2012 Australian Open

[renz_reggy03]

Federer prepares for 2012 temperature check

On the eve of his first competitive match for the season, Roger Federer believes his ability to push through the pain barrier will stand him in good stead for a tilt at the sport’s biggest prizes throughout 2012.

In Doha for the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the Swiss champion and current world No.3 said that despite turning 31 later this year, his body could still withstand the rigours of the modern game.

“I never worry at moments like now that I won’t hold up for the entire season, because I do, I think, plan decently and well, so I manage all the expectations for myself,” he said.

“It’s also part of a good player, being able to put that aside and still play good tennis. I promise you I had a lot of pain throughout my career, and I’ve managed to play with it.”

Federer enters 2012 as one of the most in-form players on the men’s tour, concluding last year with three straight titles – including the ATP World Tour Finals in London – and a 17-match winning streak.

Although not officially recognised, that streak was put to an end in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week, with the 16-time Grand Slam champion suffering comprehensive defeats at the hands of his two biggest rivals, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Yet Federer will get a chance to atone for those performances in his first round match in Doha later tonight when he takes on former top five stalwart Nikolay Davydenko. The Swiss said the match represented a tough opening hit-out.

“Even though I don’t know the level of Nikolay at the moment, knowing the potential of him as a world class player for many years makes it difficult and dangerous,” he said.

Should he get through that match, the Doha draw is loaded with several other dangerous names attempting to thwart his push for his first title of the new season.

World No.6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looms as a potential semifinal opponent, the player who booted Federer from last year’s Wimbledon Championships in the quarterfinals.

And all eyes will be on a potential final showdown between Federer and Nadal, with the Spaniard the top seed at this year’s Doha event.

While Federer easily won their last official meeting at the World Tour Finals, Nadal triumphed in all three of the pair’s matches earlier in 2011, including a 6-3, 6-2 drubbing in Miami and a four-set victory in the French Open final.

And then there was last week’s 6-1, 7-5 decision in Abu Dhabi.

But Federer said he is taking plenty of confidence from his 2011 campaign into the new season.

“It takes a little bit of adjustment, but you can definitely take confidence from the end of the year and just carry it over because you’re in a good mindset,” he said.

“You know, you just believe you’re doing the right things in the court. You’re not second-guessing yourself. Confidence is a huge part of our life sometimes as a tennis player.

“I’m ready for a good season.”

Federer’s match against Davydenko will be the third of the day on Centre Court in Doha. Play begins at 11.30 pm AEST tonight, with Tsonga opening against Tunisian Malek Jaziri before Nadal battles Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

[renz_reggy03]

Maria works hard under the Melbourne sun

Maria Sharapova’s millions of fans worldwide can breathe a sigh of relief – the Russian tennis star has been training at Melbourne Park this week in sweltering conditions.

Arriving at the home of the Australian Open last weekend with an ankle concern that forced her to withdraw from the Brisbane International Sharapova has been doing everything she can to ensure she is fully acclimatised to the courts that have brought her previous Grand Slam success.

Back in 2008 – the first year the blue Plexicushion was adopted in favour of green Rebound Ace – Sharapova simply devastated the field on her way to hoisting her third major trophy.

Rising to world No.1 shortly thereafter, it appeared she had the tennis world at her feet.

But her well-documented shoulder troubles surfaced, and the ensuing surgery and significant recovery time have prevented her from ever returning to those lofty heights.

After two seasons of wonky serves and earlier-than-expected losses, 2011 finally marked a positive turning point in Sharapova’s career. Deep runs at the prestigious Indian Wells and Miami events were soon followed by her biggest claycourt title to date in Rome and a semifinal finish at Roland Garros.

She then made her first Grand Slam final appearance in more than three years – the last time being that run to the 2008 Australian Open title – at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and peaked late in the year at world No.2.

Much like her shoulder injury of 2008, the ankle injury surfaced at a time when the Russian was building some solid momentum.

Upon her withdrawal from the Brisbane event Sharapova said she expected to be ready to compete at Melbourne Park when the tournament gets underway.

