My Australian Open top 10

Here, in ascending order, are my top 10 Australian Open happenings:

10. "...I should have surgery before every Grand Slam": That's what Agnieszka Radwanska said in reponse to a comment that she got to the quarterfinals without having practiced. Radwanska played with a stress fracture in her foot through part of the 2010 season. When she finally stopped, she had to have surgery, and was told she would not be able to return to the tour until March. She recovered more rapidly than expected, and--at the last minute--entered the tournament. And despite Radwanska's service issues that generally stop her from seriously contending for a major, a run to the quarterfinals, under the circumstances, was quite an accomplishment.

9. I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places: Petra Kivitova isn't quite there yet, but she's getting closer and closer to becoming a force on the women's tour. She's still streaky, and she still has a tendency to get tight and make errors. Kvitova, though, is an all-out kind of player, and will probably always make a lot of errors. She has learned to protect herself somewhat, however, by not always hitting the ball so flat. She has a way to go, but her hitting is so impressive, one can't help but believe she will continue to improve and mature.

8. No retirement benefits: Venus Williams, who just can't seem to catch a break lately, had to retire in a major for the first time in her career. Williams sustained a groin injury during the first set tiebreak of her second round match. Her opponent, an in-form Sandra Zahlavova, won that set, but Williams went on to win the match. She was really hurt, though, and the retirement that was expected in the second round occurred in the third. Williams attempted to return Andrea Petkovic's serve in the second game, let out a cry of pain, and that was that. Some people in the crowd booed, literally adding insult to injury.

7. No strings attached: This is unforgettable.

6. Glazed Danish: An obviously anxious Li Na was down a set and a break against top seed Caroline Wozniacki during the semifinals. When the second set reached 5-all, however, Li regained her confidence and  never looked back. Li defeated Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and Wozniacki walked away with ten winners, none of which was hit during the final set. Wozniacki went out in the semifinals in the 2010 U.S. Open, and in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. And while she claims she feels no pressure as the top-ranked player in the world, her clever, accurate, but non-aggressive game may need to be revised again.

5. The little motore that (almost) could: You could say that Francesca Schiavone wasn't exactly fresh for her quarterfinal match against top seed Caroline Wozniacki. She had played an almost five-hour, very physical (and very mental) round of 16 match, and was expected to have very little left to give. The joke was on observers: Schiavone took the first set off Wozniacki, and went up a break in the second. She finally showed her fatigue by making multiple unforced errors, and Wozniacki defeated her 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. But the Italian showed, once again, that she is tougher than tough, and that she gives away nothing.

4. What do you mean, the match is almost over?: Gisela Dulko seemed to realize that very thing, right after she and partner Flavia Pennetta went down a set, 1-4 and a point from 1-5 in the doubles championship match. Dulko, who had been the weaker player of the team throughout the first and second sets--just on the brink of defeat--suddenly turned on some inner switch and went on a volleying frenzy that turned the match around. From that point on, it was all about the top seeds, who won their first major (against Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

3. Big Sister Na in charge: Li Na was seeded 9th at the Australian Open, but that didn't stop her from making a run all the way to the final. Her press conferences and on-court interviews were (much like Schiavone's) more of a gulp, than a breath, of fresh air. The straight-talking, consistently hilarious "Golden Flower" of China showed fans some of the best hitting in the tournament. Despite taking out the top seed, she lost in the final, but in many ways, she was the star of this Open.

2. She's Aussie Kim now: Kim Clijsters' second career, it turns out, isn't about just the U.S Open. Clijsters didn't drop a set until she reached the final, when she lost the first set to Li Na. She then used her athleticism and shot variety--and took advantage of a mentally collapsing opponent--to win her fourth major, and her first Australian Open. If Clijsters stays healthy, she can make this second career quite memorable.

1. Schiavone def. Kuznetsova, 6-4, 1-6, 16-14: "Thank goodness the second set was 6-1," Pam Shriver remarked after it took Francesca Schiavone and Svetalana Kuznetsova four hours and 44 minutes to play their fourth round match. I've covered the match in detail here, so I'll just say that the quality, the drama, the athleticism, and the all-out effort by both women makes this match a classic for all time. Those who saw it will never forget it.

