=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Major)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

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

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

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

-------------------
2. First-round draw
-------------------

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

---------------------------
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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Major)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Duque Marino
2. Women's Doubles: First-round result

------------------------------------------------------------
1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Duque Marino
(Monday 25th May 2009)
------------------------------------------------------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [26,EF] lt. Mariana Duque Marino [LL], 6-3 4-6 4-6

I stand by what I said in my preview: this loss means that Anna's slump has
plumbed a new depth that I didn't even think she was capable of, and I'm very
angry about it.

I can't think of a worse loss in Anna's career - not in terms of the scoreline,
but in terms of losing in the first round of a Major to a player who has never
been a player, and - I guess - probably never will be (sorry - couldn't resist
recycling an old quote from a 16-year-old Jelena Dokic).

Anna looked to be cruising to victory when she led 6-3 2-0*, but the match
turned when she dropped serve from 40/0 up to make it 2-2*.
It was hard to believe at the time that she would go on to actually lose to a
player of Duque Marino's calibre after this hiccup, and the fact that she did
suggests extreme emotional fragility.

Anna also wasted a break-point at 2-2*, and at *4-5, Duque Marino broke to take
the second set.

The third set was what is known in the trade as a "Noah's Ark" set: each player
(starting with Duque Marino) won two games in a row, jerking my emotions up and
down like a yo-yo between anger, relief, delight, and finally back to anger when
Anna again at *4-5 failed to hold serve.

In the photos from this match, Anna looked very worked up and very red -
particularly in the face.

I can only suggest that Anna now expands her plans for the grass-court season -
which, to the best of my knowledge, currently stand at Eastbourne and Wimbledon.
Clay was always her worst surface, while she used to list grass as her favourite
until she had all those great results on hard courts in 2007.

I think she should definitely enter Birmingham, and, if she's all out of the
French Open before the second week, perhaps even ITF Nottingham.

There's also an embarrassing reason why I didn't want Safina to win the final:
it would have made Anna the wooden-spoonist of this French Open! :o Instead,
that dubious distinction goes to French wild card Irena Pavlovic, who lost to
Akgul Amanmuradova, who lost to Olga Govortsova, who lost to Li,Na, who lost to
Maria Sharapova, who lost to Dominika Cibulková, who lost to Safina, who lost to
Kuznetsova.


First set
---------
CHAKVETADZE *__@* *@* 6
DUQUE MARIN _*@__*___ 3

The match was fourth on Court 16, and started at 17:57 CEST.

Anna serving 0-0: 0/15. 15/30. 40/30. Held.
Duque Marino serving 0-1: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 1-1: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. Deuce #1. Ad Anna. Deuce #2.
Ad Duque Marino (BP). Broken.

Duque Marino serving 2-1: Broken to love.

An immediate, emphatic break back! :)

On paper, this should be an easy win for Anna, but somehow, when I'm following
live scores, it never seems so simple. Lucie Šafárová and Maria Sharapova both
won in three sets today, so I hope - and even dare to expect - that Anna will
make it 3:0 for my Eternal Fanship by winning in straight sets!

Anna serving 2-2: 30/0. 40/15. 40/30. Deuce. Ad Anna. Held.
Duque Marino serving 2-3: 0/15. 15/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 3-3: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Duque Marino serving 3-4: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (BP #1). 30/40 (BP #2). Broken.
Anna serving 5-3: 40/0 (SP #1). 40/15 (SP #2). Anna won the first set 6-3 at
18:31 (34m).

The abnormal, embarrassing situation (1-2*) is now firmly back to normal.


Second set
----------
CHAKVETADZE @*___* *__ 4
DUQUE MARIN __*@* * *@ 6

Duque Marino serving 0-0: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (BP #1). 30/40 (BP #2). Broken.
Anna serving 1-0: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.
Duque Marino serving 0-2: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.

Anna serving 2-1: 40/0. Deuce #1. Ad Anna. Deuce #2. Ad Duque Marino (BP).
Broken.

A nasty psychological blow against Anna to drop serve from 40/0 - indeed, after
having four game-points. I just hope it was a lapse of concentration rather than
something more sinister.

Duque Marino serving 2-2: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). Deuce. Ad Duque
Marino. Held.

And more baggage for Anna as a break-point goes begging. From what I saw of her
at Wimbledon 2008, I can imagine her getting very emotional round about now.

Anna serving 2-3: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/40 (BP #1). Deuce #1.
Ad Anna. Deuce #2. Ad Duque Marino (BP #2). Deuce #3.
Ad Duque Marino (BP #3). Deuce #4. Ad Anna. Held.

Phew! After following live scores for my Eternal Fanship virtually non-stop for
over five hours already, I don't relish the prospect of being taken to yet
another third set - and I certainly wouldn't relish the prospect of losing Anna,
who, at the start of the day, looked to have a better chance of winning her
match than Lucie Šafárová and Maria Sharapova, who both won in three.

Duque Marino serving 3-3: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 3-4: Held to love.

Now it comes to the crunch, I really hope Anna's class will tell. While her form
this year has been very poor by her standards, it has certainly been much better
than Duque Marino's.

Duque Marino serving 4-4: 0/30. 40/30. Held.

What a waste of a 0/30 opening. Anna should be coming out to serve for the match
right now - not to save the second set!

Anna serving serving 4-5: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (SP #1). Duque Marino won the
second set 6-4 at 19:20 (second set 49m, match 1h23m).

Pathetic... just pathetic. I already missed my lunch; now my evening-meal's
going to go cold - especially if Anna puts me through another 8-6 ordeal like
her first round at Wimbledon 2008. The things I do for love!


Third set
---------
CHAKVETADZE __@*__@*__ 4
DUQUE MARIN *@__*@__*@ 6

Duque Marino serving 0-0: 30/0. 30/30. 40/30. Deuce. Ad Duque Marino. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: Broken to love.

I'm so angry I can't print what I'm thinking. :fiery: Sometimes it's better to
hold it in, otherwise you just end up hurting the ones you love.

Duque Marino serving 2-0: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (BP). Broken.
Anna serving 1-2: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (BPx2). Deuce. Ad Anna. Held.

Phew!!

Duque Marino serving 2-2: Held to love.
Anna serving 2-3: 0/40 (BP #1). 15/40 (BP #2). Broken.

Anna made some great fightbacks at Rome and Madrid. She could sure use another
one right now.

Duque Marino serving 4-2: 0/40 (BP #1). 30/40 (BP #3). Broken.
Anna serving 3-4: 15/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.

Back on level terms - yay! :)

Duque Marino serving 4-4: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

And now we're back where we were at the end of the second set: Anna serving at
4-5, but this time to stay in the match.

Anna serving 4-5: 0/40 (MP #1). 15/40 (MP #2). Duque Marino won 3-6 6-4 6-4 at
20:03 (third set 43m, match 2h06m).

Statistics:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/stats/day7/2036ms.html


Article
-------

Duque through to second round at Roland Garros (Colombia Reports)
>>>
Colombian tennis-player Mariana Duque has advanced to the second round of Roland
Garros, beating Russian Anna Chakvetadze against all odds.

The 19-year-old, born in Bogotá, faced a tough challenge against the seeded
Chakvetadze: 26th on the women's world ranking. Initially, things went as
expected as the Russian won the opening set 6-3.

But Duque then began to improve her performance, and went on to win the second
set 6-4. In the third set, Chakvetadze could no longer compete with her
opponent, who finished it off with another 6-4 result - 2:1 in sets.

In the second round, Duque faces Slovakian Jarmila Groth: ranked 73rd. The
Colombian herself currently occupies the 124th position.

The second-round appearance will be Duque's second after having managed to
survive the first round at last year's US Open as well.
<<<

--------------------------------------
2. Women's Doubles: First-round result (Tuesday 26th May 2009)
--------------------------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Maria Elena Camerin
lt. Gisela Dulko [DF]/Ágnes Szávay, 3-6 4-6

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Major)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. UK TV-alert
2. First-round draw
3. Anna Chakvetadze preview
4. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
5. Order of play for Monday

My French Open 2009 master-thread:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=379808

--------------
1. UK TV-alert
--------------

The French Open will be televised on BBC Red Button from 10:00 BST each day of
the tournament (digital viewers press Red or select the appropriate
Freeview-channel - 301 or 302).

Sunday 24th May to Friday 5th June, 10:00-19:00, BBC Red Button
Women's final: Saturday 6th June, 14:00-16:30, BBC 2
Men's final: Sunday 7th June: 14:00-18:00, BBC 2

-------------------
2. First-round draw (Sunday's losers removed)
-------------------

The players on the left are the ones I want to win.


2.1 Top quarter
---------------

* Anne Keothavong v DINARA SAFINA [1] (let's get rid of Safina)
* Vitalia Diatchenko [Q,S] won
* Julie Coin won
* ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA [27] won

* Polona Hercog [Q] v ALISA KLEYBANOVA [23] (dajmo Polona!)
* Aravane Rezaď v Ai Sugiyama (allez Aravane!)
* Michelle Larcher de Brito [Q] v Melanie South (Brito > this Briton)
* ZHENG,JIE [15] v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (jia you Jie!)

* VICTORIA AZARENKA [9] won
* Kristina Barrois won
* Lucie Hradecká [S] v Yvonne Meusburger [Q] (pojdme Lucie!)
* Edina Gallovits v CARLA SUÁREZ NAVARRO [22]

* IVETA BENEŠOVÁ [32] won
* Alla Kudryavtseva won
* Camille Pin v Tamarine Tanasugarn
* ANA IVANOVIC [8,DF] won


2.2 Second quarter: Lucie Šafárová, Maria Sharapova
---------------------------------------------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [3] v Bethanie Mattek-Sands
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] v Sabine Lisicki [DF] (my loyalty is to LUCIE)
* Elena Vesnina won
* ÁGNES SZÁVAY [29] v Corinna Dentoni [Q]

* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [20] v Alyona Bondarenko (my loyalty is to Domi)
* Kirsten Flipkens v Stéphanie Foretz (komaan Kirsten!)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] won
* Anna-Lena Grönefeld won

* NADIA PETROVA [11] won
* Maria Sharapova [EF] v Anastasiya Yakimova (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* Arantxa Rus [Q] won
* Yaroslava Shvedova [Q] won

* LI,NA [25] won
* Timea Bacsinszky won
* Irena Pavlovic [WC,S] v Akgul Amanmuradova (allez Irena!)
* Katie O'Brien [LL] v Olga Govortsova (my loyalty is to Katie)

N.B. Katie O'Brien [LL] replaces VERA ZVONARËVA [6,EF]. :bigcry:


2.3 Third quarter: Chakvetadze, Hantuchová, Dokic
-------------------------------------------------

* Petra Cetkovská v JELENA JANKOVIC [5] (pojdme Petra!)
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [DF] v Kristina Mladenovic [WC] (podme Magda!)
* Jarmila Groth v Kinnie Laisné [WC]
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [26,EF] v Mariana Duque Marino [LL] (DAVAI ANNA!!)

* ALIZÉ CORNET [21] v Maret Ani (allez Alizé!)
* Sorana Cîrstea v Carly Gullickson [Q] (hai Sorana!)
* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v Jill Craybas (aide Tsvetana!)
* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [10] v Vera Dushevina (kom sĺ Caroline!)

* MARION BARTOLI [13,DF,S] v Pauline Parmentier (allez Marion!)
* Ayumi Morita [S] v Tathiana Garbin (ganbatte Ayumi!)
* Daniela Hantuchová [EF] v Virginie Razzano (PODME DANIELA!!)
* Ekaterina Makarova v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [18]

* SAMANTHA STOSUR [30] v Francesca Schiavone
* Urszula Radwanska v Yanina Wickmayer (my loyalty is to Urszula)
* Jelena Dokic [EF] v Karolina Šprem [DF] (my loyalty is to JELENA)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [4] v Chanelle Scheepers [Q]


2.4 Bottom quarter: Nicole Vaidišová
------------------------------------

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [7] v Claire Feuerstein [WC]
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Galina Voskoboeva (go Sania!)
* Anastasija Sevastova [Q] v Melinda Czink
* Nathalie Dechy v SYBILLE BAMMER [28]

* Kateryna Bondarenko v PATTY SCHNYDER [17]
* Maria Kirilenko [DF] v Olivia Rogowska [WC] (davai Maria!)
* Patricia Mayr v Mariya Koryttseva
* Rossana de los Ríos v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [12]

* FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF] v Alexa Glatch (forza Flavia!)
* Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová v Lourdes Domínguez Lino
* Mara Santangelo v Petra Martic [Q]
* Monica Niculescu [S] v ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK [24] (hai Monica!)

