Tennis Chatter

This year’s defending champion, Amelie Mauresmo of France has some credibility fixing to do. After Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from their match to hand her the championship last year, Amelie had her share of doubting Thomases until Wimbledon shut them all up. Can she defend her title to put a permanent lid to that horrible memory of a match? Does she have to prove anything at all?

The name Nicole stands for triumph. Like Jelena Jankovic, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, has a temper. She is hungry for a breakout but often hammers her own foot in tight matches. She was a surprise last year at Roland Garros when she created upsets against Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams. Her powerful strokes is often compared to Maria Sharapova. This and her other descriptions: leggy, blondie, plunging necklines, and yes, branded.

Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic needs to have the experience of big arenas to be able to unleash her booming forehand and display her serve and volley skills against the top players. Australia might prove special to her since she won her first career singles title in Canberra in 2005. She beat Martina Hingis in the final last year at the Montreal WTA tournament. She has the most classic face in the women’s tour — the type you would love to stare again and again without getting bored.

Her comeback seems like a long time ago so people should get over it by now. Martina Hingis reached the final at the Gold Coast two weeks ago. She fell on the first round at Sydney International last week. This champion has not lost her trademark court smarts but to dig deep into a Grand Slam tournament, Australian Open at that, endurance is a basic tool. The lesson from her heat-sapping classic match against Jennifer Capriati in 2002 should come handy now.

Does temper go with the struggle for perfection? Maybe or it may just be an expression of tension in tight situations. Russian Dinara Safina is short of temper but definitely not of skills. She avenged her defeat in Rome last against Martina Hingis in Gold Coast weeks ago. Consistency is still a question but if she can put her demon in its cage for a fortnight she may see her hard work pay off big time.

Another Russian who has the strokes that could match the big hitters is Elena Dementieva. Her weak serve is a public joke. But hey, this is a grand slam event and anything, anything can happen. So every match should be like a prayer for Elena to be able to go further and hopefully earn a Grand Slam trophy she so beautifully deserves for all the dedication she gives to her game.

So what if the Russians are charging towards the Australian Open with their full battle gear? So what if American women players are short of invisible? It takes only one to rock Rod Laver Arena. In two syllables, Li Na, just might be the one. She was the first woman from China to be seeded and to reach a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament (Wimbledon). She may just perform some firsts in this tournament so let us not take her for granted.

The Australian Open will be kicking off this Monday. As a rule, ladies first so let us devote today’s post to the women players who, by the mixed line-up, can surely heighten our coming week. Already withdrawals of top names are causing quite a racket. Foremost among them is the tournament’s 2004 champion and 2006 runner-up Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne who announced her withdrawal last week due to personal reasons. Venus Williams is officially sidelined with a persistent wrist injury. During the build up for the Australian Open, ominous withdrawals sprouted here and there. Anastasia Myskina of Russia hurt her toe in Auckland last week and is currently recuperating. From the Sydney International tournament, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova had to quit due to a respiratory virus. Russian underachiever Nadia Petrova pulled out as well due to abdominal strain. So far, no official word on whether they will skip the AO.

Top-seed Maria Sharapova looks poised to continue her good form although she lost to the inspired Kim Clijsters in Hongkong last week. Did you notice Sharapova’s sincere smile despite the loss (she usually takes it seriously)? Maybe the seven-figure appearance fee she gained gave her a much bigger bottomline figure gap than Clijsters prize-money, eh? Oh well…if you have it…

I correctly predicted her U.S. Open victory simply because she has never looked more physically strong than now. She successfully relegated everyone at the baseline where her game works best. Why they did not resist her strongly enough I could not figure.

She is currently sweating it out at the Rod Laver Arena sustained by that energy drink she has recently chosen to endorse. Being hyped as leading the Russian women players into the Australian Open only empowers her more which adds to her being a legitimate contender for the trophy.

What I wish in this tournament is a breakthrough from the upcoming talents. If they will not be intimidated by Maria’s towering figure and her underestimating stare one of them will steal the spotlight. Heaven knows we need a new face preferably with the model attitude.

Meanwhile, here are my personal selected contenders in random order.

The in-form and fierce (yes, she’s the only face that comes to mind whenever I meet the word) Kim Clijsters can inspire herself (if she cannot, who can?) to another trophy to add to her mantle full of those muted things. It may not talk back to her as she rationalized the trophies’ personal value to her in the past but she can console herself many years later that it is a reminder that she retired with the sunshine reflecting her victorious smile on it in the Land Down Under.

Jelena Jankovic has, as of this writing, claimed victories over Martina Hingis, Samantha Stosur, Amelie Mauresmo, and Nicole Vaidisova at the Medibank International in Sydney. She will be facing Kim Clijsters in the final. This woman is maturing fast and my hope is that she will be kind to herself and to others under pressure. She can implode to the silent delight of her opponent and if she has learned her costly mistake in the 2006 U.S. Open, she will be dangerous and can potentially power her way through. She is set to break her 10-straight losing streak last year. She is currently on her eighth victory.

Former world number one Serena Williams’s self-belief is good on paper for now at the very least. She lost to Austrian Sybille Bammer in the quarterfinals at the Hobart International tournament this week. She has been struggling to regain her fitness after months of laying-off doing whatever she can get her creative hands into and suffering from knee injury. She has been missed on the tour but her blending back in has been far from her glory days. She needs to up the ante some more if she were to live up to her statement that it will only be a matter of time before she gets back on top. Or else…she just might get another letter from Chris Evert.

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW…

More than three years of patiently coaching Lleyton Hewitt might have taught Roger Rasheed the value of earplugs. But even the earplugs gave up its job last Thursday when a reported locker room argument which started from the court between coach and player produced unforgiving words no decent human being can withstand.

Hewitt lost his round robin match to unknown (until now) world number 94 Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-7 (7-4) 4-6 at the Adelaide International that night. Alright, his calf injury fueled the outburst or maybe the other way around. One never knows how far the mind affects the body.

Hewitt’s volcanic temperament is public knowledge in tennis. South American players seem to detest this guy particularly David Nalbandian (like poles do repel). Hewitt likes to be treated with respect obviously but his manner of asking it is a tad short of thundering. He is no Zeus and since he left his number one spot players do not anymore cringe in fear whenever he is on the other side of the court counterpunching the life of him.

The lava of his language must have burned Roger Rasheed enough to storm out and announce his departure as Hewitt’s coach twenty-four hours later. Previously, Hewitt had been coached by Darren Cahill (fired) and Jason Stoltenberg (resigned).

Why is this man so angry? This goes to show that fortune alone cannot happiness give.

To his credit, Hewitt certainly knows how to make news. No doubt his Australian Open preparation is in an uncomfortable and questionable plane. His idol, Pat Rafter (he literally lived under Pat’s shadow during his heydays in the pro circuit), politely turned down an offer to coach him so he picked former Davis Cup team mate and until recently professional golfer Scott Draper as coach in the interim.

That could be a blessing in disguise for Draper. History suggests that with Hewitt, familiarity breeds contempt.