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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Major)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
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1. Photos
2. First-round draw
3. Anna Chakvetadze preview
4. Order of play for Tuesday

Master-thread for my Wimbledon 2009 reports:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=382860

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1. Photos
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The following links will be useful throughout the tournament, but I shall post
them only once:

Galleries of many players:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?cap=1&pg=1 (latest 200 only)
http://www.tennis.com/photogallery/photogallery.aspx?pgid=1
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/tennis/photos.html
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/photos/

Where to search for specific players:
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/players/
http://news.yahoo.com/
http://www.fotosports.com/
Getty Images

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2. First-round draw
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The players on the left are the ones I want to win.


First quarter (Nicole Vaidišová, Anna Chakvetadze)
-------------

N.B. Kristína Kucová [LL,S] has replaced Katarina Srebotnik, who hasn't played
since October 2008 due to left-Achilles and left-ankle injuries.

* DINARA SAFINA [1] v Lourdes Domínguez Lino (Safina is Nicole's prey)
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v Rossana de los Ríos (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* Alyona Bondarenko v Elena Baltacha [WC] (my loyalty is to Alyona)
* Kirsten Flipkens v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [30] (I think I still prefer Kirsten, although
Ágnes has been growing on me)

* Melinda Czink v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [17] (anyone but Mauresmo)
* Kristína Kucová [LL,S] v Aiko Nakamura [Q,S] (my loyalty is to Kristína)
* Mariya Koryttseva v Vania King
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [15,DF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives (forza Flavia!)

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [9] v Kimiko Date Krumm [WC] (my loyalty is to Caroline)
* Maria Kirilenko [DF] v Petra Kvitová (davai Maria!)
* Alberta Brianti [Q] v Tathiana Garbin
* Marta Domachowska v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [20] (my loyalty is to Marta)

* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [32,EF] v Sabine Lisicki [DF] (my loyalty is to ANNA)
* Patricia Mayr v Anne Keothavong
* Pauline Parmentier v Akgul Amanmuradova
* Akiko Morigami [S] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] (ganbatte Akiko!)


Second quarter (Jelena Dokic)
--------------

* Stefanie Vögele v VENUS WILLIAMS [3] (hopp Stefanie!)
* Anastasija Sevastova [Q] v Kateryna Bondarenko
* Ekaterina Makarova v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová
* Carla Suárez Navarro v KAIA KANEPI [25]

* SAMANTHA STOSUR [18] v Bethanie Mattek-Sands
* Jelena Dokic [EF] v Tatjana Malek [Q] (my loyalty is to JELENA)
* Sara Errani v Stéphanie Dubois
* ANA IVANOVIC [13,DF] v Lucie Hradecká [S] (my loyalty is to Ana)

* María José Martínez Sánchez v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [11]
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Alexa Glatch [WC] (jia you Shuai!)
* Olga Govortsova v Tatiana Perebiynis (tough choice, but I think I prefer Olga)
* LI,NA [19] v Galina Voskoboeva

* SYBILLE BAMMER [29] v Melanie Oudin [Q]
* Yaroslava Shvedova v Monica Niculescu [S] (my Reason says Monica, but my
Passion says Yaroslava)
* Iveta Benešová v Katie O'Brien [WC] (my loyalty is to Iveta)
* Julia Görges v JELENA JANKOVIC [6] (komm jetzt Julia!)


Third quarter (Vera Zvonarëva)
-------------

* VERA ZVONARËVA [7,EF] v Georgie Stoop [WC], 7-6 (7/0) 4-6 0-0*
* Mathilde Johansson won
* Jill Craybas won
* VIRGINIE RAZZANO [26] won

* Francesca Schiavone won
* Michelle Larcher de Brito [WC] won
* Timea Bacsinszky won
* MARION BARTOLI [12,DF,S] won

* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [14] won
* Urszula Radwanska won
* Elena Vesnina won
* ALIZÉ CORNET [22] v Vera Dushevina, 6-3 0-6 *2-4

* ALISA KLEYBANOVA [27] won
* Regina Kulikova [Q] won
* Aravane Rezaď won
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [4] won


Fourth quarter (Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová)
--------------

* VICTORIA AZARENKA [8,DF] won
* Ioana Raluca Olaru won
* Sania Mirza [DF] won
* SORANA CÎRSTEA [28] won

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [24,EF] won
* Gisela Dulko [DF] won
* Shahar Pe'er won
* NADIA PETROVA [10] won

* ZHENG,JIE [16] won
* Daniela Hantuchová [EF] won
* Arantxa Parra Santonja [Q,S] won
* Ai Sugiyama won

* ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA [31] won
* Roberta Vinci won
* Jarmila Groth won
* SERENA WILLIAMS [2] won

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3. Anna Chakvetadze preview
---------------------------

If 2008 was a poor year for Anna, then 2009 has been even worse: her win/loss
record is in the red at 9-11, and having been ranked as high as #5 after
reaching the US Open 2007 semi-finals, she is now hanging onto the top 32 by her
fingertips - especially as she now has to defend one of her most valuable
results from 2008: fourth round at Wimbledon.

Of course, we still have to qualify any discussion of Anna's form by remembering
that she was tied up by burglars who broke into her house in December 2007. But
while 2008 did have its highlights - a title at Paris, a Tier I semi-final at
Rome and a final at New Haven - 2009 has begun as a continuation of Anna's
slump, but without any such highlights so far.