* PENG,SHUAI [31,S] v María José Martínez Sánchez (jia you Shuai!)
* Viktoriya Kutuzova v Zuzana Ondrášková [Q] (my loyalty is to Viktoriya)
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v Virginia Ruano Pascual (my loyalty is to NICOLE)
* Klára Zakopalová v SERENA WILLIAMS [2] (pojdme Klára!)

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

Anna is, at #26, the highest-ranked representative of my Eternal Fanship at the
French Open, but if 2008 was a poor year for her,
2009 has been even worse: her win/loss record is in the red at 8:9.

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 doesn't seem so bad now that Bondarenko has beaten Maria Sharapova en route
to the Warsaw-final.

But by now, a clear pattern in Anna's matches has emerged: she loses the first
set easily, then fights back to at least take the second set...

Anna has been handed a kind draw for the first two rounds: lucky loser Mariana
Duque Marino, then either journeywoman Jarmila Groth (née Gajdošová), or French
wild card Kinnie Laisné whom I've never even heard of. After that, a potential
third-round meeting with world #5 Jelena Jankovic awaits... although I hope
Magdaléna Rybáriková will have something to say about that!


3.1 First-round preview: Chakvetadze v Duque Marino
---------------------------------------------------

Anna has never played Mariana Duque Marino: a 19-year-old ranked #124. I
remember her best for the fact that she reached the French Open 2007 Girls'
Singles final (losing to Alizé Cornet).

Duque Marino is having an even worse year than Anna, with a win/loss record of
6:11 - ten of those matches coming in qualifying for various WTA tournaments.

In fact, Duque Marino had to wait until March for her first win since October,
when she snapped a 9-match losing-streak by successfully qualifying for Miami -
only to lose in the first round to the notorious Alla Kudryavtseva.

First-round exits at Charleston and Fčs followed, but like Anna, Duque Marino
managed to get two wins at Rome - the difference being that they were in
qualifying. She lost to Patty Schnyder in the first round.

And again at Madrid, Duque Marino won two matches to qualify, then lost 6-3 7-6
to world #57 Anne Keothavong in the first round.

Duque Marino lost in the third round of qualifying here: after beating #197
Silvia Soler Espinosa 6-3 6-3 and #214 Frederica Piedade 6-3 6-4, she lost 6-7
6-4 6-1 to #163 Polona Hercog, but got into the main draw as a lucky loser.

If Anna manages to lose to Duque Marino, then her slump will have plumbed a new
depth that I don't even think she's capable of.

------------------------------------
4. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
------------------------------------

* Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Maria Elena Camerin
v Gisela Dulko [DF]/Ágnes Szávay

---------------------------
5. Order of play for Monday
---------------------------

Court 16 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
MS 1r: Mikhail Youzhny v Gilles Müller
WS 1r: Edina Gallovits v CARLA SUÁREZ NAVARRO [22]
MS 1r: José Acasuso v Santiago Ventura
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [26,EF] v Mariana Duque Marino [LL]

Full order of play:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

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

(Transworld Sport may be televised in other countries, but the details
in this message are specific to the UK.)


There is a 4-minute feature on the recent Russia v China Fed Cup tie
in this week's Transworld Sport, which is repeated with sign-language
at 02:30 GMT on Friday night (technically the morning of Saturday 21st
February 2009) on Channel 4.

The tennis was 1 minute into Sunday's broadcast of Transworld Sport,
and finished 5 minutes in, so I recommend 02:30 as a safe start-time
for timer-record, and 02:40 as a safe stop-time (Transworld Sport has
been known to start up to 5 minutes late).

The feature includes two points from the third rubber, in which Anna
gave Russia an unassailable 3:0 lead with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Yan,Zi:

* Yan serving 0-2 (ad Anna): Anna hit a crosscourt backhand deep into
the corner - a couple of inches from both the sideline and the
baseline - forcing Yan to bunt back a defensive backhand that sat up
nicely for Anna to hit a deep forehand down the line, behind which she
went to the net; Yan responded well with a dipping crosscourt
backhand, but Anna responded even better with a delectable
off-backhand half-volley dropshot that landed very short and close to
the sideline; Yan ran it down well to hit a one-handed forehand (she
usually hits with two hands both sides) attempted pass down the line,
but Anna cut it off with a crosscourt backhand volley-winner into the
wide-open court. I think this point shows that Anna is an all-court
player with great hands!

* Yan serving 1-6 2-5 (15/40): Serve out wide: crosscourt forehand
return; Yan crosscourt forehand; Anna hit a deep forehand down the
line; Yan hit a short crosscourt backhand; Anna hit a penetrating
off-backhand deep into the corner, forcing Yan to scramble back a
short, defensive forehand; Anna hit a pinpoint off-backhand deep into
the corner, and moved inside the service-line to cut off Yan's
attempted crosscourt forehand pass; Anna hit a delectable off-forehand
drop-volley winner, which Yan - run as she did - couldn't get up. This
point shows that Anna likes to play spreading rallies from the
baseline and finish them off at the net, and both points show that she
has great precision!

There was a nice close-up of Anna from behind: she was wearing a
little black dress with bare shoulders apart from four thin straps,
and her hair in that divine braided ponytail, with a thin, vertical
headband to keep her bangs in place. She turned to the side and was
smiling.

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

===============
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Plexicushion); Major)
=============== http://www.australianopen.com/
First round (Monday 19th January 2009)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF] d. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 6-7 (4/7) 6-1

I saw the third set on BBC Red Button, and have just uploaded my full
TV-report to my website:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/chakv-australian-open2009

--
Dr. Andrew Broad

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

1. Photos
2. Second-round scoreboard-report: Dokic v Chakvetadze
3. Women's Doubles: First-round result
4. More reports to come!

The mouthwatering all-EF match between Anna Chakvetadze and Jelena
Dokic didn't disappoint me - except that the BBC instead showed
repeats of Đokovic and Federer's matches at the time they had
promised live coverage of the Rod Laver Arena evening-
sessions! :fiery:

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

Anna Chakvetadze:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/players/related/wta310623.html
http://www.aapimage.com.au/search.aspx?Search=chakvetadze

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Anna Chakvetadze and Jelena Dokic:
http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/2763

Various players including Anna:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7841385.stm

------------------------------------------------------
2. Second-round scoreboard-report: Dokic v Chakvetadze
(Wednesday 21st January 2009)
------------------------------------------------------

Very nice winner, very nice loser:
+ Jelena Dokic [WC,EF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF], 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-3

A well-contested and very emotional match: Anna looked close to tears
at 4-6 *1-4, but it was Jelena who cried at the end, as she sat at
her chair after shaking hands.

In the first set, the first seven games were serve-dominated, and it
was Anna who broke first for *4-3 - only for Jelena to break straight
back to love as she won the last three games of the set.

In the second set, Jelena led *4-1, served for the match at *5-3, and
was also one game away from victory at *5-6. Jelena led 3/2* in the
tiebreak, only for Anna to dominate the rest of it and force a third
set.

I expected Jelena to wilt in the third set after missing those
chances, and because I don't think she's as fit as she used to be.
But she's done a lot of hard work in the last year, and Anna was the
one who got tired. Jelena broke at the start of the third set (after
Anna had led 40/15), and again in the last game as Anna served a
quadruple fault.

It was Jelena's first win over a top-twenty player since beating #17
Daniela Hantuchová at Linz 2003 (the week after she upset #1 Kim
Clijsters to reach the final of Zürich). After a long losing-streak
in 2004, she spent much of the intervening years in tennis-
wilderness: either on the ITF circuit or not playing for months at a
time, as she struggled with depression following her well-documented
family-problems.

Anna is already down from #5 to #18 since her traumatic loss in the
US Open 2007 semi-final, and even more traumatic burglary-ordeal in
December 2007, but we must be ready for the big jump deep as she
defends her lone title of 2008 in February: WTA Paris.

The match was first on the Rod Laver Arena evening-session, but since
the BBC made good on their threat to show a repeat of Đokovic v
Chardy instead of live Jelena v Anna on the Red Button (no longer
called BBCi, apparently), I had to make do with live scores at
www.australianopen.com. :fiery:

I can only hope that the match will be available to order on DVD from
Tennis Videos International
<http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/>. I usually wait until
the end of the tennis-season before I order my next batch of matches
from TVI, but I'm seriously considering making an exception for the
Australian Open 2009 now that the BBC has robbed me of watching such
a mouthwatering match! [edit: see Section 4]


First set
---------
DOKIC * * *__@*@ 6
CHAKV _* * *@___ 4

The match started at 19:46 AEDT.

Jelena serving 0-0: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 40/30. Held.

Already, the signs are that both girls are going to make this
competitive. :)

Anna serving 0-1: 0/15. 40/15 (the score briefly reverted to 30/15 -
did Jelena make an incorrect Hawk-Eye challenge?). Held.

Anna holds more easily than Jelena. That's not unexpected, as Jelena
has often struggled on serve throughout her career, while Anna has an
excellent one-two punch (although it has gone AWOL at times since the
burglary), and usually holds serve reliably - at least until she has
to serve for a set.

Jelena serving 1-1: 40/0. Held.

"Anything you can do, I can do better."

Anna serving 1-2: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. Held.

I feel the momentum shifting more and more towards Jelena, with 0/15
and 15/30 openings on Anna's serve. Just enough to make Jelena
confident, without the baggage of any wasted break-points so far...

Jelena serving 2-2: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 2-3: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (BP #1). 40/40. Ad
Jelena (BP #2). Deuce #2. Ad Jelena (BP #3). Deuce #3. Ad Anna. Held.

Three break-points go begging for Jelena, and a pattern is developing
that suggests Anna is much more comfortable serving in the left court
than in the right court.

Jelena serving 3-3: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (BPx2). 40/40. Ad Anna (BP
#3). Deuce #2. Ad Anna (BP #4). Broken.

Typical for a player who squanders break-points to get broken herself
in the next game! Anna is lucky not to be carrying that same baggage
herself, but both the score and the momentum are firmly in her favour
now.

Anna serving 4-3: 0/40 (BPx3). Broken.

Wow - a champion's response from Jelena! In the blink of an eye, she
cancels Anna's break and seizes the momentum.

Jelena serving 4-4: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. 40/30 (the score briefly
reverted to 40/15, which suggests an incorrect Hawk-Eye challenge for
Jelena). Held.

The sequence of scores of the last two games suggest that Jelena has
hit one of her purple patches. For Anna, saving this set could be
like trying to stop a runaway horse...

Anna serving 4-5: 15/0. 15/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Jelena (SP #1).
Deuce #2. Ad Jelena (SP #2). Jelena won the first set 6-4 at 20:23
AEDT (37 minutes).

A very well-contested set, with the breaks occurring at exactly the
right times for drama. I really hope I will be able to order it from
Tennis Videos International one day and watch it!

It would be fascinating to see how emotional they both get. Anna is
famous for getting emotional on court - crying and putting her body
through all sorts of contortions - while this is a very emotional
return to the Australian Open for Jelena, who broke down in her first-
round press-conference.


Second set
----------
DOKIC * *@*__@__*__ 6(4)
CHAKV _*___*@ @* *T 7(7)

Jelena serving 0-0: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 40/0. 40/15. Held.

That was a very important game for Anna to steady the ship.

Jelena serving 1-1: 40/0. Held.

Jelena continues to hold serve easily after being broken for 3-4* in
the first.

