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In a totally bizarre third set Christina McHale had a 5-0 only to lose the set and the match 9-7 to Sara Errani, after two hours and 51 minutes. Christina said later she paniced… How you can panic when you’re that far ahead I don’t know.
Choke… there I said it. Read more
- In Madrid Maria Sharapova took part in the Sony Ericsson Challenge, showing off her amazing engagement ring.
- Fernando Verdasco beat Frederico Gil 6-1, 7-6 after having a 5-1 lead in the second set. Read more
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- Sam Stosur has failed to make it past the second round of the Medibank International in Sydney after falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The second set saw both players repeatedly break each other before Svetlana managed to hold long enough to take the second and third sets.
- Rafael Nadal arrived in Melbourne, posting photos of his trip on Facebook, and attempted to practice at Melbourne park only to be disrupted by rain. The Spaniard seems to have overcome his mystery illness.
- Caroline Wozniacki fell today in what was a difficult day for seeded players at the Medibank International. Wozniacki was troubled by Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 just a week after the world number one was defeated by Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters in Singapore and Hong Kong – also in straight sets.
“Definitely it’s a bit tough to go from Hong Kong to Sydney and play really well here. But I felt pretty good out there. Just wasn’t my day. At the start of the new season, you always need to get into the match play. Last year I had the same start — so hopefully slow start, good finish. You need to learn from the losses. I’m confident that for Melbourne I’ll be okay.”
- Vera Zvonareva was defeated by Flavia Pennetta.
Nadal arrives in Melbourne
Highlights: Stosur V Kuznetsova
- Feliciano Lopez has snapped a 5 match losing streak by beating Philipp Petzchner 6-4, 7-6 in Brisbane. The Spaniard used 11 aces and just one hour and forty minutes to secure the win. Unfortunately the Spaniard apparently has a virus and as a result wont play doubles with Fernando Verdasco according to his Twitter page. Read more
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- Exhausted John Isner had nothing left to offer after his 11 hour first round match against Nicolas Mahut. Today he attempted to back up the performance when he took on Thiemo De Bakker, one of the break through players of 2010, but came up short and with a sore neck. Isner was treated for neck pain during the match and didn’t stay on court long, he lost 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. Isner looked like he was struggling to walk.
- Isner’s fellow warrior, Nicolas Mahut, has been offered a free Club Med holiday by the company to recharge his batteries. Impressively Mahut played doubles after the conclusion of his epic match with Isner yesterday. Apparently Mahut was crying uncontrollably and shaking in the locker room after losing to Isner. He deserves a holiday.
- Maria Kirilenko’s some times dodgy serve, played up again a bit today as she struggled to control the power of Kim Clijsters. Clijsters is hoping to claim her second Grand Slam since her return to the tour almost a year ago, and her first ever Wimbledon title. She beat Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3.
- Novak Djokovic who is currently on court against Albert Montanes has been seen shaking his arm and wearing Kinesio tape on his neck… watch this space.
- Venus Williams has a new book coming out on Tuesday called “Come to Win”…. Hasn’t it been a while since she has won? (Acapulco?)
- After being shafted to Court 2, instead of Centre Court in front of the Queen as she had hoped, Serena Williams came out swinging, destroying opponent Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 6-1. Serena did get to meet the Queen after practicing her curtsy. “My curtsy didn’t go the way I wanted. I didn’t get the right wrist action, and then I got nervous. It was amazing to meet the Queen. And to meet her at Wimbledon, it was really an unbelievable moment… I have mixed feelings about playing on court two. I don’t think I should be out there. But when I was leaving, I stayed for a while, and I signed tons of autographs. A lot of these people can’t get into the Centre Court so that was a good thing.”
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- Evgeny Korolev was giving the ball a good thumping in his match against Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt was serving incredibly well and controlling the match from the beginning. At one point Korolev went for a return, swung and miss and accidentally released his racket instead, hurling it into the net before shaking his head with a rye smile. Anna Kournikova’s cousin started struggling with a shoulder injury late in the second set and received and medical time out. After that he stopped thumping the ball so much and Hewitt raced into the third round when Korolev was forced to retire as he struggled to serve. Hewitt won 6-4, 6-4, 3-0.
- Justine Henin won her second round match in straight sets over Kristina Barrois 6-3, 7-5 after failing to serve the match out at 5-1 in the second set. Henin talked about the lapse after the match saying, “It was good until 6-3, 5-1. My intensity dropped. I reacted well to it, though. It had happened to me a lot in the past, but I have experience. And everything else was positive. I was serving well today, so that was really good.”
