Saturday, January 24, 2009

Allez!...and au revoir

Two Frenchwomen have advanced to the Australian Open round of 16--Marion Bartoli and Alize Cornet. And two Frenchwoman, Virginie Razzano and 2006 Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo --have not. Mauresmo played Victoria Azarenka today in the third round, and a quick look at the match must have pleased Mauresmo fans, for there was Mauresmo--lobbing and slicing, and executing her beautiful backhand. Closer observation, however, revealed that Mauresmo was behind a beat throughout the match. It wasn't so much that she needed more speed, but that she needed better anticipation. One of the TV commentators also mentioned that he thought the low bounce of the Rebound Ace court was just Amelie's cup of tea, but the higher bounce hurt her game.

Azarenka noticed this, too, and skillfully took Mauresmo out in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Azarenka's next opponent will be Serena Williams, and things should get pretty noisy. Bartoli plays number 1 seed Jelena Jankovic, and Cornet plays Dinara Safina.

Razzano lost in a close match (7-5, 7-5) against Dominika Cibulkova. She was defeated in the third round last year, too.

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