Anna serving 1-2: 0/40 (BPx3). 40/40. Ad Jelena (BP #4). Broken.

I feel just like the Jelena of 1999-2002 is back! :D A set and a
break up, and really threatening to run away with this match unless
her bubble suddenly bursts...

Jelena serving 3-1: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

It feels like a long way back from *1-4, but it's only one break.

Anna serving 1-4: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

A vital hold for Anna, because she would have been history if she had
gone 1-5* down. Still in with a fighting chance, albeit a 12.5% one
if we give her a 50% chance of breaking back, 50% to win the second
set from 4-4* and 50% to win the third, although those chances could
greatly improve if Anna were to regain the momentum...

Jelena serving 4-2: 15/0. 15/15. 15/40 (BPx2). Broken.

Good for Anna. I must confess I've been getting very excited for
Jelena, but as an Anna-fan too, it's important for me that she at
least adds more respectability to the scoreline.

Anna serving 3-4: 0/30 (the scoreboard briefly reverted to 0/15 - an
incorrect challenge for Anna?). 0/40 (BPx3). Broken.

The moment of truth for Jelena: serving for the match...

Jelena serving 5-3: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/40 (BP). Broken.

...but Anna breaks back, and the momentum switches back to her! I now
give Anna a 25% chance of winning this match (50% for the second set
and 50% for the third), as she has the momentum but Jelena still has
the lead (and Anna has been struggling on serve since *2-3 in the
first).

Anna serving 4-5: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.

Anna's chances of victory are being boosted with every game now, as
she levels up at 5-5 with two games in a row, and it would be
interesting to see how much Jelena would have left in the tank if
this were to go to a third set... her victory is in great danger
right now.

Jelena serving 5-5: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

Once again, Jelena is one game away from victory...

Anna serving 5-6: 40/0. Held.

A tiebreak is very much about luck, although it could be tougher for
Jelena if she dwells on those leads of *5-3 and 6-5*.

6-6 tiebreak (all scores Jelena/Anna): *0/0. 1/0*. 1/1*. *1/2. *2/2.
3/2*. This point is HUGE... 3/3*. *3/4. *3/5. 3/6* (SP #1).
4/6* (SP #2). Anna won the second set 7-6 (7/4) at 21:16 AEDT
(second set 53m, match so far 1h30m).

The delay between the last scoreboard-update of the first set and the
first of the third was less than two minutes. I'm surprised they
didn't take a bathroom-break - and glad that /I/ didn't! ;-)

Can Jelena put the disappointment of blowing at 6-4 *5-3 lead behind
her, and how much does she have left for the third set? Her chances
feel considerably less than 50% at the moment...


Third set
---------
DOKIC @* * * *@ 6
CHAKV __* * *__ 3

Anna serving 0-0: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. 40/40. Ad Jelena (BP). Broken.

I thought Anna had the momentum, but a new set is a new story.
It's lucky for Jelena that they're not playing in the day-session,
otherwise I'd be reminded of the 2002 Australian Open final between
Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis, where Hingis was 6-4 4-0 up,
Capriati took the second set, Hingis broke at the start of the third,
but wilted soon after that.

Jelena serving 1-0: 0/15. 15/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 0-2: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

Jelena deserves a medal for her determination after losing that
second set after being on the verge of victory.

Quite a long delay at this changeover - I wonder if someone is taking
a medical time-out? So I checked at
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=367394&page=42 : it seems
it was for Jelena's right Achilles' tendon - the one that kept her
out of Hobart.

Jelena serving 2-1: 30/0. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Jelena. Deuce #2.
Ad Jelena. Deuce #3. Ad Jelena (it only flashed up for a second on
the scoreboard). Deuce #4. Ad Jelena. Deuce #5. Ad Anna (BP).
Deuce #6. Ad Jelena. Held.

What a game! Six game-points needed, one break-point saved, and Anna
will be feeling very bad right now.

Anna serving 1-3: 0/15. 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna.
Deuce #2. Ad Anna. Held.

Full marks to Anna for hanging in this match. She recovered from *1-4
in the second set, but it will not be necessary to fight back from
1-4* in the third.

Jelena serving 3-2: 0/15. 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40.
Ad Jelena. Held.

Anna continues to fight, while Jelena continues to maintain her
break. How she would love to get a second break, rather than go
through what she did in the second.

Anna serving 2-4: 0/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

It's such a shame that they can't both win! I think they should be
allowed to advance to the third round as a doubles-team, playing two
against one!

Jelena serving 4-3: 0/15. 15/15. 40/15. Held.

The moment of truth again for Jelena, albeit at 5-3* rather than *5-3
this time...

Anna serving 3-5: 30/0. 30/40 (MP #1). 40/40. Ad Jelena (MP #2).
Deuce #2. Ad Jelena (MP #3). Jelena won 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 at 22:04
(third set 48m, match 2h18m).

She really didn't want to have to serve for the match again, did she?

Anna finished the match with a quadruple fault, but it was Jelena who
was in tears after shaking hands.

I don't know what to feel right now. It's tough for Anna to lose in
the second round of a Major - it won't be any consolation to /her/
that she lost to another hottie - and I feel sorry for Anna, but I'm
glad Jelena managed to close it out in the end, because it would have
been a devastating - possibly even career-ending - blow for her to
lose after the leads she had in the second set, and then match-points
in the third.

Anna still has many years ahead of her, while Jelena is thinking of
retiring if she fails to make an impact in 2009. It's strange to
think that Jelena is only four years older at 25, considering that I
inducted Jelena into my Eternal Fanship in June 1999, and Anna in
December 2006.


2.1 Statistics
--------------

Both girls had negative W:UE ratios: Jelena 27:35, Anna 28:50.
Jelena's W:UE ratio deteriorated slightly from set to set, while
Anna's deteriorated dramatically: from 10:14 to 8:15 to 10:21,
implying that she went for her shots more in the third set because
she was tired.

Jelena got 68% of her first serves in, winning 70% of the points when
she did so, and 45% on second serve. Her first-serve winning-
percentage dipped from 77% in the first set to the late 60s in the
next two, while her second-serve winning-percentage improved
dramatically from set to set (33% to 46% to 55%).

Anna got 67% of her first serves in, winning 66% of the points when
she did so, and 33% on second serve. Her second serve was a liability
especially in the first and third sets: 31% and 21%, respectively.

Jelena's first serve was slightly faster than Anna's - fastest 108-
106 mph, average 100-99 mph - but Jelena's second serve was /much/
faster than Anna's: 94-79 mph. Jelena's second serve is exceptionally
fast: sometimes it looks like she just hits two first serves!

Jelena served 3 aces and 9 double faults, which is a bit high. But
Anna served 5 aces and a monstrous 16 double faults (6 in the first
set, 7 in the third) - including a quadruple fault to finish the
match. :-(

Jelena broke 6 times from 15 BPs (2 of 5 in every set), while Anna
broke 3 times from 7 BPs. Jelena won the first set by 2 breaks to 1
(Anna wasted 3 BPs), and the third by 2 breaks to 0 (Anna wasted 1
BP); they had 2 breaks each in the second.

Jelena won 12 of 20 points at the net (5 of 6 in the first set, but
only 3 of 8 in the second), while Anna was more selective, winning 10
of 12 (but she only came in once in the third set).

In points, Jelena won 118-104 (first set 37-29, second set 38-40,
third set 43-35).


2.2 Jelena's on-court interview
-------------------------------

"It's been a long time; last time I was on this court, it was a bit
different.

"Thank you all for supporting me; it's unbelievable. I really just
wanted to put in a good display tonight - she's a top-twenty player -
but the crowd really pulled me through.

"It's been an amazing night, and no matter what happens from here on
in, I will not forget this memory for a long time. This is a great
start to the year, and hopefully this time next year, I'll be a top-
twenty player myself."


2.3 Jelena's second-round press-conference
------------------------------------------

Source: www.australianopen.com


Q. You must be very proud of that.

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, I am. Yeah, I just went into the match just
wanting to see how I would go against a top-twenty player. I was very
nervous to be on centre court again. It's been a long time.

Just really wanted to see where I was with my shots and fitness and
movement. I started to play well. I think she had a slow start, but
she started to play really well in that second set. I let her off
that 5-3 game where I had 30/15 and did a few unforced errors and
double faults.

But overall, I think the things went her way in the third set. She
really had the momentum. It's amazing I was able to come out and pull
it out.

Q. Could you imagine six months ago getting a standing ovation on Rod
Laver Arena?

JELENA DOKIC: No, I could not. I said 2008 and 2009 are the years I'm
going to try and come back and do something. I've put in a lot of
hard work last year - especially the end of last year.

You know, I've just been really, really focused and really wanted it
so bad. Things are going really well at the moment. I couldn't
imagine a better start to the year. In Brisbane, I said it was a good
start. I lost to Amélie [Mauresmo] in two tight sets. I had her in
both sets, and I could have won that match.

I just wasn't in that position for a long time, and I didn't know how
to treat the situation and what to play.

You know, I was very proud of that match, even. But, you know, to be
in the third round of a Grand Slam [sic], you know, players lose
match-fitness and their physical shape and their shots in six months
away from the game, let alone the three years. To beat a top-twenty
player is amazing.

Q. How much did that match you were talking about there help you in
the tight situations?

JELENA DOKIC: You know, like I said, she's the one that I think had
the pressure on her. She was supposed to win today. She was the clear
favourite, so that went kind of in my favour. But I think as the
match went on, and as I was up, I was up the whole time until the
tiebreak in the second set.

She kind of just went on with it. I really had to finish it off.
She is a fighter. She always hangs in there. But this is a huge
confidence-boost for me.

You know, no matter what happens from here on, I'm really happy with
such a good start to the year. I want to be top 50 by the end of the
year, and I think if I continue playing like I have been playing,
this should be achievable.

Q. What was the reason you went quite a few times to play in Italy?
It was because you won Rome and you performed well there? Some
psychological reason?

JELENA DOKIC: Well, I feel good in Italy. I played really well there.
It was my first title, so there's no question about that. Clay is not
my favourite surface, so I wanted to play on clay and really build my
game a little.

That surface doesn't suit me. You have to play long matches and
points. I think that went in my favour. It was just comfortable. It
felt like the most natural thing to do. It was in Europe, and that's
where I was training at the time. I think that really helped me.

You have some wins and you have some losses, but you really have to
grind it out. It's tough, no matter what people think. The ITF
circuit is, you know, we're all trying to win out there.

Q. Are you getting used to using your emotions and using the crowd
and using the way you're feeling?

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, I came back I think two or three years ago to
Australia, and obviously the crowd, I didn't expect them to be on my
side and to understand what happened seven years ago. You know, each
year it's gotten better and better.

But, you know, I will regret the decision that I made. I can say that
I made it under the influence of my dad, but I will regret leaving
for the rest of my life. It will always be the mistake that I made.

But, you know, it's really amazing. The crowd has just gotten better
and better every year in Brisbane already.

But I think tonight was an amazing experience. It's been the best
that I've ever had. I don't expect everybody to understand, of
course. But, look, I'm trying my best. I'm fighting and playing for
this country. You know, I'm proud to play for this country again.

So, you know, I think by the reaction tonight, people have really -
things have swung my way, and I'm really happy about that. I was
really glad to make the decision three years ago to come back.

Q. Does it play on your mind? Do you wonder what if you hadn't had
those years in the wilderness?

JELENA DOKIC: Yeah, it always does. But, look, I cannot go back and
change things. What's done is done. I can only look forward. I think
we all can. Hopefully the crowd can do that as well.

Q. Can you talk about the role that your boyfriend and his brother
have played in your career?

JELENA DOKIC: Like I said the other day, it's been really tough to
deal with some personal issues. My boyfriend has always been there
for me. It's actually our five-and-a-half years' anniversary today.
We always give each other something, and this is my present to him
today.

Yeah, he's played a huge part in everything. When you have emotional
breakdowns and everything I had to deal with, you really get weak
mentally. It's not easy to come back and be strong, and able to
compete and play. It's really tough. So I really had to work on and
build that.