Nestor & Srebotnik--what they said

Nenad has her locked up forever. He was supposed to play with Ivanovic here in preparation for the Olympics, so that opened the door for us playing together. Maybe if he plays with her again some time in the future we can play again.
Yeah, definitely. U.S. Open was the one he was still questioning. So, for sure, you're the first in line, absolutely. But since we already made an agreement, I like to keep the word, you know. If I say, that's it.
I have no problems with her stabbing Nenad in the back at all.

Srebotnik & Nestor win Australian Open mixed doubles title

Katarina Srebotnik and Daniel Nestor, seeded 2nd at the Australian Open, have won the 2011 mixed doubles championship. They defeated Chan Yung-Jan and Paul Hanley 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Srebotnik's usual partner is Nenad Zomonjic, but she stepped aside for this major to allow Zimonjic to get in some practice with Ana Ivanovic, with whom he plans to play at the Olympic Games. That didn't work out because Ivanovic withdrew from mixed doubles. Daniela Nestor, up until recently, was Zimonjic's partner in men's doubles, and they spent time ranked as the number 1 team in the world. (Sometimes you need a chart to get through the labyrinthine makeup of doubles teams.)

Srebotnik, who is now a doubles-only player, claims this title as her first Australian Open mixed doubles title. She has won the French Open title three times, and the U.S. Open title once, and she has been the runner-up five times--twice at the French Open, twice at the U.S. Open, and once at Wimbledon.

What they said

After the match, back to the locker room, I make joke, tennis should only play one set.

Li Na

Any nerves out there on Rod Laver today?
I think at the end I was a little nervous. Also in the beginning, first game I was a little nervous, shaking a little. But I had to speak after my match, and I think that was the most difficult part of today....

An-Sophie Mestach

What went through your mind when they presented you with the trophy?
Little bit big....If I take the trophy, maybe they couldn't see my face.

Li Na

...she did everything better than me in that first set. I mean, obviously her groundstrokes were heavier, deeper. She served better. She returned better. So I think, you know, she was playing really, really well probably the best that I've ever played against her, or that she played against me.

Kim Clijsters, commenting on her opponent, Li Na

Do you feel like this is your home Grand Slam? Do you feel more at home in Melbourne than maybe Wimbledon or New York or Paris?
I was feeling today I was playing in Belgium because all the fans was applaud for the Kim.

Li Na

You can call her her Aussie Kim...you can call her 2011 Australian Open women's champion!

For the first set of her 2011 Australian Open championship match again 9th seed Li Na, Kim Clijsters made the mistake of getting into a hitting contest with China's Big Sister Na. Li likes those contests--they're her bread and butter--and she tends to win them. And even though Li looked very tight in the first couple of games and was broken right away, she soon dictated a hitting rhythm after she gained control of her forehand. Serving at 2-3, Li broke the 3rd seed, then held, though Clijsters did see a break point in Li's service game. Now up 5-3, Li took advantage of a second break point by hitting what can be referred to only as a ridiculously good forehand winner.

After the second set got rolling, it became obvious that Clijsters had learned her lesson with regard to giving Li long baseline rallies that the Chinese player could use to keep dictating play. Clijsters broke right away when Li double-faulted, and the next game featured what was probably the best rally of the match. Li won it, and got a break point as a reward, but Clijsters saved it when Li put the ball into the net. She did convert on her next break point, however. Li was then broken, and--on her third break point--she broke Clijsters with a stunning crosscourt forehand shot.

Everything still looked pretty even at this point, but then Clijsters dialed up her defense, hitting several backhand slices in a row, and throwing Li off her rhythm. She held two break points, in fact, but Li saved them. Clijsters then held and broke Li.

If I were the kind of person who used the expression "This is when the wheels fell off," I'd certainly describe flying wheels. At this point in the second set, Li looked tired--not so much physically, though it was very hot, but mentally. Some of the Chinese crowd were yelling during points, and Li asked the chair umpire to get them to stop; she would do this several times in the course of the match (why do chair umpires have to be asked to scold an inappropriate crowd?). She was distracted and frustrated, then she was broken again, and Clijsters took the second set 6-3.

Clijsters held at love to begin the third set. Li then went down 0-40, but saved two break points with her signature crosscourt forehand, and then with an ace. She set up a great save of the third break point, too, but mis-hit a volley, sending the ball beyond the baseline. Clijsters then double-faulted twice, and Li broke back, but she wasn't hitting with nearly the same accuracy and precision she had executed in the first set.

