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

1. Photos
2. Second round: Chakvetadze v Kleybanova review
3. Third-round draw: Bottom half / Preview
4. Fourth-round draw: Top half
5. Order of Play for Saturday

---------
1. Photos
---------

Our delectable Anna:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/players/1082/photos
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Various players including Anna:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/

Many players:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1

------------------------------------------------
2. Second round: Chakvetadze v Kleybanova review
(Thursday 17th January)
------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] d. Alisa Kleybanova [Q], 6-3 6-4

Anna recovered from 0-2* in the first set, then let a 3-0* second-set
lead become *3-3 - that's what happens when you're not match-tight.

Anna may be last in the "who's got the best serve in the top 8" poll
at www.wtatour.com (only 1% had voted for Anna last time I checked),
but she served 8 aces in this match! Much less impressive was her
W:UE ratio of 19:26, while Kleybanova was much worse with 18:37. Anna
broke 5 times from 10 break-points, Kleybanova twice from 8.


Kuznetsova battles back [Teletext 497]
>>>
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze was a 6-3 6-4 victor against Alise
Kleybanova, while Daniela Hantuchová, seeded ninth, saw off Alizé
Cornet 6-2 7-5.
<<<

Venus Williams overcomes tough test (PA SportsTicker)
>>>
Also lurking in the bottom of the draw are No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze of
Russia and ninth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchová, who both
advanced on Thursday.

Chakvetadze had an odd start to her tournament on Monday, winning her
first-round match when Germany's Andrea Petkovic retired with a knee-
injury just three minutes in.

But the 20-year-old Russian had no trouble when she finally took the
court on Thursday, recording a 6-3 6-4 victory over compatriot Alisa
Kleybanova.

Chakvetadze's best showing here came last season when she reached the
quarter-finals, losing to countrywoman and eventual runner-up Maria
Sharapova.
<<<

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7193173.stm
>>>
Elsewhere, sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze set up an enticing third-round
meeting with fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko by beating Alisa
Kleybanova 6-3 6-4.
<<<

Ana Ivanovic powers through in Melbourne
By Charlie Caroe and agencies, for The Daily Telegraph
<www.telegraph.co.uk>
>>>
And two more Russians in Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Kirilenko set up
an exciting third-round meeting following easy second-round wins.

The two 20-year-olds both won in straight sets, with sixth seed
Chakvetadze beating fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-4 while
27th seed Kirilenko thrashed Japanese veteran Akiko Morigami 6-1 6-1.
<<<

------------------------------------------
3. Third-round draw: Bottom half / Preview
------------------------------------------

* SANIA MIRZA [31,DF] v VENUS WILLIAMS [8] (go Sania!)
* Marta Domachowska [Q] v LI,NA [24] (dawaj Marta!)
* Sabine Lisicki [Q] v Caroline Wozniacki (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* ANA IVANOVIC [4,DF] v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [28] (ajde Ana!)

* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] (mouthwatering
match - my loyalty is to Anna)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [9,EF] v Virginia Ruano Pascual (PODME DANIELA!!)
* NADIA PETROVA [14] v Ekaterina Makarova
* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [29] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [2]


3.1 Preview of Anna's third round
---------------------------------

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF]:
1r + Andrea Petkovic, 0-0* (40/40) retired (right-knee injury)
2r + Alisa Kleybanova [Q], 6-3 6-4

MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF]:
1r + Meilen Tu, 6-4 4-6 6-3
2r + Akiko Morigami [S], 6-1 6-1

This will be the fifth in a series of mouthwatering matches between
the two ultracute Russians. Maria won their first meeting 7-5 6-3 at
Miami 2005, but Anna won their next three with a combined loss of 16
games to lead 3:1.

Maria seems to be a confidence-player: when she's confident, she
plays dynamic all-court tennis and can beat lots of players (she's
won two WTA singles-titles: Beijing 2005 and Kolkata 2007). When
she's not confident, she hangs back, doesn't transfer her weight
forwards into the ball, and can't beat anybody.

Maria spent the first half of 2007 in a slump, with a 6-match losing-
streak from March to May, but played very well in front of me to
reach the third round of Birmingham and really push Jelena Jankovic
as hard as Big Maria did in the final. She did well in the US Open
Series, won 9 matches in a row at Kolkata (won) and Seoul (r/u to
Venus Williams), but then her form suddenly evaporated and she lost 5
matches in a row.

But Maria won $75k ITF Dubai in December, and won her first two
matches at Auckland, where Tamira Paszek inflicted a 6-1 6-3 hurting
in the quarter-finals. With her lopsided thrashing of Akiko Morigami
in the previous round, and Anna short of match-play following her
first-round exit at Sydney and first-round virtual bye here, it
couldn't be a better time for Maria to have another crack at Anna,
and it should be a fascinating contest.

------------------------------
4. Fourth-round draw: Top half
------------------------------

* Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] v JUSTINE HENIN [1] (jia you Su-Wei!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [5,EF] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [11] (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v Casey Dell'Acqua
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [12,EF] v SERENA WILLIAMS [7] (POJDME NICOLE!!)

-----------------------------
5. Order of Play for Saturday
-----------------------------

Rod Laver Arena: day-session (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
WS 3r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF]
MS 3r: Marin Cilic v FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ [7]
MS 3r: ROGER FEDERER [1] v Janko Tipsarevic
|
Rod Laver Arena: evening-session (start 19:30 AEST = 08:30 GMT)
WS 3r: SANIA MIRZA [31,DF] v VENUS WILLIAMS [8]
WS 3r: LLEYTON HEWITT [19] v MARCOS BAGHDATIS [15]

What a shame I won't get to watch Anna v Little Maria on BBCi,
although it's still an honour for them to be playing on Rod Laver
Arena.

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/