You go crazy basically, and you react the way you shouldn't.
He's dealt with all that and stuck by my side, so...

Q. Do you still dream of maybe winning a Grand Slam? Getting back to
the top 10?

JELENA DOKIC: I think that's a little bit too much to ask right now.
Like I said, players after six months out of the game really struggle
coming back. It takes a long time. I actually think I react well and
I improve quickly and my confidence goes up quickly, which plays a
huge part in my game.

Of course I don't expect to win here - not this year. After what I've
been through, like I said, my goal is to be in the top 20 by the end
of my career. If I do that, I'll be satisfied.

You know, I will try as hard as I can to even do better if it's
possible. We'll see how I go. It's a good start. It's a great start
to have third week of the year and have a top-twenty win in a Grand
Slam [sic]. Hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. Your next opponent will be Wozniacki. What do you know about her,
and how do you see your chances?

JELENA DOKIC: I watched a little bit. I don't know her that well.
I don't know a lot of the players that have come up. I haven't
watched tennis that much in the last couple [of] years. Of course it
will be a tough match.

After today and getting these two wins here, I really don't care what
happens in the next match. I really want to put a good performance
in. Again, she's a favourite. She'll be a tougher match. She has all
the pressure on her.

Q. Did you read anything in these days that you would have not liked
to read?

JELENA DOKIC: I don't read the papers that much, honestly. You know,
you always expect to get positive press and negative, and it's
something that comes with this line of work. It's normal.

But, yeah, like I said, I just try to do my best on the court and,
yeah, I will try not to read the papers too much.

Q. How is your injury, and is it going to affect your next round?

JELENA DOKIC: It's been here for a while. I'm trying to treat it and
keep it as good as possible, but I pulled up well after my first
match. Wasn't sore at all. We'll see how I go tomorrow.

It's something that's not so serious. It's something that I just have
to keep an eye on.


2.4 Articles
------------

Aussie hope Dokic beats Chakvetadze [Teletext 495->498]
>>>
Dokic shocks Chakvetadze [Teletext 498]

Jelena Dokic scored her first win over a top-twenty player for five
years to book her third-round place in Melbourne.

The 25-year-old former world No.4 took the first set 6-4 against 17th-
seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze, but let slip a 4-1 lead in the
second before going down in the tiebreak 7/4.

Dokic raced into a 3-1 lead in the decider, and sealed a
6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 win when Chakvetadze double-faulted.
<<<

Determined Dokic drops Chakvetadze
By Vanessa Skendaris (www.australianopen.com)
>>>
Australian Jelena Dokic has beaten 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze of
Russia in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena crowd on Wednesday night:
6-4 6-7(4) 6-3.

In a competitive first set, both players held their serve in the
first six games. Chakvetadze was the first to win a break for the
match, but Dokic broke back straight away, levelling the opening set
at four games apiece.

Dokic - a former world No.4 - went on to win the next two games,
breaking Chakvetadze again and pinching the set 6-4.

It looked like Dokic had the second set under control as she dashed
to a 4-1 lead, running all over the 21-year-old Russian.

But Chakvetadze worked the Australian hard, winning the next two
games and bringing herself back into the match.

The set then became an exchange of breaks as Chakvetadze found her
range and levelled the set 5-5, eventually forcing it to a tiebreak.

Dokic - a 2000 Wimbledon semi-finalist - made numerous errors in the
tiebreak, which gave Chakvetadze a mini-break, the Russian ultimately
snatching it 7/4 in a set that lasted 52 minutes.

In the deciding set, the 25-year-old Australian raced to a 3-1 lead,
moving well around the court despite calling for a trainer for
treatment on her ankle in the first exchange of ends.

Serving to stay in the match at 3-5 down, Chakvetadze saved two match-
points, but failed to survive another, handing the match to Dokic by
serving a double fault.

Dokic, who received a standing ovation after her win, has set up a
tantalising clash with 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki in the next round.

Quick facts:

* Chakvetadze served five aces to Dokic's three, but paid the price
for 16 double faults.

* The Russian had 50 unforced errors to Dokic's 35.

* Chakvetadze had more winners: 28-27.

* Dokic only capitalised on 6 of 15 break-point opportunities, while
Chakvetadze converted 3 of her 7 break-point chances.
<<<

Making up for lost time
By Eleanor Preston (www.australianopen.com)
>>>
Jelena Dokic is fast becoming one of the most compelling stories of
this tournament, and she created another intriguing chapter by
beating 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze in a sizzler of a night-session
match on Wednesday.

Dokic's resurgence has given the public – both in her adopted country
and around the world – the chance to get to know this complex and
characterful young woman a little more than they did when she first
burst onto the scene as a teenager.

In those days, Dokic hit the ball fiercely, and proved, by reaching
as high as No.4 in the world, that she had talent in abundance - but
the controversy surrounding her father Damir rather eclipsed her
personality. Perhaps as a consequence of what must have been an
immensely difficult personal life, Dokic was guarded in public. Now,
estranged from her father and back under Australian colours after a
short-lived return to Serbia – a move encouraged by Damir - she has
opened her heart.

"You know, I will regret the decision that I made. I can say that I
made it under the influence of my dad, but I will regret leaving for
the rest of my life. It will always be the mistake that I made," said
Dokic, when asked about the crowd's reaction to her against
Chakvetadze. "It's really amazing. The crowd has just gotten better
and better every year. But I think tonight was an amazing experience.
It's been the best that I've ever had. I don't expect everybody to
understand, of course. But, look, I'm trying my best. I'm fighting
and playing for this country. I'm proud to play for this country
again. So, you know, I think by the reaction tonight, people have
really... things have swung my way, and I'm really happy about that.
I was really glad to make the decision three years ago to come back."

Many of those in the crowd at Rod Laver Arena must have read her
compelling but rather sad story in the local newspapers, and it is
one of the reasons why her arrival on court was greeted with a
throaty roar. Granted, the Melbourne Park faithful like to get behind
their home-players, but their reaction to Dokic was about more than
that; it was a warm rush of empathy which welcomed her back onto one
of the sport's biggest stages.

Dokic does not give much away on court, but the television-pictures
of her waiting for announcer Craig Willis to say her name told their
own story about what it meant for her to be back on centre court. In
the doorway and just out of the public's view, her eyes shone and she
allowed herself a brief smile before Willis's trademark tone beckoned
her onto court. Her demeanour changed instantly as the game-face came
down and she walked out, ready to do battle against Chakvetadze.

Together, they produced a match of enduring quality and drama, and
arguably the pick of the women's matches so far at this tournament.
There were times when they were so closely matched in their standards
and styles of play that it was hard to distinguish between them,
dressed as they were in green and white and sporting almost matching
ponytails.

Dokic's game is a tad less crafty than Chakvetadze's, for the Russian
has a remarkable knack for surprise and disguise in her shots.
But she could not match Dokic for purity of ball-striking.

The only threat to Dokic's chances of winning seemed to be the sheer
importance of the match to the Australian, and there was a distinct
wobble when she first came to serve for it at 5-3 up in the second
set. The crowd willed her to finish Chakvetadze off, but the
Russian's obstinacy and some frazzled nerves from the home-player saw
to it that there would be a third set.

Dokic, to her credit, regrouped quickly after losing the tiebreak,
and was soon up a break and set fair on her journey back to the big
time.

"Thank you all for supporting me," Dokic told the crowd afterwards,
her voice cracking with emotion. "It's great. I really wanted to put
in a good performance in tonight. This crowd really pulled me
through, and they were unbelievable. No matter what happens from
here, this has been an amazing experience, and a memory I will not
forget for a long time."

She even got a laugh out of them when she was asked about how she
thought she might fare against talented young Dane Caroline Wozniacki
in the third round. "Honestly? I don't care," she said, before that
smile of hers returned. After all that Dokic has been through, you
could not blame her for wanting to enjoy her moment to the full.
<<<

Dokic Win Over No.17 Seed Augurs Well For Comeback
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2906
>>>
Jelena Dokic's comeback from tennis-oblivion converted from dream to
reality on Wednesday night, when the former world No.4 beat No.17
seed Anna Chakvetadze in their second-round match at the Australian
Open: 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3.

Playing on Rod Laver Arena for the first time in eight long years,
the 25-year-old not only outplayed her more fancied opponent stroke-
for-stroke, she never let the tension of the occasion get the better
of her. It was as if she'd never been away.

Years of family-breakdown, depression and disenchantment with tennis
were quickly forgotten as Dokic made an aggressive start, breaking
Chakvetadze - who is struggling with her own loss-of-form issues -
and holding on to take the first set with surprising ease.

As the Russian's double-fault and unforced-error count mounted in the
second set, Dokic served for the match at 5-3. However, Chakvetadze
regained her composure, capitalising on a momentary loss of
concentration on Dokic's part. With some crafty play of her own, the
21-year-old took the set in a tiebreak.

But Dokic shrugged off that disappointment by breaking her opponent
in the first game of the decider, and although Chakvetadze would draw
level and then seize a break of her own for 4-3, Dokic married
patience and power to win three games in a row. Chakvetadze
capitulated on Dokic's third match-point, scooping a backhand long.

"I think she had a slow start, but she's a fighter, and she began to
play really well in that second set," observed Dokic, who reached the
semis at Wimbledon as a 17-year-old, and has five Tour-titles to her
name. "I let her off that 5-3 game where I had 30/15 and did a few
unforced errors and double faults.

"She was the one with all the pressure, and I think that helped me.
I just wanted to put on a good performance, and then things started
going my way. This is a big confidence-boost."

If one casualty of the Dokic family's dramas was the player's
relationship with the Australian public, it was clear after the 2-
hour, 16-minute contest that the world No.187 appreciated the
heartfelt homecoming.

"Thank you all for supporting me: it's unbelievable," said Dokic, her
voice cracking as the sell-out crowd stood in ovation. "It's been an
amazing night, and no matter what happens from here on in, I will not
forget this for a long time."

Dokic, who secured her place in the draw by winning a wild-card play-
off event run by Tennis Australia in December, faces No.11 seed
Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. At least tonight, the intense
competitor professed to be pretty sanguine about the prospect.

"You know, no matter what happens from here on, I'm really happy with
such a good start to the year," Dokic said. "I want to be top 50 by
the end of the year, and I think if I continue playing like I have
been playing, this should be achievable.

"My goal is to be top 20 [again] by the end of my career," she
smiled. "If I do that, I'll be satisfied."
<<<

Safin-family surges through Open with Federer
By Ossian Shine (editing by Pritha Sarkar)
>>>
Former world number-four Jelena Dokic thrilled a seething mass of
green and gold local fans by beating Russian 17th seed Anna
Chakvetadze 6-4 6-7 6-3.

"I've just been really, really focused and really wanted it so bad,"
the on-again-off-again-on-again Australian said.

"Things are going really well at the moment."
<<<

Triumphant Dokic wins back support of Australians (Reuters)
By Julian Linden (editing by Pritha Sarkar)
>>>
Jelena Dokic, riding high on a wave of public sympathy and support,
upset Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 6-7 6-3 on Wednesday to
reach the third round of the Australian Open.

The Serbian-born Australian registered her first win over a player
ranked in the top-twenty for five years, and her first victory on
Melbourne Park's centre court for a decade.

Dokic's brave win was charged with a combination of raw emotion and
pain.

Facing an opponent ranked 169 places above her, Dokic tried to keep
her feelings under control as she tried to mend her fractured
relationship with the Australian public.

"I was very nervous to be on centre court again. It's been a long
time," said the 25-year-old, who struggled with an Achilles' injury
during the match.

"She had a slow start, but she started to play really well in that
second set.

"She really had the momentum. It's amazing I was able to come out and
pull it out."

Although she began her playing-career in Australia, Dokic's
relationship with her adopted country turned sour when her family
returned to Serbia in 2001 after her now-estranged father Damir
accused Australian Open organisers of rigging the draw to ensure his
daughter lost in the first round.