Perhaps boosted by Clijsters' service problems, Li suddenly began to serve well again. But then she, too, double-faulted, and was broken back. Clijsters then held for a 4-1 lead, and it was Li's level of play, not the score itself, that hinted that Chinese player was not going to make one of her famous comebacks. Li did hold in the next game, but it was not a strong hold, and Clijsters held, too. Li was able to hold easily when Clisters made back-to-back errors, and there was the slightest hint that the match might go on, but the 3rd seed held easily for a 6-3 set win, which gave her the 2011 championship.

Given the 9th seed's propensity for coming back in tough matches, it was entirely reasonable to suspect that she would gather herself together and figure out the third set. But that didn't happen. Instead, she continued to make a number of unforced errors and nervous shots, while Clijsters (who said, on her return to the tour, that she just had to stop doing splits on hard courts!) was doing splits right and left to retrieve balls and often turn her defensive shots into winners. In the first half of the match, Li had frequently trapped Clijsters in the ad corner, but by the third set, she was having difficulty doing even that.

As is often the case in a big match, one player's level went up and the other player's level went down. In the second half of the match, Clijsters gave Li more variety than she could handle, and Li was not up to the mental task of becoming the first Chinese player to win a major.

Nevertheless, it was a good match, and Li's run to the final was one of the great stories of the tournament. As for Clijsters, she showed, once again, that on a hard court, she can now think like a champion and do what she has to do to win. She burst into tears when the match was over, then gave an amusing acceptance speech, in which she told fans that it's finally alright to call her "Aussie Kim." Indeed.

Kim Clijsters, volume 2, is as athletic and clever on court as the first version, and--despite continuing tendencies to lose her way from time to time--this Kim Clijsters has learned to be in charge when it counts. I think health is the key for her; if she can remain relatively uninjured this season, she has a chance to give some more speeches about chipped teeth, ugly lucky pants, and anything else that strikes her fancy.

One final note: Throughout her run in Melbourne, Clijsters wore a green dress that was designed as a tribute to the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley. This was a nice touch, especially from my viewpoint, since Goolagong Cawley is one of my favorite players of all time.

Vergeer wins both Australian Open titles

Esther Vergeer won the Australian Open women's wheelchair singles championship today by defeating 2nd seed Daniela Di Toro 6-0, 6-0. Vergeer, the top seed, has now won the Open eight times. She took a break last year and did not enter, but she was the champion in 2009.

Vergeer and her partner, Sharon Walraven, the top doubles seeds, won the doubles championship by defeating 2nd seeds Aniek Van Koot and Jiske Griffioen 6-0, 6-2. Vergeer has won the Australian Open women's doubles wheelchair title seven times.

Mestach wins two Australian Open juniors girls titles

16-year-old An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium won both the junior girls singles and doubles titles today at the Australian Open. In singles, 2nd seed Mestach, who is ranked 5th in the world in juniors, defeated 5th seed Monica Puig 6-4, 6-4.

In the doubles championship match, Mestach and her partner, Demi Schuurs, defeated Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 6-2, 6-3. The champions were seeded 6th at the tournament. Mestach and Silvia Njric reached the final of the U.S. Open junior girls doubles competition last year, but had to give their opponents a walkover.

Srebotnik and Chan to vie for mixed doubles title in Australia

2nd seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Daniel Nestor and will play Chan Yung-Jan and Paul Hanley in the Australian Open mixed doubles championship match. Srebotnik and Nestor defeated 3rd seeds Maria Kirilenko and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 7-5 in the semifnals. Chan and Hanley defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 (mixed doubles is played with a tiebreak set).

What they said

After the first round, I said to Vika, "I have a feeling we can be in the final." She said "I know we can be in the final." Next time, I have to say "I know we can win the final."

Maria Kirilenko

...the funny thing is I was playing Sydney. I know the same time Queensland have some tough time. So my physio, Alex, say, "Okay, also was rain in Melbourne." So he say, "Okay, best that we stay here." So I will play final. And then in Melbourne, he say, "Oh, January so cold. That's why we stay here." So I play final again, so I just make the joke for him, "Next time I play tournament, you should say the same to me...."