- Jurgen Melzer took out Viktor Troicki in their 2nd round match winning 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, doing the same thing he did in the French Open against Novak Djokovic, battling back from a two set deficit.
- Florian Mayer followed up his first round scalp (Marin Cilic) with that of Mardy Fish, recent finalist at Queens. Mayer won the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
- Gael Monfils played a topsy turvy match, occasionally hopping on his heavily taped left leg at times looking like he was dancing and other times looking like he was testing the knee. Monfils had looked fairly comfortable after taking the first two sets 6-4 before becoming a little sloppy and getting distracted in the tie break by a point that went against him. As Beck served to stay in the match at 3-5 in the fourth set it became obvious the the knee was a definate issue and that once again the ticking time bomb that is Gael Monfils was looking at disaster.
It has been an injury riddled season for the French star. Monfils withdrew from Brisbane with a shoulder and Estoril with a stomach virus. He has also spent some time off this year with a hand and wrist injury as well as struggling at various times with his knee.
The hobbling Monfils eventually won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 and will face Lleyton Hewitt in the next round.
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- Janko Tipsarevic was handily send packing 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 by Alejandro Falla.
- Mikhail Youzhny looked sharp and powerful against Michal Przysiezny 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.
- Gisela Dulko, who hadn’t won a game on clay leading up to Roland Garros, wiped the floor with Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka has recently been forced to retired from 4 separate tournaments with various injuries, mostly a recurrent thigh issue. Dulko hit a lot of high looping balls that Azarenka struggled to control. Azarenka also appeared to struggle to keep her shots within the lines, much to her annoyance, as Dulko raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
As per normal for Dulko, she struggled to close out the match, suddenly changing things up, allowing Azarenka easy passing shots. Eventually Dulko did close it out 6-1, 6-2 in just 72 minutes.
- Marin Cilic survived a second set blip against Ricardo Malla, eventually winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Cilic has struggled to maintain his form since his blistering performance at the Australian Open earlier this season.
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- Wayne Odesnik has been banned for two years from Dec 29, 2009 by the ITF after pleading guilty to possession of Human Growth Hormone in Brisbane. The ban comes in light of the fact that Odesnik had not applied for a therapeutic use exemption, despite claiming that he purchased the HGH to assist with injury healing.
“Mr Odesnik asserted that he had purchased the human Growth Hormone on professional advice to treat a recurring injury, and that he intended to apply for a therapeutic use exemption prior to using it. Mr Odesnik denied ever using any of the human Growth Hormone. The ITF has no evidence to contradict that denial, but Mr Odesnik did not in fact obtain or apply for a therapeutic use exemption for the human Growth Hormone prior to obtaining it. Accordingly, Mr Odesnik’s possession of the human Growth Hormone is an anti-doping rule violation under Article C.6 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.”
- Juan Monaco’s website was finally completed www.juanmonaco.com. The site features an incredible intro but is
- Ouanna saved three set points in a first set tie break against Andy Roddick, leading to the American hurling his racket across the red dirt in disgust. The world number 131 then swiftly took the first set 7-6 at the Master Guinot Mary Cohr. Roddick then managed to defend 2 match points in the second set tie break, but Ouanna managed to serve it out with an ace.
Roddick was playing only his first match on clay and said that next week, at the French Open, was “the main priority” while he incessantly fiddled with his hat during the post match interview and looked in a hurry to get off the court.
- Juan Martin del Potro has announced that he will not defend his US Open title.
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- Unsurprisingly Australia has taken a 1-0 lead over Japan with Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt beat Tatsuma Ito (ATP world ranking 272) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Carsten Ball, who has recently been in hospital with a staph infection, is currently up 2 sets to love in his rubber.
- Juan Monaco has revealed on Facebook that he has been receiving treatment for a mysterious injury with FC Madrid’s doctors using kinesiology techniques. Kinesiology aims to treat body imbalances and frequently in tennis includes kinesio tape. K-tape is a fantastic tape that can aid muscle length and strength significantly while improving function and reducing pain. Once you’ve learnt the technique (and if you know your anatomy) it’s quite easy to use.
“Since last saturday I´m in Madrid, hasving kinesiology sessions with FC Real Madrid doctors, thanks to my friend GAGO, who plays there. Also I´m training a lot to make de best in Madrid´s MASTERS 100 and in ROLAND GARROS” – Juan Monaco
- Noval Djokovic has won his match against Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-4, securing a place in the quarterfinals of his tournament, The Serbia Open, in the process.
- Prince racquets made an announcement that Vera Zvonareva has signed on to use their product. “We are proud and excited to formally announce that WTA player, and current world No. 22, Vera Zvonareva, is an official member of the Prince athlete roster.” Read more