Two years later, Dokic walked out on her family and returned to
Australia. Her relationship with her family has never been the same,
and she is trying to patch things up with Australia.

Earlier this week, Dokic broke down and revealed the extent of the
pain and torment she endured since breaking up with her own family.

The former world number-four pleaded for understanding.

"I made it under the influence of my dad, but I will regret leaving
for the rest of my life. It will always be the mistake that I made,"
she told a news-conference on Wednesday.

"I don't expect everybody to understand, of course, but I'm trying my
best."

Dokic was wildly cheered by the crowd at Melbourne Park and
appreciated the backing.

"I'm fighting and playing for this country. I'm proud to play for
this country again, and I think by the reaction tonight... things
have swung my way," she said.

"I cannot go back and change things. What's done is done. I can only
look forward. I think we all can. Hopefully the crowd can do that as
well."
<<<

Jelena Dokic shows emotion after 'amazing win' at Australian Open
(The Daily Telegraph - UK)
>>>
An emotional Jelena Dokic scored her first win over a top-twenty
player in five years when she downed 17th seed Anne Chakvetadze
6-4 6-7 (7/4) 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.

The 25-year-old, who is known as much for her estranged father
Damir's antics during the early part of her career as she is for her
tennis, described the crowd's reaction during the thrilling three-
setter as "amazing".

Dokic only picked up her racquet again at the end of 2007 after
battling depression and other personal issues in the two years prior.

"I came back two or three years ago to Australia, and obviously the
crowd, I didn't expect them to be on my side, and to understand what
happened seven years ago," Dokic said.

"I will regret that decision that I made. I can say that I made it
under the influence of my dad, but I will regret leaving for the rest
of my life. It will always be the mistake that I made.

"But I think tonight was an amazing experience. It's been the best
that I've ever had."

In a match that lasted over two hours, Dokic looked composed
throughout, and used her powerful groundstrokes to run her Russian
opponent around the court.

But she interspersed that by coming to the net on occasions to force
the error from Chakvetadze, and with the Russian battling fatigue in
the final set, Dokic was able to hold her nerve to claim her
confidence-boosting win.

Her efforts have earned her a match with 11th seed Caroline
Wozniacki, who beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3 6-3.
<<<

Dokic's dream continues (Linda Pearce, The Age)
>>>
Jelena Dokic has taken the most important step in her improbable
comeback, beating her first top-twenty opponent in more than five
years to reach the third round of the Australian Open for the first
time in a decade. She was reduced to tears, but rewarded with a
standing ovation. At 25, Dokic's career has begun again.

Still carrying some extra kilograms, but no longer the burden of the
paternal tyranny that ruled her life for so long, Dokic upset 17th
seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 in 137 minutes before a
capacity-crowd that contributed to a record one-day attendance at any
Major of 63,557.

This time last year, Dokic had fallen off the computer, having
battled depression that affected her so badly that some days her
victory lay in simply getting out of bed. Now she is back to 187th,
and will tomorrow face Danish sensation Caroline Wozniacki - the 11th
seed - for a place in the fourth round. Not so long ago, how
unthinkable that would have been, for not since 2006 had she even
played a Major match, much less won one.

"It's been a long time," Dokic said before leaving the court.
"The last time I played on this court, the story was a bit different,
but thank you all for supporting me; it feels really unbelievable.
It's been an amazing night, and no matter what happens from here on,
this is an amazing experience and a memory I will not forget for a
long time."

And how would she recover ahead of her match against Wozniacki, Dokic
professed not to care. This had been achievement enough. "She's a
great player. I have nothing to lose, and I'll just try to play good
tennis."

Later, she spoke of her regrets at following her father's
instructions to return to represent her birth-nation: Serbia; of her
top-fifty ambitions by the end of the year, and top twenty
eventually. Dokic also dedicated the win to her boyfriend, Tin Bikic,
as a present to celebrate the couple's five-and-a-half-year-
anniversary.

The Serbian-born Australian's first-round defeat of Austrian teenager
Tamira Paszek was her first in a decade at the Australian Open, but
she had not won on Rod Laver Arena in her two previous attempts -
against Martina Hingis in the third round of 1999, and Lindsay
Davenport in the opening round two years later.

Chakvetadze is not in the class of either former No.1, although once
ranked as high as fifth, and now 18th. Last night, indeed, she was
well below it for much of the early stages, playing so limply that
she appeared close to tears at 1-4 in the second set.

In contrast to a tense final practice-session in which she ordered a
replacement hitting-partner and left coach Borna Bikic in no doubt
about her displeasure, Dokic appeared composed and calm. She also
appeared utterly intent, while tightening considerably in the latter
stages of a second set she failed to serve out at 5-3. The tiebreak,
too, was disappointing, and the danger was that, knowing the match
should already be over, she would fall away in the third.

But, in fact, Dokic gained the early service-break, and managed to
hang on through the final six games of an extremely tense decider in
which she called a trainer to inspect a sore right foot while leading
2-1. Of immense help was the shaky Chakvetadze serve - the Russian
finishing with consecutive double faults: her 15th and 16th of the
match.

Dokic won the wild-card play-off last month, and was named for a Fed
Cup recall after pushing Amélie Mauresmo in the first round of the
Brisbane International, but then withdrew from the Hobart qualifying-
event with an Achilles' injury that did nothing to endear her to the
locals anticipating the return of one of the few local drawcards in
the women's game.

But there was no question about the crowd's support last night, which
Dokic discovered to her surprise and delight. Her great mistake and
regret, she said, had been to renounce her Australian status -
however much it had been forced upon her. "I don't expect everybody
to understand, of course, but I'm trying my best, and I'm proud to
play for this country," she said.

Much of her career prize-money is gone - lining the pockets of Damir -
  but Dokic told The Age recently that the financial price was one she
was prepared to pay to gain the independence that was at once
liberating and terrifying. She needed to escape a dire situation, but
was left alone and, often, bereft. She was depressed, and struggled
with her mind and body.

But now she is competing again - for what she admits is the last time.

"I said that 2008 and 2009 are the years I'm just trying to come back
and play again, and do something, and I have put in a lot of hard
work last year - especially at the end of the year - and I have been
really, really focused, and just wanted it so badly," she
said. "Things are going well at the moment. I couldn't dream a better
start to the year."
<<<

Brave Jelena Dokic scores vintage Australian Open win
By Nikki Tugwell (The Daily Telegraph - Australia)
>>>
Jelena Dokic dedicated her win last night to the most important man
in her life.

Estranged from her father Damir, her boyfriend Tin Bikic has been her
rock for the past five-and-a-half years, and after securing a third-
round berth with victory against Russian Anna Chakvetadze, she said
it was a gift to him.

"It's been really tough to deal with some personal issues," Dokic
said.

"My boyfriend has always been there for me.

"It's our five-and-a-half years anniversary today... this is my
present to him today."

After being in the tennis-wilderness for the past five years, the
former world No.4 certainly won back the hearts of her adopted
country with an inspirational performance, fighting off an Achilles'
injury-scare to prevail 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 in a 2h17m epic.

Her boyfriend's brother Borna is Dokic's coach, and after her three-
set win, the siblings embraced emotionally.

"When you have emotional breakdowns and everything I had to deal
with, you really get weak mentally," Dokic said.

"It's not easy to come back and be strong and able to compete and
play.

"It's really tough. You go crazy, basically, and you react the way
you shouldn't.

"He's dealt with all that and stuck by my side."
<<<

^As have I! There have been times in the last five years when I've
felt disappointed in Jelena (now that I know the extent to which she
was affected by her family-problems, I am more understanding of what
I perceived at the time as a loss of motivation), and I've had to
endure numerous false dawns of a comeback, but I never for a moment
regretted inducting her into my Eternal Fanship.

Emotional Jelena Dokic turns back time (Courtney Walsh, The
Australian)
>>>
A decade after announcing her arrival as a tennis-prodigy at
Melbourne Park, Jelena Dokic stands a win away from her finest
Australian Open performance after last night upsetting talented
Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

Despite a second-set wobble and third-set injury scare, Dokic made
the third round of her home Major for only the second time with the
6-4 6-7 (7/4) 6-3 win over the 17th seed.

Dokic was just 15 when she recorded her best Australian Open
appearance, though she was thrashed by then world No.1 Martina Hingis
in that third-round encounter in 1999.

More than a generation has passed since, with her next opponent
rising Danish star Caroline Wozniacki - among the hottest players on
the Tour now - aged only eight at the time.

But asked how she felt about playing the world No.12, the message was
simple, given the personal enormity of last night's achievement.

"Honestly, right now I don't care," Dokic said, close to tears.

"No matter what happens, I hope to play well."

The three-set victory over Chakvetadze is important for several
reasons. From a tennis-perspective, it proves Dokic still has the
game to match it with the sport's elite, for Chakvetadze is a
significant talent who reached a career-high ranking of five in 2007:
the year she reached her maiden Major semi-final in the US.

By reaching the third round, Dokic will receive a significant
rankings-boost from her position of #187, which will further her
chances of gaining entry into the year's remaining Majors.

It will also boost her chances of landing sponsorships to ease the
financial burden.

Following Dokic's opening-round win over Austrian Tamira Paszek, she
was coy when asked about wearing Fila-clothing a fortnight after
appearing in Adidas-apparel in Brisbane, describing it as a "work in
progress".

The quality of the 25-year-old's strokeplay from the baseline, and
her ability to overcome problems in the second and third sets, should
further her cause when pushing for new deals.

Dokic proved early on that she had benefited from her three-set
opening-round win over Paszek - her first Major match in three years -
  with her powerful groundstrokes finding their mark early.

But it was Chakvetadze who made the initial move, establishing an
advantage when breaking Dokic in the seventh game of the first set.

Dokic, who steadily improved her ranking on the ITF circuit last
year - after controversially missing out on a wild card into the 2008
Australian Open - showed she was ready for the occasion by breaking
immediately.

She continued that momentum to claim the first set, her groundstrokes
carrying the power and accuracy that once saw her labelled a
legitimate contender to win a Major.

While Chakvetadze is an élite talent, a weakness is her renowned
volatility, and it appeared this could hinder her chances of fighting
back.

Dokic was outstanding early in the second set, achieving her second
break to reach a 4-1 lead, but a lack of match-play at the upper
echelon told as she struggled to put her 21-year-old opponent away.

Twice the Australian moved to within two points of claiming the match
in straight sets, with only inches defying her on the second try, as
attempts at outright winners narrowly missed the line.

The lack of match-craft was pivotal with Dokic trailing at 3/4 in the
second set tiebreak. After opening up the court, the Australian
overplayed a simple forehand to gift the world No.18 the advantage
she needed to level the match.

Dokic refused to lament the missed opportunity, breaking immediately
in the third.

However, an Achilles' problem that caused Dokic to withdraw from an
event in Hobart last week seemed a concern as the former world No.4
led 2-0, with a trainer called to the court at the next change of
ends.

But it proved little hindrance, with Dokic's court-coverage a feature
as she maintained the pressure on her younger opponent by
successfully chasing balls from one side to the other.

While Dokic squandered two match-points at 5-3, it was the Russian
that faltered, serving successive double faults to hand the
Australian a memorable victory.

"It was unbelievable," she said.

"No matter what happens from here, it is an amazing experience, and a
moment I will not forget for a long time.

"I really wanted to put in a good performance... and things started
going my way, and then I got nervous, but this crowd really pulled me
through."
<<<

--------------------------------------
3. Women's Doubles: First-round result (Thursday 22nd January 2009)
--------------------------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Alisa Kleybanova
lt. CARA BLACK/LIEZEL HUBER [1], 2-6 3-6

------------------------
4. More reports to come!
------------------------

This completes Phase 1 of my Australian Open 2009 reports - the daily
reports while the tournament was running, and then tending to the
fallen.

Phase 2 is to finish the full BBC TV-reports for my Eternal Fanship
over the coming weekends. This includes Anna's first-round match
against Anne Keothavong (ETA 8th February 2009).