Li Na

Well, we were like in shock. I think a set and 4-1 down, in the changeover, we were like looking each other and saying, "C'mon, we play less than an hour. We cannot finish the match playing less than an hour in the final."

Gisela Dulko

It's really strange. Didn't she just come back?

Ana Ivanovic, commenting on Justine Henin's retirement

Heavy!

Flavia Pennetta, trying to walk with the trophy

To be honest, thinking back on the match, there's not much I remember. I think I must have been just, I don't know, somewhere. Very overwhelmed by all the emotions and very hard to describe. Just being able to focus on the tennis side of it, that was very hard, I remember.

Kim Clijsters, reflecting on her very first major final in 2001

We are all the time together. Here, we are staying in an apartment, and we are cooking for each other. One night Flavia cooks for everybody, the next night I cook for everybody.

Gisela Dulko

If you need, you just ask the Federation. They can do everything they can....yesterday I got a text message from the Federation boss. She say, "Oh, well done. You come back, I pay the dinner." I say, "What, only the dinner?"

Li Na

Dulko & Pennetta win Australian Open doubles championship

When Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta left the court after their semifinal victory, right before they went into the tunnel, they did one final "keep the faith" high-five. On Friday, as they came out of the tunnel and walked onto the court to play the final, they turned and looked at each other for just a moment. It was subtle, but it was an unmistakable "this is it" exchange, maybe with a touch of "let's kick some ass" thrown in. The top seeds served so well and played so well in the semifinal against Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova, it was easy to believe they had the confidence to win their first major.

But it didn't play that way--not for a while, anyway. Dulko, in particular, looked like a shadow of herself, and had a hard time serving. Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko, on the other hand, played very aggressively. Azarenka hit the ball really hard, and made a number of flashy volleys. In no time, the 12th seeds had won the first set 6-2.

The pattern continued, with Dulko and Pennetta occasionally showing their number 1 style, but they just didn't have enough going for them to resist the speed and precision of Azarenka, and it didn't seem to occur to them to launch an attack on Kirilenko, who was not playing quite up to her partner's level. Azarenka and Kirilenko went up 4-1, and were a point from going up 5-1, when--perhaps inspired by Li Na--Dulko woke up, so to speak, and went all crazy on them at the net. For the next few games, Dulko was unstoppable.

Azarenka and Kirilenko weren't the same after that, and neither were Dulko and Pennetta. The signature Dulko lobs and Pennetta steady groundstrokes and penetrating volleys began to appear in great numbers, as Azarenka increasingly missed her volleys and hit balls outside the lines. The top seeds won the second set 7-5, and they cruised throught the third, winning it 6-1.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone as happy lifting a trophy as Dulko and Pennetta were, especially Pennetta, who is the first Italian player to win a championship at the Australian Open. The two have been very close friends for many years, and they have always played doubles together when they felt like it. Last year, however, they made a commitment to be a regular doubles team, and they shot up to the number 1 spot in the world. This is their first major championship, however, and they won it in a very dramatic way.

Paths to the final

3rd seed Kim Clijsters and 9th seed Li Na will soon play for the Australian Open championship. Here is how they got to the final:

Clijsters
round 1--def. Dinara Safina, 6-0, 6-0
round 2--def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-3
round 3--def. Alize Cornet, 7-6, 6-3
round 4--def. Ekaterina Makarova, 7-6, 6-2
quarterfinals--def. Agnieszka Radwanska (12), 6-3, 7-6
semifinals--def. Vera Zvonareva (2), 6-3, 6-3

Li
round 1--def. Sofia Arvidsson, 6-1, 7-5
round 2--def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-3, 6-2
round 3--def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2, 6-1
round 4--def. Victoria Azarenka (8), 6-3, 6-3
quarterfinals--def. Andrea Petkovic (30), 6-2, 6-4
semifinals--def. Caroline Wozniacki (1), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Observations about the Australian Open

Martina Navratilova is a great commentator. Her ability to see detail and the big picture at the same time is  impressive.

Note to Chris McKendry: There were lots of countrywomen in the stands, too. What century are you living in? (Also, as much as I like him as a commentator, why is it so hard for Darren Cahill to say the "w" word?)

Francesca Schiavone is a tennis god.

Fireworks, cannons and buzzing planes are distractions, not entertainment.