Despite her recent inactivity the three-time major winner must be considered one of the favourites heading into AO2012.

Her chief rivals Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters come into the Australian summer equally underdone having missed large chunks of the 2011 season, while several top players – including Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva – are waiting to prove themselves at the majors.

With recent Grand Slam winners Li Na and Petra Kvitova proving extremely talented yet maddeningly erratic and US Open champ Sam Stosur shouldering enormous local expectations, Sharapova’s big-match experience and relative under-the-radar status can only serve her well.

And as she continues practising out of the public eye while her competition sweats it out in the glare of the spotlight at lead-up events around Australia, it’s an approach that may ultimately pay dividends when the Australian Open kicks off on 16 January.

[renz_reggy03]

Serena hopeful for Australian Open start

Serena Williams says she aims to play the Australian Open despite injuring her ankle and withdrawing from the Brisbane International.

Williams, one of tennis’ biggest drawcards and whose five singles titles at Melbourne Park are the most of any active player, severely twisted her ankle in the latter stages of her second round match against Bojana Jovanovski in Brisbane yesterday, falling to the ground in anguish.

Despite having her ankle strapped and returning to court to complete a 6-2, 6-4 victory, she promptly withdrew from the tournament after an MRI revealed a sprain.

“I have been to hospital and it has been confirmed that I have a left ankle sprain that I probably shouldn’t play on. I’m going to take a couple of days off – not too many – and see how I feel. I’m still hopeful of playing the Australian Open,” Williams said.

“It was such an unexpected end to the tournament … I’ve had a great time here in Brisbane – the tournament is great, the fans are fantastic and hopefully I’ll see them again next year.”

It was Williams’ first appearance at the Brisbane event, where she arrived fit and signalling her intention to be well prepared for an assault on the year’s first major.

The withdrawal continues a shocking run of injuries for the 13-time Grand Slam champion. She missed the second half of the 2010 season and most of 2011 with injury and health problems beginning when she stepped on broken glass in a restaurant following her 2010 Wimbledon triumph.

Her left foot – the same one she injured in Brisbane yesterday – required two bouts of surgery, the procedures and subsequent recovery thought to be responsible for the ensuing pulmonary embolism and haematoma that hospitalised her in March 2011.

Williams said she always plays with a guard on her left foot, but removed it during the second set of the Jovanovski match – she admitted she “wasn’t thinking” – because it was causing pain to another left foot problem. When she fell, Williams said her initial reaction was “not again”.

“That’s what I felt. I was like ‘no way’,” she revealed.

Williams’ collapse onto the Plexicushion of Pat Rafter Arena caused fans and tournament staff to hold their breath as they waited for her to stand up and test the injured limb.

She has 11 days to recuperate before the Australian Open kicks off on 16 January.

[renz_reggy03]

Novak's back at happy hunting ground

Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic arrived in Melbourne last night and wasted no time booking a hit on centre court at Rod Laver Arena.

In sparkling sunshine, the 2008 and 2011 Australian champion arrived at the scene of his first Grand Slam triumph late afternoon. His first gesture: placing a kiss on the blue Plexicushion before warming up for a practice session.

The world No.1 requested a hit with two of Australia's best juniors: Maverick Banes and Andrew Harris, who drilled Djokovic together (having warmed up thoroughly beforehand).

Fresh from winning the exhibition event at Abu Dhabi last week, Djokovic was in a playful mood as he skipped about the court, limbering up with a soccer ball.

Djokovic starts 2011 a favourite to claim his third Australian Open title, having swept to the top of the rankings with a mind-blowing streak that saw him capture the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open titles.

“I think the crucial couple of weeks is now, for me to prepare for Australia. We’ll see. It’s a long year and a difficult task, but I’m looking forward to it.”

[SenZei]

excited to place my bets again..

[carlhiro]

^

Shocks. Defending the title again! Good luck, Novak Djokovic!

[desirable_tasha4]

Go Roger! My favorite player of all time!!!