The best that can be said of the first two months of 2009 is that Anna won her
first-round match at the Australian Open, and turned in a great performance for
Russia to thrash Yan,Zi 6-1 6-2 in Fed Cup. But she lost to Ayumi Morita - the
lucky loser who replaced Shahar Pe'er - at Dubai, and to Shahar herself at
Indian Wells.

A second-round effort at Miami was more encouraging, considering that Anna
thrashed Daniela Hantuchová 6-3 6-1 before losing to eventual champion Victoria
Azarenka, but she then suffered two humiliating losses in a row to Flavia
Pennetta: 6-4 6-0 in Fed Cup, and 6-2 6-0 at Stuttgart.

Anna got her act together at Rome, as she thrashed Fčs-champion Anabel Medina
Garrigues 6-2 6-3 in the first round, and overcame Aleksandra Wozniak 5-7 7-6(2)
6-3 in the second round before losing 6-0 6-7 6-4 to world #5 Venus Williams.

At least Anna's fighting-spirit - which had been questioned in the weeks leading
up to Rome - was well and truly back: she fought back from 3-5* to win the
second set against Venus, and from *0-4 to 3-4* in the third.

And Madrid was a very similar tournament for Anna: she beat #118 Virginia Ruano
Pascual 6-4 6-3, then staged a terrific fightback to beat #31 Samantha Stosur
1-6 6-2 7-6 (7/4): Stosur led *4-1 in the third set, and served for the match at
*5-4!

Anna lost 6-0 2-6 6-3 to Alyona Bondarenko in the third round of Madrid, but
that didn't seem so bad for Anna when Alyona thrashed Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-2 en
route to the Warsaw-final.

Anna's slump plumbed new depths when she lost to #124 Mariana Duque Marino 3-6
6-4 6-4 in the first round of the French Open.

But she enjoyed a confidence-boosting win over world #6 Jelena Jankovic in the
first round of Eastbourne, before losing to #12 Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-3 in the
second round.

In the Jankovic-match, she lost the first set after blowing a 5-1 lead, but hit
back to win 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 6-2 as her flat, low-bouncing drives forced Jankovic
to keep bending her legs, making them tired.

Anna: "I am pleased with every win right now, because it's very important to me
to get back my confidence. I lost a huge opportunity in the first set, but I'm
glad I came back in the second and third."

Anna has an intriguing but winnable first-round match against
Charleston-champion Sabine Lisicki, a winnable second round against Patricia
Mayr or Anne Keothavong, and then a potential third-round showdown against
Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the French Open but lost 6-0 6-3 to Aleksandra
Wozniak in the first round of Eastbourne.

So the door might just open for Anna to defend her fourth round. There, she
would almost certainly face Eastbourne-champion Caroline Wozniacki, who some
experts believe might actually win this Wimbledon!


First-round preview: Chakvetadze v Lisicki
------------------------------------------

19-year-old Sabine Lisicki is a top player in the making. She has a huge serve
and a big backhand, and I consider her one of the most exciting up-and-coming
players in women's tennis at the moment. I recently decided to become a demi-fan
of Sabine, and would have hoped for her to have a great run at Wimbledon, had
she not drawn Anna!

Sabine has a 17:10 win/loss record for 2009 so far. She is currently ranked #41,
but will surely be much higher by the end of the year.

After a second-round loss at the Australian Open, Sabine beat Lucie Šafárová 6-3
6-4 in the quarter-finals of Memphis, then lost her semi-final 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/1)
to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.

Sabine only won two matches in her next three tournaments (Indian Wells, Miami
and Ponte Vedra Beach), but then she stunned the tennis-world by winning the
Premier tournament at Charleston for her first WTA singles-title: she stunned
world #5 Venus Williams 6-4 7-6 in the third round, then thrashed #57 Elena
Vesnina 6-4 6-0, #12 Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-1, and #12 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4
to take the title!

I already knew that Sabine was talented, pretty, and a great fighter, but I
think her Charleston-victory proves that she is one of the fine young players
making their way towards the very top of women's tennis.

But things haven't really gone Sabine's way since Charleston: she had a
respectable 7-5 5-7 6-3 loss to world #4 Jelena Jankovic in the second round of
Stuttgart, then retired in the quarter-finals of Estoril with a right-shoulder
injury.

Alarmingly, Sabine was hospitalised with severe abdominal pains two weeks before
the French Open, where she lost 6-2 1-6 6-1 to #46 Lucie Šafárová (who had a
match-point against Venus Williams in the next round). Not to take anything away
from Lucie's victory, it would seem that Sabine was rusty in the first set, and
unfit in the third.

Sabine lost 6-2 6-1 to #18 Samantha Stosur in the first round of Eastbourne,
which is disappointing as Sabine had lost 6-3 6-4 to Stosur at Birmingham 2008.

Sabine made her Wimbledon-début last year, and lost 6-2 6-4 to #10 Marion
Bartoli in the first round.

Sabine could be a very tough first-round opponent for Anna - Sabine beat Anna
7-5 6-1 in their only prior meeting (Miami 2008) - but there are large
question-marks over Sabine after her recent health-problems, and those
question-marks have had negative answers so far, so I expect Anna to win.

----------------------------
4. Order of play for Tuesday
----------------------------

Court 18 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
MS 1r: FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ [10] v Teimuraz Gabashvili
WS 1r: VERA ZVONARËVA [7,EF] v Georgie Stoop [WC], 7-6 (7/0) 4-6 0-0*
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [32,EF] v Sabine Lisicki [DF]
MS 1r: Jesse Levine v MARAT SAFIN [14]
WS 1r: Carla Suárez Navarro v KAIA KANEPI [25]

Full order of play:
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/schedule/

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://tinyurl.com/andrewbroad-chakv