Phase 3 is to order other matches involving my Eternal Fanship from
Tennis Videos International
<http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/> when the 2009 tennis-
season is over, and to write up full TV-reports over the Christmas-
holidays. This includes Anna's second-round match with Jelena Dokic
(ETA 27th December 2009).

The above dates are pessimistic estimates, and are subject to change
in either direction. I am bound by my vows of Eternal Fanship to
complete Phase 2, but Phase 3 is an optional extra, as I have not
actually vowed to order any matches from Tennis Videos international,
nor vowed to write them up if I do.

I did consider ordering the Phase 3 matches immediately after the
Australian Open, but due to the large number of matches versus the
limited time I'll have to write them up, and me having a significant
backlog coming out of the Australian Open, that plan is scratched...
probably (my Passion says "order them now", but my Reason says "wait
until the off-season").

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

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

1. Photos
2. First-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Keothavong
3. Second-round draw
4. Second-round preview
5. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
6. Order of play for Wednesday

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

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

--------------------------------------------------
2. First-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Keothavong
(Monday 19th January 2009)
--------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF] d. Anne Keothavong, 6-1 6-7 (4/7) 6-1

I saw the third set on BBCi!

The match started in the Australian late afternoon, while I was
sleeping in England. When I woke up and checked the scoreboard at
19:25 AEDT, Anna was one game away from victory at 6-1 6-5*.

Anna dropped the second set on a tiebreak before BBCi started showing
it. The commentators said Keothavong had come out of that tiebreak
"rocking and rolling", but she played very poorly in the third set,
with numerous basic errors.

Anna's form was far from convincing, as some worrying unforced errors
crept into her game, but Keothavong did little to test her in that
third set.

I'll post my full TV-report at a later date.

--------------------
3. Second-round draw
--------------------
3.1 Top half
------------

* Kirsten Flipkens v JELENA JANKOVIC [1] (komaan Kirsten!)
* Nathalie Dechy v AI SUGIYAMA [26] (allez Nathalie!)
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] v Marina Erakovic (my loyalty is to LUCIE)
* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v MARION BARTOLI [16,DF,S] (my Reason says
Marion, but my Passion says Tsvetana)

* Sania Mirza [DF] v NADIA PETROVA [10] (go Sania!)
* Karin Knapp v Galina Voskoboeva
* Monica Niculescu [S] v Sara Errani (hai Monica!)
* VERA ZVONARËVA [7,EF] v Edina Gallovits (DAVAI VERA!!)

* Ekaterina Makarova v DINARA SAFINA [3]
* Patricia Mayr v KAIA KANEPI [25]
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [19,EF] v Mathilde Johansson (my loyalty is to
DANIELA)
* ALIZÉ CORNET [15] v Andrea Petkovic (allez Alizé!)

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [11] v Virginia Ruano Pascual (my loyalty is to
Caroline)
* Jelena Dokic [WC,EF] v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF] (having to lose one
of them so early is like a dagger in my heart)
* ALISA KLEYBANOVA [29] v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
* ANA IVANOVIC [5,DF] v Alberta Brianti [Q] (ajde Ana!)


3.2 Bottom half
---------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [6] v Carla Suárez Navarro
* María José Martínez Sánchez v Akgul Amanmuradova
* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [21] v Julie Coin
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [12,DF] v Jessica Moore [WC] (my loyalty is to Flavia)

* PATTY SCHNYDER [14] v Virginie Razzano
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [18] v Chan,Yung-Jan (podme Domi!)
* Sabine Lisicki v Samantha Stosur (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* Iveta Benešová v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [4] (pojdme Iveta!)

* Tatjana Malek v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [8] (komm jetzt Tatjana!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [31] v Séverine Brémond (my loyalty is to Alyona -
slightly)
* ZHENG,JIE [22] v Melinda Czink (jia you Jie!)
* Kateryna Bondarenko v Lourdes Domínguez Lino (davai Kateryna!)

* VICTORIA AZARENKA [13] v Tathiana Garbin (davai Victoria!)
* Elena Baltacha [Q] v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [20] (go Elena!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Sesil Karatantcheva [Q] (jia you Shuai!)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v SERENA WILLIAMS [2] (Ąvamos Gisela!)

-----------------------
4. Second-round preview
-----------------------

Jelena Dokic v Anna Chakvetadze is a mouthwatering match, although
having to lose one of them in the second round feels like a dagger in
my heart! But not as agonising as the BBC's plans to snub them even
though they will be playing on the Rod Laver Arena evening-session!

Ten years ago, Jelena looked like a world #1 in the making. She
thrashed Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 at Wimbledon 1999, Venus Williams
6-1 6-2 at Rome 2000, won five WTA singles-titles and reached a
career-high ranking of #4. But then her well-documented
family-problems caught up with her, and she fell off the tennis-radar,
battling depression and injuries.

2008 was a something of an encouraging turnaround for Jelena, as she
compiled a 35:10 win/loss record mainly on the ITF circuit, winning
three ITF singles-titles, working her way back to her current ranking
of #187. She gained her place at the Australian Open by winning the
wild-card play-off tournament in December.

Jelena's 7-6 7-6 loss to Amélie Mauresmo at Brisbane was encouraging,
as she hadn't played someone ranked as high as #23 for years. Less
encouraging is that she pulled out of Hobart-qualifying after
spraining her right Achilles' tendon while practising.
"The Australian Open is still 10 days away, so I still have some time,
which is good, and I should be all right," she said.

Jelena beat Tamira Paszek 6-2 3-6 6-4 in the first round, which
suggests that her Achilles' tendon has healed, since she was able to
come through such a tough match.

Anna, like Jelena, is one of the most flairsomely talented players in
the game - not to mention ultracute! Anna broke through by winning the
prestigious Tier I Kremlin Cup at Moscow in October 2006, and followed
up with a very consistent 2007, winning four WTA singles-titles and
reaching three Major quarter-finals - including her run to the US Open
2007 semi-finals.

Anna slumped from #6 to #18 in 2008 following a traumatic ordeal in
December 2007 in which she was tied up by burglars who broke into her
house, although she did manage to win WTA Paris and reach the New
Haven final. But her win/loss record for 2008 was only 28:23.

Anna beat Sania Mirza 6-4 6-4 as Team Russia reached the final of the
Hong Kong exhibition, and her 7-6 6-3 loss to Venus Williams was
encouraging, considering that Williams thrashed #1 Jelena Jankovic and
#7 Vera Zvonarëva both 6-2 6-2 in that tournament!

Less encouraging was Anna's 3-6 6-4 6-4 loss to Gisela Dulko in
another rubber of the Hong Kong final, and then her 7-6 1-6 7-5 loss
to #44 Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round of Hobart - after
leading 5-2 in the third set!

Anna came through the first round here with a less-than-convincing 6-1
6-7(4) 6-1 win over Anne Keothavong, who offered very weak resistance
in the third set.

Despite Anna's struggles, I think she would have too much game for
Jelena at this stage of Jelena's comeback (they've never played each
other before). Anna has groundstrokes of flairsome power like Jelena,
but plays with greater variety, has better defensive skills, and is so
deceptive! For Anna, it's just a matter of cutting out the unforced
errors that plagued her in 2008.

But still, I believe that class is permanent, and now that Jelena's
finally back playing at this level, she just might rediscover
something resembling her form from of old: the kind of form that saw
her hitting winners at will past Martina Hingis at Wimbledon 1999.


4.1 Articles
------------

Australian Open: Day 3 Preview
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2902
>>>
Top seed Jelena Jankovic is back in action as the second round gets
underway at the Australian Open on Wednesday, against former
junior-star Kirsten Flipkens. But the Serbian world No.1 will probably
understand that much of the focus will be on another player who shares
her first name: Jelena Dokic.

Rod Laver
(17) Anna Chakvetadze vs. (WC) Jelena Dokic (AUS) - First meeting

As it happens, Chakvetadze was runner-up to Flipkens in the Wimbledon
junior-final back in 2003, but whereas the Belgian has struggled in
the senior ranks, Chakvetadze has cashed in her chips in fine style.

That said, 2008 wasn't the happiest of seasons for the 21-year-old,
who dropped out of the top 10. The young Russian's Major results took
a backward step and, despite winning the Paris Indoors in February -
marking seven tournament-wins from seven finals - Chakvetadze spent
much of the year conspicuously short of back-to-back wins, let alone
trophies.

On the other side of the net, Dokic's troubles have been well
documented, but the former world No.4 - now clawing her way back from
No.187, was impressive against Tamira Paszek on Monday. Both have it
all to play for, but are prone to self-admonishment. It could be an
emotional night.
<<<

2009 Australian Open - Nick's Picks - Women's Singles Round 2
Nick Bollettieri <nickstennispicks.com>
>>>
Jelena Dokic (AUS) vs. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) - Dokic won her first
Major singles-match since 2003 in front of her home-fans on Monday. No
one has ever questioned her ability to be a top-notch player, but
sometimes outside forces have a tremendous impact on your life. We are
thrilled to have her back on the tour, and hope she can remain
competitive for years to come. Chakvetadze is very sold [solid?], and
for Dokic to win this match, it is not going to be easy. The question
is: How much does she have left in her tank after a very emotional win
in the first round?
<<<

2009 Australian Open: Day Three Preview
Aaress Lawless <www.onthebaseline.com>
>>>
Jelena Dokic (AUS) v. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)[17]

A tearful Jelena Dokic revealed in her post-match press-conference on
Monday just what it feels like to finally be back where she believes
she belongs. It has been a long five years for Dokic in her
Melbourne-return, but with every win, she is signalling that perhaps,
happy days are here again.

Despite Chakvetadze's seeding, this is a winnable match for Jelena.
Facing a top-twenty seed in the second round is never ideal, but if
she had to pick one player, it might likely have been Chakvetadze.
Anna hasn't been the same since her family was robbed in the 2007
off-season, and her results continue to slide. Factor in the support
of the crowd and the emotion of the moment, and fans in Rod Laver
Stadium might have something to cheer about on Wednesday night.

Jelena Dokic in three sets.
<<<

Australia Day comes early at Melbourne Park (Reuters)
By Greg Stutchbury (editing by Pritha Sarkar)
>>>
Former world number-four Jelena Dokic and teenage sensation Bernard
Tomic are expected to inspire a surge in ticket-sales as the pair have
been given top billing at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Melbourne Park will be a seething mass of green and gold on Day Three,
with local fans keen to provide a tidal wave of raucous support to two
of their own, who will both play under floodlights on Rod Laver Arena.

World number-two Roger Federer will have to take a back seat for once
as he continues his quest for a record-equalling 14th Major title.

Federer was shunted into the day-session - albeit on centre court -
for his contest against Russia's Evgeny Korolev.

Dokic, the on-again, off-again, on-again Australian who has had
well-publicised battles with her tempestuous father Damir, won her
first Melbourne Park match in a decade when she beat Austria's Tamira
Paszek on Monday.

An emotional Dokic later said she had almost given up tennis because
of her continuous battles with her father before finally walking out
on her family.

When she returned to Australia three years ago, she asked fans to
forgive her, which they did in spades on Monday with their chants of
'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!'

CROWD-SUPPORT

She will be hoping for similar support when she faces Russian 17th
seed Anna Chakvetadze.

"They really got behind me, which was great," said Dokic, who will be
appearing in a Major second round for the first time since the 2003 US
Open.

"I don't know when was the last time that the crowd was really like that."
<<<

Match Analysis: Jelena Dokic v Anna Chakvetadze (www.australianopen.com)
>>>
BACKGROUND

Jelena: After her hard-fought victory over Tamira Paszek in the first
round, the tearful Dokic has become the event's sentimental favourite.
It was the first time the much-put-upon native of the former
Yugoslavia and former world No.4 passed the first round since 1999,
and she really looks like she's getting past her family- and emotional
problems that essentially took her off the Tour from 2004-2007. The
aggressive blonde hasn't looked this confident since 2002.