[carlhiro]

^

I can't keep track of all the desirable_tashas, whether they are Fed fans or not.

[myas110]

go go RF!

hope he will be 100% entering the AO!

[Feodore_Knox]

[razzer_rising]

@CaroWozniacki in flight mode she is looking lean and mean @adidastennis.

Caro will win this.

[undesirabletasha]

^

I can't keep track of all the desirable_tashas, whether they are Fed fans or not.

Is RF ready to get back his lost glory?

[carlhiro]

^

Ayaw talaga mag-retire ng image na yan.

[mrazmaniac]

^hoy ano ba kayo! Kaya hindi sumasali yung ibang FedKADs sa FL, kasi nae-'alienate' sa inyo.

Reporting for duty.

AO 2012 Seedings Announced

[maysapaw]

^

The 24-year-old Serb proved himself the player to beat in 2011 winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open and a record-breaking five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. He'll be bidding for a third Australian Open title having won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne back in 2008.

lol. nanalo na pala si Nole ng French Open last year? at nawala ang US Open. haha.

[carlhiro]

^


lol. nanalo na pala si Nole ng French Open last year? at nawala ang US Open. haha.

Kumpleto na pala niya ang Slams! HAHAHAHA. I get a t-shirt! Joke lang, ate!

[razzer_rising]

Caro
Serena
Peng

Novak
Del Potro
Gasquet

All unseeded pending pa. Wala lang gusto ko lang mauna.

Caro will win this.

Its time for Caro to shine

[22mai]

Venus withdraws from Australian Open

[renz_reggy03]

The battle for No.1

In a tantalising preview to the battle for No.1 that will unfold during the Australian Summer of Tennis, Petra Kvitova last night defeated Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 in the Czech Republic v Denmark group match at the Hopman Cup.

The match represented a duel between the official No.1 Wozniacki and Kvitova, widely regarded as the world’s best player but No.2 on the computer rankings.

In five career meetings, Wozniacki leads the pair’s head-to-head. Yet in their two most important matches – at Wimbledon in 2010 and the WTA Championships in Istanbul just a few months ago – Kvitova romped to straight-sets victories.

The Hopman Cup match was a much closer and more entertaining contest, although does not count towards their official head-to-head record. The first match in their history to go to three sets, it beautifully exemplified their contrasting playing styles.

Kvitova, the relentlessly aggressive yet erratic left-hander, served solidly, stepped into the court and pounded her heavy groundstrokes to gain an immediate break and eventually move ahead 4-2.

But Wozniacki, a gritty, consistent, right-handed counterpuncher, refused to wilt and forced the set to a tiebreak.

Kvitova snatched this with a trademark backhand winner and moved ahead 3-1 in the second, some deft touch at the net helping her score a love break in the fourth game.

Yet contrary to what she’s done for most of her career, the Dane stepped into the court, added pace to her groundstrokes and started dictating points, reeling off five straight games to take the second set.

Angry and frustrated, Kvitova channelled these emotions positively to break twice and forge a 3-0 lead. Despite Woznaicki clawing one break back, Kvitova maintained her buffer and resoundingly served out the match after almost two-and-a-half hours.

Hopman Cup results have no bearing on the world rankings. But next week’s Apia International in Sydney – where Wozniacki and Kvitova are both scheduled to compete – certainly does.

Kvitova sits just 115 points behind Wozniacki, who has been the top-ranked female player since October 2010. Kvitova has the opportunity to ascend to the top spot with a win in Sydney, or if she performs more strongly than the Dane at the Australian Open beginning 16 January.

Most tennis commentators and fans would view the Czech rising to No.1 as the rightful outcome. Both she and Wozniacki claimed six titles in 2011, but Kvitova’s haul – which included Wimbledon, the WTA Championships and victories on all four surfaces – was by far the more impressive. Kvitova also went 21-0 indoors, was part of the winning Czech Fed Cup team, and finished the year with a resounding winning record against top 10 opponents.

For a long time now the WTA rankings have been widely criticised in that several players without major titles – Wozniacki included – have been able to reach the summit, somewhat devaluing the achievement.

