Victoria Azarenka has crushed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 to claim her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open in one hour and 22 minutes. With the trophy comes the number one ranking on Monday.
Apart from a nervous start where she was broken in her opening service game Azarenka was completely dominant, absorbing the power of Sharapova and spreading the court effectively. Read more
Posted in Australian Open, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka
The rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer was renewed at the Australian Open the minute Rafa opened his mouth to the media about player issues and Federer’s lack of interest in them.Tonight Federer and Nadal fought for a finals position and a chance to claim another Grand Slam and it is Rafael Nadal who will play either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray in his bid for his 11th Grand Slam.
Rafa was forced to fight for his fourth consecutive Grand Slam final but after three hours and minutes Nadal won 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4
Roger came out firing looking like he planned to slaughter Nadal with his aggressive accuracy from the first point. He quickly found himself at 1-4 before Rafa finally found his range and got back on serve at 3-4, his forehand finding its mark. Read more
I think it’s safe to say that even though we’re only just into the first day of the second week that this has been the strangest Australian Open ever.
There have been a significant number of injuries on both the men’s and women’s side but at the time of writing there had been an incredible 8 retirements and 1 withdrawal on the men’s side alone.
Rafael Nadal injured his knee getting up from a chair but played on. Kim Clijsters re-sprained her troublesome ankle but played on. Li Na seemed to be the kiss of death for ankles knocking both Anabel Medina Garrigeus and Kim Clijsters to the ground in the early stages of their first set. Read more
Posted in Anabel Medina Garrigues, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Donald Young, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Injury, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Kei Nishikori, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Media, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych
‘Aussie Kim’ needed her fans today after a nasty tumble at 3-3 in the first set against Li Na saw the Australian Open defending champion roll the ankle she struggled with last year. After halting play immediately Clijsters returned with a heavily strapped ankle and impaired movement and it looked as though Kim’s final day as a professional athlete at the Australian Open was over.
Despite looking like she might get steam rolled Kim said she didn’t want to retire from her last match at Melbourne Park and said “You just keep fighting because you never know what goes on the other side of the court,” and sure enough something was happening down the other end of the court. Read more
Posted in Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki, Injury, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Media
With the three of the five most powerful and most likely to win the Australian Open in the WTA suffering injuries recently Li Na and Petra Kvitova as the only ones in cruise control. Serena Williams appears to have recovered from a ankle sprain in Perth and is flaunting her ripped body during Rod Laver Arena practice sessions. Kim Clijsters insists her hip is better but she has struggled so much in the last 12 months with injury issues that the defending champ is still under a cloud of doubt.
That leaves Caroline Wozniacki who is clinging to her number one spot as the only one without a Grand Slam and the one in the biggest doubt. Read more
Posted in Australian Open, Body Watch, Caroline Wozniacki, Injury, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Media, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams
It was a shame for tournament organisers that Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic were scheduled for a meeting in the second round of the Brisbane International. It was Clijsters who came out on top 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in a strange match that saw Kim come out swinging.
Kim initially came out throwing huge bombs at Ivanovic who had no idea how to handle the barrage of shots. After the first set Nigel Sears, her coach, came down to whisper instructions in her ear and it worked. When Ana came back out she was on fire as Kim seemed to simultaneously implode. Read more
Posted in Ana Ivanovic, Brisbane, Kim Clijsters
Today we were all reminded what a good loser Serena Williams is when she once again ripped into an official at the US Open in a high stakes moment. Williams became infuriated when she was given a point penalty after yelling out “Come on” before Stosur had hit the ball, therefore interrupting play. The point penalty gave Stosur a break of serve and Serena just lost it. Read more
Posted in Eva Asdaraki, Kim Clijsters, Sam Stosur, Serena Williams, US Open
Maria Sharapova is working herself into form ahead of the US Open and has won the title she should have won last year. In 2010 in Cincinnati, Maria failed to convert three match points in a final against Kim Clijsters. This year, with Clijsters out injured, Maria battled Jelena Jankovic who’s form has fluctuated this season.
Sharapova won 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 eventually but let go of a 4-1 lead in the first set. Despite 11 double faults in the match Sharapova worked hard to stay in the match, earning her second title this season.
Posted in Cincinnati Masters, Injury, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova
Since the Australian Open we haven’t seen much of Kim Clijsters. Kim has struggled with multiple injuries this season. As she has attempted to return from a serious ankle injury she then tore her abdominal muscle and has announced today that she will not recover in the remaining two weeks and will therefore be forced to not attempt to defend her US Open title.
The two time defending champion said, “two weeks of rehab is not enough to heal this injury.Obviously I’m very disappointed. I trained very hard this summer and felt in a good shape to play the U.S. Open.”
When she attempted to play recently in Canada Kim was playing knowing that she had the tear and some bleeding around the tear.
Posted in Australian Open, Injury, Kim Clijsters, US Open