The chair umpires appear to be taking a closer look at coaching from the stands.

Australian fans really know how to do it with the costumes, makeup and body painting!

Can we please keep the "all Chinese men are short and all Chinese people are quiet" interviewer out of press conferences?

The performances of both Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki do not bode well. Time will tell.

Kirilenko a star in Australian Open doubles

Maria Kirilenko, seeded 12th with partner Victoria Azarenka, has reached the final of the Australian Open. Azarenka and Kirilenko will compete against top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the final. In mixed doubles, Kirilenko and partner Nenad Zimonjic--seeded number 3--have reached the semifinals. In that round, they will play Katarina Zrebotnik and Zimonjic's former doubles partner, Daniel Nestor. Srebotnik and Nestor received a quarterfinal walkover from Anastasia Rodionova and Mahesh Bhupati.

The other mixed doubles semefinal will feature Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau playing against Chan Yung-Jan and Paul Hanley.

In women's wheelchair singles, top seed Esther Vergeer will play 2nd seed Daniela Di Toro in the final. And in women's wheelchair doubles, top seeds Vergeer and Sharon Walraven will compete in the final against 2nd seeds Aniek Van Koot and Jiske Griffioen. Van Koot and Griffioen won their semifinal match 7-6, 7-6.

What they said

I didn't have a good evening last night. My husband sleep like this (snores), you know. I always wake up every hour.

Li Na

It's nice to be in another Grand Slam final here. You know, obviously when you're close and having played a few semifinals and one final, I think you kind of just tease with that feeling, you know, of maybe going the whole way.

Kim Clijsters

I think this Grand Slam, I was, you know, doing everything possible to recover and prepare myself the best I can. And I think I did well. So I really improved. So that experience helped me....I still didn't win the match today, but overall I'm feeling good. So there is nothing. I just have to think about what can I do next time if I meet a player like this, like Kim, who's playing her game perfectly. What can I do to hurt them? What can I improve in my game to come up with something better next time?

Vera Zvonareva

What got you throught the second set, even though you didn't have a good night's sleep last night?
Prize money.

Li Na

Did you feel like you needed to play more aggressive in the third set? You had so many more winners in the first and second set. In the third you had zero and she had 15. Probably not going to get it done for you.
Well, I don't know. I don't really think about that. I was just trying to keep on going. I was trying to take one ball at a time, and that's it. That wasn't enough today, so, you know, it's just bad luck.

Caroline Wozniacki

I ask her many times "Please come with me." She say "No, I have my life, I don't want to come with you."

Li Na, referring to her mother

I think that's something that at some point you have to realize, how far do I want to go? Do I want to protect the muscle or just be irritated by the tape? I don't like that feeling. I don't enjoy playing with tape. I don't like prevent my ankles with tape or anything. I think it's just something that's annoying.

Kim Clijsters

If you are focus on the court, you don't need to think about too much. Just focus. I mean, of course like between the point, only 20 second. What you can think? It's so short the time.

Li Na

Do you have some special memories of playing with Justine?
Memories, I played her so many times and I never beat her, so that's probably the biggest memory that I have. You know, she's a great player. That's all I can say. I was never able to beat her.

Vera Zvonareva

Is it true that you're not a typical Chinese in the sense that you're more extrovert? You like to have fun, make jokes? You're not shy? I mean, many Chinese don't talk this much.
Oh, yeah, maybe they couldn't speak English so they didn't know how to talk. Yeah, if you guys can't speak Chinese, of course they can make a lot of joke.

Li Na

Clijsters defeats Zvonareva for a spot in the Australian Open final

Vera Zvonareva didn't get the Kim Clijsters Agnieszka Radwanska got in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. That Kim Clijsters was hitting errors right and left, and if Radwanska had a better serve, she might have had a chance to go to the semifinals. Clijsters said later that she felt a bit tired, and just wasn't up to a higher level of competition. But she showed up for the semifinals looking fresher. Having lost to 2nd seed Zvonareva the last three times they had played, the 3rd seed knew she had to be prepared.

The players exchanged breaks at the beginning of the match, but this quick mutual defensive play was not to represent any kind of pattern. Clijsters hit the ball hard and with depth and precision, while Zvonareva had  problems with her serve. The Belgian took the first set 6-3 in 33 minutes.