Anna: This Martina Hingis play-alike is one of the most creative
players on tour, with soft hands, quick feet and incredible
anticipation, hence her rise to the world No.5 ranking in September of
2007, after she reached the US Open semi-finals. But since she and her
family were mugged at home in Moscow in December 2007, she lost a
tremendous amount of confidence and rhythm, and has yet to regain her
once-stellar form.

CURRENT FORM

Jelena: Her three-set win over Paszek showed off relentless, lethal
groundstrokes, and a vicious return of serve. However, her own serve
is often spotty, and although she's a much smarter player than she was
as a teen, she doesn't move as fast as she did then, and is still
prone to bouts of wildness.

Anna: At times in her three-set win over Anne Keothavong, the old,
effective Chakvetadze returned: misdirecting balls, sweeping backhands
down the line, and forehands crosscourt. But the shaky Russian was
also there, tearing up, getting down on herself, over and
under-hitting. The 17th seed remains an enigma.

STRENGTH

Jelena: Her outright aggressiveness and little fear of whom she is
playing has always been one of her greatest strengths. She can rip
winners off both wings, and easily munch on slow second serves. When
she gets into the zone, she's almost untouchable.

Anna: An extremely smart player for a 21-year-old, she has remarkable
anticipatory skills. She's a terrific offense-to-defense player, who
has an underrated first serve and deft placement. But all that can go
away when she's lacking self-belief.

TACTICS

Jelena: Dokic needs to attack Chakvetadze's second serves, go hard at
her forehand crosscourt, and not get frustrated when the Russian
frequently changes place [pace?]. She has too dare the Russian to try
to trade big blows with her. She must trick Chakvetadze into playing a
macho contest, instead of attempting to engage in a chess-match.

Anna: At this point in her young career, the most important thing for
Chakvetadze is to keep positive and keep her brittle emotions in
check. She has all the tools to be a top-five player again, and once
she's able to string Dokic out, should have the upper hand in rallies.
But she's having trouble closing out rallies after she sets up a
winning shot - a sure sign of a lack of confidence. She has to yell at
herself, "I believe!"

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The two have never played, but they do share Tamira Paszek in common:
Dokic beat her on Monday in three sets, and Chakvetadze took the
Austrian down twice on hardcourts in straight sets.
<<<

------------------------------------
5. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
------------------------------------

* Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Alisa Kleybanova v CARA BLACK/LIEZEL HUBER [1]

Full draw:
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/wd/

------------------------------
6. Order of play for Wednesday
------------------------------

Rod Laver Arena (start 11:00 AEDT = 00:00 GMT)
WS 2r: ANA IVANOVIC [5,DF] v Alberta Brianti
MS 2r: Jérémy Chardy v NOVAK ĐOKOVIC [3]
MS 2r: Evgeny Korolov v ROGER FEDERER [2]
|
Evening-session (start 19:30 AEDT = 08:30 GMT)
WS 2r: Jelena Dokic [EF] v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF]
MS 2r: Bernard Tomic v Gilles Müller

I'm delighted that Jelena and Anna are on the Rod Laver Arena
evening-session, because that means they'll be on BBCi at 08:30 GMT!
:D Thank God there are no Britons on Wednesday's order of play! (in
singles).

That's what I wrote before I heard the following announcement on BBCi:
"Tomorrow, you'll get a chance to see a couple of matches featuring
the second and third seeds - Roger Federer and Novak Đokovic - and you
can also see those matches repeated again at 8:30 in the UK." :fiery:
:fiery: :fiery:

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

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

Anna plays Jelena Dokic on the Rod Laver Arena evening-session
tomorrow (Wednesday), but the BBC is threatening to renege on its
promise to televise this session, in order to show recorded men's
matches instead! :-||

I have posted a complaint to the BBC at the following locations:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/3701180.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/complaints_stage1.shtml
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bbc-ao-blog

The more people who complain, the more likely the BBC will be to
repent and show Anna v Jelena after all.

My complaint:

I am writing to express my disappointment in the strongest possible
terms about the ongoing decisions to show repeats of Australian Open
Men's Singles matches on BBCi at 08:30 GMT on Tuesday 20th and
Wednesday 21st January 2009 - instead of live coverage of the Women's
Singles matches at these times.

Just before the Australian Open began, the BBC promised live coverage
of the Rod Laver Arena evening-sessions at these times, so the
decisions to renege on this promise are completely unfair to fans who
take their annual leave to watch the BBC's coverage primarily for
women's tennis.

On Tuesday, BBCi showed a repeat of the match between Andy Murray and
Andrei Pavel at 08:30 GMT, missing the first hour of Stosur v
Zakopalová - and at the time this decision was made, it was highly
probable that BBCi would have missed the whole match.

On Wednesday, BBCi plans to show repeats of Chardy v Đokovic and
Korolev v Federer at 08:30 GMT, overriding the Women's Singles match
between Jelena Dokic and Anna Chakvetadze, which I (and no doubt many
others) had had my heart set on watching since the draw was made.
The players and the order-of-play committee have kept up their end of
the bargain - please now keep up your end.

There's really no excuse for these reprehensible decisions. Fans who
want to watch the men's matches from the Australian day-session have
the opportunity to watch them live on BBCi during the night, or to
watch one of the endless repeats on BBCi (both before 08:30 GMT, and
after live coverage of the evening-session).

Please be reasonable tomorrow, and do not let down fans of women's
tennis by reneging on the BBC's promise to show live coverage of the
Rod Laver Arena evening-session. Dokic and Chakvetadze are two of the
most talented and attractive stars of the women's game, and we have
been waiting since Wimbledon 2004 to see Dokic on the BBC.

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

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

1. UK TV-alert
2. First-round draw
3. Anna Chakvetadze preview
4. Order of Play for Monday

Master-thread for Andrew's Australian Open 2009 reports:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=364478

--------------
1. UK TV-alert
--------------

The evening-sessions on Rod Laver Arena will be televised on BBCi
from 08:25 GMT each day of the tournament (digital viewers press Red
or select the appropriate Freeview-channel: it could be either 301 or
302).

This coverage will consist of the women's match on the evening-
session of the Rod Laver Arena (on days that there is one), followed
by the men's match, followed by recorded coverage of these matches
(or Andy Murray's match) on a continuous loop.

Additionally, all Andy Murray's matches will be televised live on
either BBC 1 or BBC 2 (his first match is on Tuesday). I think it's
quite possible that bits of other matches might be shown in these
programmes if Murray's match starts late or finishes early, as was
occasionally the case when the BBC used to do this for Tim Henman.

Other Australian Open coverage on BBC television:
* Saturday 24th January: highlights on BBC 1 (13:00 to 14:30 GMT);
* Saturday 31st January: highlights of Women's Singles final on BBC 2
(13:00 to 14:00 GMT);
* Sunday 1st February: Men's Singles final live on BBC 2 (from 08:30
GMT).

The Women's Singles final will be on the Rod Laver Arena evening-
session for the first time this year, therefore it will be live on
BBCi.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6102132.stm

-------------------
2. First-round draw
-------------------
Key
---

[Q] qualifier
[WC] wild card
[LL] lucky loser
[EF] member of my Eternal Fanship
[DF] member of my demi-fanship
[S] Selesian
(* ?x v ?y) I prefer ?x to win
(!) enthusiastic support
(!!) very enthusiastic support!
(my loyalty is to ?x) I like both players, but prefer ?x
(my Reason says ?x, but my Passion says ?y) I prefer ?x in tennis-
terms, but want ?y to win because she's more attractive
(my Passion says ?x, but my Reason says ?y) I find ?x more
attractive, but want ?y to win because I prefer her game


2.1 Top quarter
---------------

* JELENA JANKOVIC [1] v Yvonne Meusburger
* Kirsten Flipkens v Rossana de los Ríos (komaan Kirsten!)
* Viktoriya Kutuzova [Q] v Nathalie Dechy (davai Viktoriya!)
* AI SUGIYAMA [26] v Stéphanie Dubois [Q]

* Lucie Šafárová [EF] v SYBILLE BAMMER [24] (POJDME LUCIE!!)
* Marina Erakovic v Petra Cetkovská (slight preference to Marina)
* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v Karolina Šprem [Q,DF] (my Reason says
Karolina, but my Passion says Tsvetana)
* MARION BARTOLI [16,DF,S] v Melanie South (allez Marion!)

* Yaroslava Shvedova v NADIA PETROVA [10] (davai Yari!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Marta Domachowska (my loyalty is to Sania)
* Monika Wejnert [WC] v Karin Knapp (go Monika!)
* ÁGNES SZÁVAY [23] v Galina Voskoboeva

* MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] v Sara Errani (davai Maria!)
* Monica Niculescu [S] v Katie O'Brien [Q] (my Passion says Katie,
but my Reason says Monica)
* Maria Elena Camerin v Edina Gallovits (forza Maria Elena!)
* VERA ZVONARËVA [7,EF] v Magdaléna Rybáriková [DF] (my loyalty is to
VERA)


2.2 Second quarter
------------------

* Alla Kudryavtseva v DINARA SAFINA [3] (Kud is the lesser of two
evils)
* Aravane Rezaď v Ekaterina Makarova (allez Aravane!)
* Patricia Mayr v Julia Schruff [Q]
* Kimiko Date Krumm [Q] v KAIA KANEPI [25] (ganbatte Kimiko!)

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [19,EF] v Casey Dell'Acqua (PODME DANIELA!!)
* Mathilde Johansson v Jill Craybas (allez Mathilde!)
* Andrea Petkovic v Kathrin Wörle [Q]
* ALIZÉ CORNET [15] v Mariya Koryttseva (allez Alizé!)

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [11] v Shahar Pe'er (my loyalty is to Caroline)
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v Mariana Duque Marino (Ąvamos Virginia!)
* Jelena Dokic [WC,EF] v Tamira Paszek (GO JELENA!!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF] v Anne Keothavong (DAVAI ANNA!!)

* ALISA KLEYBANOVA [29] v Sofia Arvidsson
* Barbora Záhlavova Strýcová v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
* Yanina Wickmayer v Alberta Brianti [Q] (komaan Yanina!)
* ANA IVANOVIC [5,DF] v Julia Görges (my loyalty is to Ana)


2.3 Third quarter
-----------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [6] v Angelique Kerber
* Roberta Vinci v Carla Suárez Navarro (forza Roberta!)
* Melanie Oudin [Q] v Akgul Amanmuradova
* María José Martínez Sánchez v TAMARINE TANASUGARN [32]

* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [21] v Isabella Holland [WC]
* Elena Vesnina v Julie Coin (davai Elena!)
* Jessica Moore [WC] v Christina McHale [WC] (go Jessica!)
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [12,DF] v Mara Santangelo (forza Flavia!)

* Kristina Mladenovic [WC] v PATTY SCHNYDER [14]
* Jarmila Gajdošová v Virginie Razzano
* Hsieh,Su-Wei [S] v Chan,Yung-Jan (jia you Su-Wei!)
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [18] v Chanelle Scheepers [Q] (podme Domi!)

* Sabine Lisicki v ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK [30] (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* Klára Zakopalová v Samantha Stosur (pojdme Klára!)
* Iveta Benešová v Vera Dushevina (pojdme Iveta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [4] v Kristina Barrois (davai Elena!)


2.4 Bottom quarter
------------------

* Anastasia Rodionova v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [8]
* Ayumi Morita [S] v Tatjana Malek (my Passion says Tatjana, but my
Reason says Ayumi)
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v Séverine Brémond (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [31] v Olivia Rogowska [WC] (davai Alyona!)

* ZHENG,JIE [22] v Camille Pin (jia you Jie!)
* Sorana Cîrstea v Melinda Czink (hai Sorana!)
* Ekateryna Bychkova v Lourdes Domínguez Lino (davai Ekateryna)
* Kateryna Bondarenko v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [9]

* VICTORIA AZARENKA [13] v Petra Kvitová
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Tathiana Garbin
* Elena Baltacha [Q] v Anna-Lena Grönefeld (go Elena!)
* Olga Govortsova v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [20] (davai Olga!)