Yet Kvitova would claim the mantle having won a major, the first player to rise to No.1 for the first time with a Grand Slam title already under their belt since Ana Ivanovic almost four years ago.

Whatever the outcome over the course of January’s events, Wozniacki and Kvitova’s position at the top of WTA tree may represent a shift away from the trend of women’s tennis players enjoying greater success in their later years.

Both aged 21, they are followed in the rankings by 22-year-old Victoria Azarenka, who sits at No.3.

While the majors have in recent years been dominated by veterans, the top-ranked trio are increasingly making their presence felt at Grand Slams. With Kvitova already a major winner, Azarenka inching closer all the time and Wozniacki regularly putting in deep runs, the time may soon come when the sport is again ruled by a younger brigade.

The eyes of the world will be on the Australian Open in less than two weeks to see if this changing of the guard continues.

And if the seedings hold, Wozniacki and Kvitova could very well be facing off in a blockbuster final that would emphatically settle the No.1 dispute.

[renz_reggy03]

AAMI Classic field gathers at Fed Square

All eight members in the field were today at Melbourne’s Federation Square to take part in a press conference, before heading across the complex to talk in front of a large gathering of fans and to sign autographs.

The AAMI Classic is a prestigious and long-standing lead-up to the Australian Open, an invitational event guaranteeing players three matches as they fine-tune their games in preparation for the year’s first Grand Slam tournament.

Heading the field is world No.6 and last week’s Doha winner Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who will take on Austrian Jurgen Melzer in his opening match.

Joining him was No.7 Tomas Berdych, fresh from winning last week’s Hopman Cup with fellow Czech Petra Kvitova without the loss of a singles match. Berdych will take on Aussie young gun Bernard Tomic, who has risen to world No.37 since his run to the semifinals of the Brisbane International last week.

When asked what it was like to take his place among a field of such highly credentialled and experienced players, Tomic admitted he felt like he didn’t quite belong yet.

He said he would not let the greater expectation that comes with being the No.1-ranked Australian male affect his mentality on court though.

“There’s a lot of pressure going around, especially for me because I’m young. But I like to play tennis and enjoy it out there ... I’m playing well and I’m confident,” he said.

“Wherever this year takes me, it takes me. I’m going to have fun and not really worry about where my ranking is, and that’s why I’m doing well and playing good. So that’s what I like to do and (with good results) the (high) ranking will come after that.”

Also in the field is Mardy Fish, coming off a career-best season in 2011 at age 30 that saw him qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London and end the year ranked No.8.

Asked if he was acting as a role-model for the ATP World Tour’s elder statesman in terms of achieving his best results at this stage of his career, Fish said he and several others were perhaps proving the retirement-at-30 talk a myth.

“Andy (Roddick) is creeping up on 30 pretty quickly and Jurgen is 30 and had a pretty good year last year and the year before hitting the Top 10, so you can certainly do it (at this age),” he said.

Fish’s compatriot Roddick, formerly ranked world No.1 but now down to No.16, is returning to Kooyong for the first time in three years. He said he made this scheduling decision after deciding to have a longer off-season.

“First and foremost I’ve always enjoyed the event. When I made up my mind that I was going to try and have a little bit of a longer off-season and not play that first week (of the new season), the choice was obvious for me to play here,” he said.

“I think (the reason for taking a longer break was) just to get healthy and fit. I feel like I have to be pretty good physically to compete with these young guys so I wanted to give myself every opportunity to do that this off-season.”

Rounding out the field will be Doha finalist and world No.15 Gael Monfils, and last week’s Chennai winner Milos Raonic, who began 2011 ranked outside the top 150 until a barnstorming run to the Australian Open fourth round as a qualifier kick-started his rapid rise into the world’s top 30.

The AAMI Classic runs from 11-14 January and will begin at 11am on Wednesday with the match between Tsonga and Melzer.

An additional match featuring world No.4 Andy Murray against Argentine veteran David Nalbandian will take place on Friday.