and make it to the semi-finals)

FOURTH QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber

Also here

- American teenager Madison Keys who almost knocked Li Na off in the quarter-finals of Sydney;

- Last year’s Serena Williams conqueror, Ekaterina Makarova

- Hopman cup winner Anabel Medina Garrigues;

- Giant killer Sydney runner-up Dominika Cibulkova; and

- 7 time Grand slam champion, Venus Williams.

Veterans

Venus Williams, Klara Zakopalova, Marion Bartoli

ANALYSIS

Angelique Kerber begins her Australian Open campaign against Elina Svitolina. Kerber made the semi-finals of the Syndey where she fought from down a break in the second set to win the set and force a 3^rd set, but Cibulkova proved too strong for her. Kerber is seeded to meet Tamira Paszek in the 3^rd round. Kerber has a decent draw and should progress into the second week.

Ekaterina Makarova starts her 2013 Australian Open campaign against a qualifier and is seeded to meet Marion Bartoli for a spot in the 4^th round. Makarova started her 2013 campaign at Sydney where she defeated Lepchenko, but fell at the hands of Cibulkova in the 2^nd round 6-7 in the 3^rd set. Marion Bartoli will have a tough test in Medina Garrigues, who is coming off a huge Hopman cup win. Bartoli is 8-3 life-time against Garrigues, and is a former Australian Open quarter-finalist. Bartoli also leads Makarova in head to head 2-0. You have to like Bartoli’s chances of making it to the 4^th round, however, you can never rely on Bartoli.

2008 Australian Open champion and last year’s runner-up Maria Sharapova, kick starts her 2013 Australian Open campaign against Olga Puchkova and is seeded to meet Venus Williams in a bloc-buster 3^rd round encounter. Venus Williams leads Maria Sharapova by a slight margin in the pairs head to head by 5-4, however it was Sharapova who won their last encounter in Rome last year.

Sydney runner-up Dominika Cibulkova starts her campaign against Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty and is seeded to meet Shenzhen runner-up Klara Zakopalova in the 3rd round. Cibulkova had a great run in Sydney, but you have to wonder how much will the double bagel affect her. If she lets that loss get  to her, she might be sent home early on. If Cibulkova goes home early this section might open up to anyone to make it to the 4^th round.

Black Horses : Venus Williams, Ekaterina Makarova (I would have loved to pick Dominika Cibulkova but just as I said earlier, I don’t know where she stands after that double bagel at the hands of Radwanska)

Players to keep an eye on : Madison Keys, Kristen Flipkens

Likely Early upsets : Tamira Paszek, Klara Zakopalova

Quarter-finals : Maria Sharapova d. Angelique Kerber

SEMI-FINALS

Nadia Petrova d. Victoria Azarenka

Li Na d. Maria Sharapova

FINAL : Nadia Petrova d. Li Na

P.S : You can replace Nadia Petrova with Serena Williams ;)

Here is to a happy Australian Open 2013, and Sorry again for keeping you waiting.

P.P.S : I hope there are no typos in it ;)

Maria Sharapova and Australian Open 2013

Maria Sharapova is one of the injury affected top players as the 2013 began. She was set to play Brisbane International but she had to withdraw due to the right collarbone injury.

There will definitely be question marks on her form while entering the Australian Open, owing to the injury concern. However, we know that we now count on her to go deep in the draw, since she was coming off an injury lay off last year as well and did not play any warm-up event but went on to reach the final.

Let us see the chances of Sharapova going deep at the Australian Open.

Maria Sharapova and Australian Open 2013 – Based on the past results of 2^nd seeds at Australian Open

It is interesting to note that a 2^nd seeded player has never lost in the first and the second round of the Australian Open in the past 25 years. In fact a 2^nd seeded player has lost only 5 times before the quarter-final of the Australian Open, and has went on to lift the trophy 4 times in the past 25 years.

The last time a second seed went on to lift the trophy was in 2009 when Serena Williams went on win her 4^th Australian Open title.

The 2^nd seed has went on to reach the semi-finals for the last two years.

How far will Sharapova go into the Australian Open, will she go on to clinch her 2^nd Australian Open crown or will she bow out before the championship match?

Maria Sharapova and Australian Open 2013 – Based on the past performances of Sharapova at Australian Open

Maria Sharapova is an impressive 34-8 life-time in the Australian Open, and her best showing came in 2008, when as a 5^th seed she defeated top seed Justine Henin in the quarter-finals, 3rd seeded Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals and 4th seeded Ana Ivanovic in the finals to claim the Australian Open crown.

4 of Sharapova’s 8 loses at the Australian Open have been at the hands of top 8 players. One of the loses to the players outside the top 8 has been at the hands of Serena Williams, when Serena Williams was ranked no.81, coming off an injury lay off, and defeated Sharapova in the final of 2007 Australain Open.

One of the remaining 3 loses came on her debut in the Australian Open in 2003, when she came of qualifiers and was was defeated in the first round by another qualifier Klara Zakoplaova (the name sounds familiar ;) ).

The two other loses came in 2010 in the first round when Sharapova was coming off an injury lay off, and the other loss came in 2011 in the 4^th round at the hands of German, Andrea Petkovic.

Maria Sharapova has been to the semi-finals or better of the Australian Open at 5 of her 9 appearances. Given her history at the Australian Open, she should be one of the favourites for the title, alongside Serena Williams.

Given her 2^nd seed, she will not face Victoria Azarenka till the final, if both make it to the final. However, one major concern for Sharapova will be the placement of Serena Williams in the draw. If Serena Williams lands into Sharapova’s half, Sharapova’s chances of making it to the final will be very bleak given her 2-9 head to head against Serena Williams and the fact that the Russian’s last victory over the American came in 2004 and since then Sharapova has been able to take off only 2 sets in the 9 encounters. The last set Sharapova won against Serena was way back in 2008.

Maria Sharapova will definitely need to bring back her 2004 form if she is to win the title.

How far do you see Maria Sharapova going into the Australian Open?

P.S : Stay tuned for the previews of Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic.

For a preview of other players please refer below:

Andy Murray and Australian Open 2013

Serena Williams and Australian Open 2013

David Ferrer and Australian Open 2013

Agnnieszka Radwanska and Australian Open 2013

Angelique Kerber and Australian Open 2013

Tomas Berdych and Australian Open 2013

Li Na and Australian Open 2013

Juan Martin Delpotro and Australian Open 2013

Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Australian Open 2013

Sara Errani and Australian Open 2013
Janko Tipsarevic and Australian Open 2013
Petra Kvitova and Australian Open 2013