Zvonareva continued to have problems with her second serve, but she elevated her level of play in the second set. Some of the rallies were long, with both players hitting powerful groundstrokes. Down a break, Zvonareva  held at love for 3-4. In the next game, she had 3 break points against Clijsters, and it looked like a turning point in the match had finally come. But even after winning those seven straight points, Zvonareva had to contend with a hold of serve from Clijsters.

That was Zvonareva's last opportunity to change the dynamics of the match. Clijsters, looking as solid as she has ever looked, won the second set 6-3. She will play 9th seed Li Na in the final. Clijsters and Li also contended earlier this month for the Sydney title, which Li won. Clijsters has a 4-2 career record against Li.

Li upsets top seed and advances to final at Australian Open

Under stress, you regress. That's what we sometimes say in my profession. You can describe the first half of the Australian Open semifinal between Caroline Wozniacki and Li Na in different ways, I suppose, but the gist of it is: Li went to pieces mentally for a set and a half. This is not to take anything away from the top seed, but Li (the 9th seed) was just a bundle of nerves (a trait from her past) from the moment she stepped onto the court in Rod Laver Arena. She couldn't make her racquet do what her head told her to do, and her usually-dangerous forehand broke down early in the match.

Down a set (6-3) and a break, Li broke Wozniacki at 3-4, which could have been a turning point, but she immediately double-faulted, made a few unfathomable shots, and was broken back. But she saved a match point by getting her forehand to work once more, then broke Wozniacki--again using the forehand--to bring the second set to 5-all. Li then turned into a different player (actually, the one we've been watching throughout the tournament), held her serve, and a tense game followed, with Wozniacki serving at 5-6. Finally, Li broke (on her second set point) via a double fault from Wozniacki.

Wozniacki broke early in the third, and went up 2-1, but then was broken back at love. By this time, Li was cooking her forehand and went up 40-0 on her own serve, then hit a backhand into the net, but held at 15. Wozniacki then netted a volley and double-faulted, after going up 30-0. Li hit a forehand winner to get a break point, but didn't convert until she had her second chance on an ad point. By this time, Li looked fresher and more confident than Wozniacki, but--against the Dane--even confidence and a break doesn't mean an opponent can relax; Wozniacki proved that by breaking Li to put the players back on serve.

Li broke Wozniacki to go up 5-3, then immediately went up 30-0 on her own serve. Wozniacki stopped the bleeding for a moment, then Li hit one barely out, and it was 30-all. Li, however, was able to win the match on her first match point when Wozniacki hit a forehand long.

Li did this the hard way. She overcame her problems with her nerves and, subsequently, her forehand, but struggled with her overheads and volleys right to the end. She also made 51unforced errors, though the majority of those occurred in the first half of the match. Nevertheless, Li's comeback was very impressive, and her on-court interview with Sam Smith was quite funny.

Li is the first Chinese player to make it to the final of a major tournament.

What they said

I think the planes kind of took me up higher.

Kim Clijsters, referring to the Australia Day air show

You know, I think I started looking at things a bit differently. I started thinking, Okay, you can get injured any moment. Your career can be over. You got to try your best every day. Since that, I think that tournament turned things around a lot for me. Something changed. I'm just trying to take the best out of each day, out of each match. I think by that time I already got a bit more experience. And overall all of those things, they helped a lot.

Vera Zvonareva, referring to Hobart and her injury there

Was it nervous start for you today? Were you nervous when you went out there?
Well, I don't think so it was nervous. But I was little tired. Yeah, it's ten match in the way, so it was tough.

Petra Kvitova

It took a lot more effort than it should, and it took a lot more out of me.

Kim Clijsters, commenting on her quarterfinal match

He's an awesome tennis player so he's able to hit the ball well, but then if he needed to push or go from left to right, he had some problems.But it took me 20 years to get at this level, so it was good.

Esther Vergeer, commenting on her hitting session with Rohan Bopanna (Bopanna was in a wheelchair)

... [what] would make bigger history in the media, from your point of view, a final victory of Vera Zvonareva who never won a slam or a victory of a Chinese player who never won a slam?
Well, that's a quite deep thoughts. I'm not really following it, so I don't think there is reasons to answer this question at the moment....

