===============
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Rebound Ace); Grand Slam)
=============== http://www.australianopen.com/
Contents
--------

This message is an Anna-filtered subset of my Day 8 round-up...

1. Photos
4. Fourth-round report
6. Quarter-final preview

...merged with an Anna-filtered subset of my Day 9 round-up:

1. Photos
4. Quarter-final draw
5. Semi-final draw
9. Order of Play for Wednesday

Sections 4 & 5 have been renumbered 7 & 8 so that they're singly
defined and in the correct order.

---------
1. Photos (merged & Anna-filtered)
---------

Anna Chakvetadze:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ (Gallery now open)

Anna's looking cute as ever. I also notice that her right ankle is
taped.

Anna Chakvetadze, Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6285617.stm
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/galleries/ (Day eight
highlights)

Anna Chakvetadze, Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis added:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=melbourne_r4

Player-party: Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Vesnina, Tsvetana Pironkova:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=melbourne

Here, Anna lets herself down with weird makeup - especially on her
eyes. I much prefer the natural look. Her former doubles-partner
Elena Vesnina, on the other hand, looks absolutely stunning! :drool:

I hate football, but Anna is so cute!
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?
Event=melbourne_week2

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

----------------------
4. Fourth-round report (Monday 22nd January)
----------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] d. PATTY SCHNYDER [8], 6-4 6-1

I believed in this upset when the draw came out, but the scoreline is
amazing! :-)

And what makes it even more awesome is that Anna was 1-4 down in the
first set!

>>>
Anna making an impression
by Angus Morgan <www.australianopen.com>
Monday, 22 January, 2007

Anna Chakvetadze may not have the profile of many of her compatriots -
and there are 11 of them ranked inside the women's top-50 - but
there's no Russian woman in better form at Australian Open 2007.

The women's 12th seed reaffirmed her growing reputation with a
commanding 6-4 6-1 fourth round victory over veteran Swiss lefty
Patty Schnyder at Vodafone Arena on Day Eight to qualify for her
first Grand Slam quarterfinal where she'll play, who else, another
Russian: the winner of the evening's feature match at Rod Laver Arena
between Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonarëva.

<snip>

Going about her business quietly and efficiently, Chakvetadze has
conceded just the one set to her four opponents so far, and found
victory over Schnyder - Alicia Molik's third round conqueror - a
little easier to achieve than she expected.

After trailing 2-4 in the first set, the Russian surged to claim 10
of the next 11 games to win easing up.

<snip>

While the rankings suggest that Sharapova will be her next opponent,
Chakvetadze rates Zvonarëva highly and believes the No.22 seed is
more than capable of upsetting the No.1.

Chakvetadze is 0-2 against both players (discounting a walkover
victory against Sharapova in Moscow last year), but she believes she
is a much more complete player now that when she lost to Sharapova
4-6 6-4 7-5 at Los Angeles in 2005.
<<<

Anna quotes
-----------

"I started very slow today. But you have to get used to Patty's game
because she plays with so much spin. Ball is bouncing so high here,
too.

"Vodafone is a little bit different court, because I played outside-
courts all my matches. I just had to get used to it. I just had to
get used to it, then I found my rhythm and played better.

"I actually was surprised [with the ease of the win], but I was
trying to concentrate in the second set, because I know that she's a
fighter, and if she wins two easy points then she can start to fight.

"I just try go to the court just to win. I'm not thinking about who
is my opponent. Before the match, of course, I'm thinking. But during
the match, I just thinking about how to beat her, and which level."

[I don't know what Anna means by "level" here: perhaps things like
how hard to hit the ball, how close to the lines?]

"I think I served pretty well today, and that helped me a lot,
especially in the second set."

[Re. anticipation]
"I'm just trying to watch her racket, where she want to hit.
Sometimes it really happen, but sometimes I have bad days and I just
can't play.

"I have won 19 matches, I think, from 20, so yes I get more
confidence of course - but it also depends on who you are playing. I
think I had a pretty good draw, especially the first two rounds.

"I don't want to talk like some of the players who like to say they
will win a Grand Slam. All the players want to win a Grand Slam, and
all the players want to win their next match, but I just like to play
and we will see what happens."

^[Very sensible attitude - there are three very tough matches between
Anna and this title, so she needs to take each as it comes.]

"I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals. I didn't expect that when I
came here, because usually I play very bad in Australia." <smiling>


/I/ wasn't expecting Anna to play badly in Australia this year. She's
made a bad start to several of the previous years in her career, but
she's of a different stature now: quite possibly on her way to the
top five!

If Anna can keep this momentum going, she could have a better career
than Daniela Hantuchová, Jelena Dokić and Vera Zvonarëva separately.
Many promising young players fail to fulfill their potential, but
what's encouraging about Anna is that she already emerged from a
nasty-looking slump to have her best year yet in 2006.

Anna's diary updated:
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/

------------------------
6. Quarter-final preview
------------------------

I said in my tournament-preview that I would love a Maria v Anna
quarter-final, and it's so cool that Anna has upset the seedings to
make my wish come true, just as Vera Zvonarëva did to become Maria's
fourth-round opponent!

Maria v Vera was a mouthwatering match of flairsome power, and Maria
v Anna will be more of the same. I think Anna could do even better
against Maria than Vera did, perhaps even win, although Maria was
just too solid - especially on her serve - for Vera to put her in any
serious danger of losing.

Maria and Anna are both now members of my Eternal Fanship, so where
is my loyalty? It's difficult to say in advance, because it boils
down to the following question: Could Anna stop Kim Clijsters in the
semi-finals? That's what would make it worthwhile for me to sacrifice
my queen, because if Anna lost to Clijsters, I would be thinking,
"I wish Maria could have had a go at her!"


Maria quotes
------------

"I thought I played a lot better [against Vera] than I did in my
previous rounds, but I'll definitely have to step it up against her
[Anna].

"I don't know her game that well... she's had some great results in
the last couple of months. And she's a big hitter, and another young
Russian that's coming up, so I look forward to that."

[Re. Los Angeles 2005]
"I think she's more of a developed player than she was then. She's
definitely a lot more experienced. She's played more top players, has
had great wins over top players.

"I mean, look, I don't think I'm going to look back at that match too
much. Obviously I've seen her play here and there. Just got to go
out, and if I play like I did today, I think my chances are pretty
good."


Anna quotes
-----------

[Q. Are you a much better player than the last time you played Maria?]

Anna: "I think so, because now I have more confidence and I know how
I should play, and if I use my game-plan right then I can win, I
think.

[Re. other Russians]
"Of course we're friends, because we spend so much time on the Tour,
but you can't be friends with everyone because we're different
personalities. But most of them are very nice and I'm friends with
them.

"I just want to play one more match and win one more match. I'm not
thinking, 'OK, she's Russian, I have to beat her.'"

[Comparing Maria with Vera Zvonarëva]
"They both play pretty similar. They hit very flat, good serve.
Better backhand, I think. Well, I played against Vera on grass and I
lost very close match. I don't know. They both very tough opponents.
I have to be ready."

As a fan of all three, I think Maria and Vera have the biggest
contrast of styles - Maria with more power, Vera with more
versatility and retrieval-skills. I think Anna and Vera are the most
similar, and that Anna is more similar to Maria than Vera is.

Any match between two of the three is absolutely mouthwatering to
me! :-)

---------------------
7. Quarter-final draw
---------------------
7.1 Top half (to be played on Wednesday)
------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] (another
mouthwatering match!)
* MARTINA HINGIS [6] v KIM CLIJSTERS [4] (hopp Martina!)

------------------
8. Semi-final draw (to be played on Thursday)
------------------
8.1 Bottom half
---------------

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [10,EF] v Serena Williams (pojdme Nicole!)

------------------------------
9. Order of Play for Wednesday
------------------------------

Rod Laver Arena (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
WS qf: MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF]
WS qf: KIM CLIJSTERS [4] v MARTINA HINGIS [6]
MS qf: TOMMY HAAS [12] v NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO [3]
|
Evening-session (start 19:30 AEST = 08:30 GMT)
MS qf: FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ v RAFAEL NADAL [2]
XD 2r: (BOB BRYAN/MIKE BRYAN)[1] v Chris Guccione/Casey Dell'Acqua

It's so disappointing that there are no women's quarter-finals on the
evening-session = no BBCi-coverage! :fiery:

Full order of play:
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Anna_Chakvetadze/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/