Vera Zvonareva

She used to really have moments where she could really be out of it sometimes, and do a lot of things that, you know, a lot of us players really enjoyed watching her sometimes go a little crazy out there.

Kim Clijsters, referring to Vera Zvonareva

Vergeer makes great start in Australian Open

Esther Vergeer made a statement in her opening Australian Open match on Wednesday: The top seed defeated Sharon Walraven 6-0, 6-0. 2nd seed Daniela Di Toro also won her quarterfinal match, allowing her opponent to win only three games. Vergeer is on a 405-match winning streak, and she has a 610-25 career record.

Players and former players like to hit with Vergeer during majors. During the U.S. Open, Martina Navratilova hit with her. In Melbourne, Rohan Bopanna hit with Vergeer, and he did it while sitting in a wheelchair.

Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, seeded second in women's doubles, were upset in straight sets in the semifinals by 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko. Their opponents in the final will be Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, who served really well--and played really well--against 3rd seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova. The top seeds defeated Huber and Petrova 6-4, 7-5, and are now a match away from winning their first major.

The Australia Day crowd was quite noisy and spirited. As Pennetta attempted to serve for the first set, fans broke into song. When she tried to serve again, other fans broke into laughter because of the song. Later, a loud quacking sound could be heard in the stands. There was also a lot of very enthusiastic cheering; if you didn't know better, you would have thought it was a Fed Cup match.

Clijsters and Zvonareva advance to Australian Open semifinals

Vera Zvonareva, the Australian Open number 2 seed, played her fourth left-handed opponent (and her third left-handed Czech opponent) today in the quarterfinals. Zvonareva expertly defeated an unsteady Petra Kvitova (seeded 25th) 6-2, 6-4. The match wasn't without its drama. Australia Day cannons were firing, and a fan apparently fell and hurt herself on some steps in the stands. Sometimes I think Australian Open and U.S. Open officials compete to see who can distract the most players. Zvonareva was obviously bothered by all the goings-on, and she slipped and let Kvitova in in the second set. Kvitova took the opportunity, but she made too many careless errors to make much of an impact. Zvonareva made only twelve unforced errors in the match; Kvitova made 28. The young Czech player has big hitting talent, but she showed tonight that she isn't ready for a really big stage. She's definitely one to keep an eye on, though. A calmer, more cerebral Kvitova could be a force in the future; the good news is that she has already made refinements in her game in the past year.

3rd seed Kim Clijsters won the other semifinal. Clijsters defeated 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 7-6. The Belgian went off her game in the second set, and Radwanska used her court savvy to throw Clijsters off  her rhythm. But Radwanska's serve, which drags behind the rest of her game, holds her back from defeating someone like Clijsters, who is not only athletic and powerful, but can also pull out several different shots when she needs to.

Radwanska served for the second set at 5-4, 30-0, but was broken. She also made unforced in situations in which she had carefully set up winners. All the same, it was an entertaining second set--though not so much when the Australian Day planes buzzed over the court repeatedly. And Radwanska, having just returned from foot surgery, is to be commended for making it to the quarterfinals.

The percentages for Clijsters are worth examining. She hit 41 winners and made 37 unforced errors. That is officially a "good" statistic, but Clijsters has been making a very high number of unforced errors throughout the tournament.

Wednesday, as previously mentioned, was Australia Day, which means that the ESPN crew eats Vegemite and invites a player to do likewise. Vera Zvonareva tried the Australian staple (Kim Clijsters didn't), though she recalled that she didn't like it when she sampled it five years ago. It turns out that she still doesn't like it, but she made an effort. Meanwhile, the sight of Brad Gilbert chewing with his mouth open was revolting. The good news is that, as soon as the Australian zoo creatures were brought onto the set, Gilbert made an exit.

Huber beats Black in doubles

Long-time partners (and bitterly-split ex-partners) Cara Black and Liezel Huber competed against each other in doubles at the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday, with Huber and Nadia Petrova defeating Black and Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-4. Top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta also advanced, with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova.

2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won in straight sets over 9th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaugnessy, and 12th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko defeated Chuang Chia-Jung and Hsieh Su-Wei.

I assume that the Azarenka-Kirilennko pairing is a temporary one. Agnieszka Radwanska, Kirilenko's usual partner, was not expected to play, and was not able to make a firm decision about playing until the last minute.