* Peng,Shuai [S] v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [28] (jia you Shuai!)
* Sesil Karatantcheva [Q] v Nuria Llagostera Vives
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Anastasiya Yakimova (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* SERENA WILLIAMS [2] v Yuan,Meng [WC]

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

Anna is coming off a 2008 in which she slumped from #6 to #18
following a traumatic ordeal in December 2007 in which she was tied
up by housebreakers, although she did manage to win Paris, and reach
the semi-finals of Rome, fourth round of Wimbledon and the New Haven
final. But her win/loss record was only 28:23.

Anna beat Sania Mirza 6-4 6-4 as Team Russia reached the final of the
Hong Kong exhibition, and her 7-6 6-3 loss to Venus Williams there
was encouraging, considering that Williams thrashed #1 Jelena
Jankovic and #7 Vera Zvonarëva both 6-2 6-2 in that tournament!

Less encouraging was Anna's 3-6 6-4 6-4 loss to Gisela Dulko in
another rubber of the Hong Kong final (Team Americas beat Team Russia
4:1), and then her 7-6 1-6 7-5 loss to #44 Carla Suárez Navarro in
the first round of Hobart - after leading 5-2 in the third set!

I feel that 2009 is the time for Anna to reestablish herself as the
force that reached #5 in the world after reaching the US Open 2007
semi-finals. Her kind of class is permanent, her slump isn't a career-
wrecking slump like some in women's tennis, and at the age of 21, she
still has plenty of time to get back on track. Technically, it's
mainly a matter of cutting out the unforced errors that plagued her
in 2008.


3.1 Article
-----------

2009 Australian Open - Women's Breakdown - Top 10 and Others to Watch
Nick Bollettieri (Friday 16th January 2009)
http://nickstennispicks.com/2009/01/15/2009-australian-open-womens-
breakdown-top-10-and-others-to-watch/
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 128 lbs.
D.O.B.: 5th March 1987
Turned Pro: 2003
Current Ranking: #18
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
2008 Titles: Hobart, s'Hertogenbosch, Cincinnati, and Stanford
2008 Australian Open: Quarter-finals

Nick's Thoughts:

Chakvetadze experienced some crazy stuff off the court, which I am
sure contributed to her so-so year in 2008. She has to control her
emotions, focus on her game, and believe she can do it. She has been
as high as #6 in the world, so the talent is there. Hopefully we will
see the best of her in 2009!
<<<

3.2 First round
---------------

Anna has an interesting first-round match against #53 Anne
Keothavong. What makes me nervous is that Keothavong is English, like
me. No member of my Eternal Fanship has ever lost to a player from
the British Isles, but it's not easy to be surrounded by people and
media who believe that Keothavong can beat a slumping Anna! It would
be very embarrassing for me if Anna lost after I have told these
people that they are wrong.

I'm surprised by the progress that 25-year-old Keothavong has made in
the last year. When I watched her play at Wimbledon a few years ago,
I never thought she was a world-class talent, but she had an
impressive 2008, winning four ITF tournaments (Capriolo, Jounieh,
Barnstaple and Kraków). She also played in several WTA tournaments,
and reached the third round of the US Open. Her win/loss record for
2008 was 52:28.

Keothavong has also had an impressive start to 2009, reaching the
quarter-finals of Auckland with a win over Carla Suárez Navarro (who
would beat Anna at Hobart), and advancing by retirement to the semi-
finals, where she lost 6-7 6-1 7-5 to Elena Vesnina. She upset #25
Ágnes Szávay 6-3 7-5 in the first round of Hobart, although she lost
to #62 Virginie Razzano in the second round.

I'm also surprised to recall that there is a head to head between
Anna and Keothavong! They played each other in a couple of ITFs in
England in 2003/2004, when Anna was 16: Anna leads 2:0 (6-0 6-4 and
7-5 6-2).

I don't think Keothavong really has the weapons to beat Anna, so it's
a matter of whether Anna has the unforced errors to beat herself.


3.2.1 Articles
--------------

Keothavong faces Chakvetadze-test [CEEFAX 485]
>>>
British number-one Anne Keothavong was handed a tough draw in the
Australian Open when she was paired against Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

The 21-year-old Russian is seeded 17th at Melbourne Park, while
Keothavong is ranked #53 in the world.
<<<

Tough draw for Keothavong and South [Teletext 495->496]
>>>
Keothavong faces Russian [Teletext 496]

British No.1 Anne Keothavong will kick off her Australian Open
campaign against Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

If Keothavong, who secured a place in the semi-finals of the ASB
Classic last week, sees off the 17th seed, she could face Jelena
Dokic in the second round.

Fellow Englishwoman Melanie South will face 16th seed Marion Bartoli,
while top seed Jelena Jankovic clashes with Yvonne Meusburger.
<<<

British No.1 Keothavong fancies her chances against Russian
(The Independent, Saturday 17th January 2009)
By Paul Newman in Melbourne
>>>
The Australian Open draw could have been kinder to Anne Keothavong,
but the British No.1 will go into her first-round match against Anna
Chakvetadze here next week on a high.

Keothavong equalled her best performance by reaching the semi-finals
in Auckland last week and, after climbing to a career-high No.53 in
the world-rankings, will have no fears about taking on the 21-year-
old Russian, who has slipped from No.5 to No.18.

"I'm looking forward to the match," Keothavong said. "I don't think
she's been playing her best tennis in the last couple of months.
I have nothing to lose, I'm feeling good, and I'm going into the
match with a lot of confidence."
<<<

3.3 Second round
----------------

I hope for a mouthwatering second-round match with Jelena Dokic,
although having to lose one of them in the second round feels like a
dagger in my heart!

Ten years ago, Jelena looked like a world #1 in the making. She
thrashed Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 at Wimbledon 1999, Venus Williams
6-1 6-2 at Rome 2000, won five WTA singles-titles and reached a
career-high ranking of #4. But then her well-documented family-
problems caught up with her, and she fell off the tennis-radar,
battling depression and injuries.

2008 was a something of an encouraging turnaround for Jelena, as she
compiled a 35:10 win/loss record mainly on the ITF circuit, winning
three ITF singles-titles, working her way back to her current ranking
of #187. She gained her place at the Australian Open by winning the
wild-card play-off tournament in December.

Jelena's 7-6 7-6 loss to Amélie Mauresmo at Brisbane was encouraging,
as she hadn't played someone ranked as high as #23 for years.
Less encouraging is that she pulled out of Hobart-qualifying after
spraining her right Achilles' tendon while practising. "The
Australian Open is still 10 days away, so I still have some time,
which is good, and I should be all right," she said.

Despite Anna's struggles, I think she would have too much for Jelena
at this stage of Jelena's comeback. Anna has groundstrokes of
flairsome power like Jelena, but plays with greater variety, has
better defensive skills, and is so deceptive!

Anna's other potential second-round opponent is #80-ranked 18-year-
old Tamira Paszek, whom she leads 2:0 (6-1 7-5 in 4r US Open 2007,
and 6-3 6-2 in 2r Miami 2008).

Paszek has amazing groundstrokes, and was very impressive as a 16-
year-old in 2007. She took a set off Maria Sharapova at Birmingham,
and reached a career-high ranking of #35 after reaching the fourth
round of Wimbledon with wins over #17 Tatiana Golovin and #13 Elena
Dementieva; she also reached the fourth round of the US Open with a
win over #12 Patty Schnyder.

Paszek suffered a sophomore-slump in 2008, with a win/loss record of
16:18 after her 33:18 of 2007. The nadir was a 6-match losing-streak
that included a 6-1 6-0 loss to Tamarine Tanasugarn at Birmingham.
She looked so fat then, and yet two months later, she upset world #1
Ana Ivanovic at Montréal and looked quite delectable!

Paszek reached the final of Bali 2008 with wins over #16 Flavia
Pennetta and #11 Daniela Hantuchová, although she was hammered
6-3 6-0 by Schnyder in that final. Paszek finished 2008 on a 3-match
losing-streak, and hasn't played so far in 2009.

I'd be pretty confident of Anna beating Paszek, due to the 2:0 head
to head and Paszek's slump being much deeper than Anna's. But Paszek
is so up and down, so she could be dangerous on an up-day!


3.4 Third round
---------------

The seedings project a third-round match between Anna and 18-year-old
Caroline Wozniacki [11]. This is bad news indeed for Anna, as not
only does Wozniacki look like a future superstar, she also leads Anna
2:0 head to head (3-6 6-4 6-1 in the New Haven 2008 final, and
2-6 6-1 6-4 at Moscow 2008).

After a surprising loss to #76 Elena Vesnina at Auckland, Wozniacki
had a very impressive Sydney, thrashing #19 Dominika Cibulková
6-1 6-2 and #110 Melanie South 6-2 6-0. She then had three match-
points against Serena Williams before losing 6-7 6-3 7-6 in the
quarter-finals.

I saw a few points of that match at www.sonyericssonwtatour.com. The
way Wozniacki stranded Williams with a pinpoint crosscourt forehand
to set up a down-the-line forehand winner suggests great things for
Wozniacki in 2009!

Wozniacki has been tipped to upset Ana Ivanovic [5] in the fourth
round, so it's not looking too optimistic for Anna in the third round!

---------------------------
4. Order of Play for Monday
---------------------------

Show Court 3 (start 11:00 AEDT = 00:00 GMT)
MS 1r: Robby Ginepri v TOMÁŠ BERDYCH [20]
WS 1r: Melanie South v MARION BARTOLI [16,DF,S]
MS 1r: Samuel Groth v MARDY FISH [23]
WS 1r: Anne Keothavong v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [17,EF]

I think there's a chance Anna's match could be on BBCi if it hasn't
finished by 08:25 GMT, because Keothavong is British.

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

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

I have just updated Anna's biography on my website:
http://tinyurl.com/andrewbroad-chakv-biography

It is *not* a copy of Anna's standard WTA Tour biography, but my own
detailed appreciation of her game, followed by a review for every year
of her career. I have edited the introduction, and added a review of
2008.

I have also replaced the term "Grand Slam" with "Major" when referring
to the four Major tournaments individually. It is my New Year's
Resolution to reserve the term "Grand Slam" for the winning of all four
Majors.

I wish Anna and all her fans a happy new year.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad

===============
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Plexicushion); Major)
=============== http://2008.australianopen.com/
Third round (Saturday 19th January)
-----------

Nice winner, nice loser:
- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] lt. MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF],
7-6 (8/6) 1-6 2-6

I have uploaded to my website my new TV-report of this match, which I
recently acquired on DVD from Tennis Videos International
<http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/>.

It was a mouthwatering match - not just because Anna and Maria are
the two cutest players in the world, but in tennis-terms! The first
set was very high quality: Anna had the upper hand as her early,
flat, deceptive groundstrokes were difficult for Maria to read and
gave Maria little time to react.

But it was Anna who got tired after the first set, while Maria played
a brilliant second set: her down-the-line groundstrokes began to find
their mark, she mixed up the pace with high looping balls and sliced
backhands, and retrieved really well, while unforced errors crept
into Anna's game.

My full TV-report is at:
http://tinyurl.com/chakv-australian-open2008

It also includes reviews of Anna's first two matches (adding no new
information to the reports I posted here at the time).

--
Dr. Andrew Broad

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://championships.wimbledon.org/
Fourth round (Monday 30th June 2008)
------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] lt. NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF],
6-4 6-7 (0/7) 3-6

At last I have got round to finishing my full TV-report of this
mouthwatering match - including a point-by-point description,
transcriptions of the commentary, Statistics, and a transcript of
Nicole's BBC interview.

I have just added it to Anna's Wimbledon 2008 reports on my website:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/wimbledon2008.html

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://championships.wimbledon.org/

"Well, I think, you know what, psychologically I was okay, you know,
already at the Australian Open. I was ready to play. But the thing is
that I didn't really have preparation, because I had a reinjury.
Unfortunately I didn't have a preparation for the season, so probably
that's why it's very tough, especially physically when you don't have
a preparation, like your fitness-work, your physical work before the
season starts. It's really tough to play."

-----------
Third round (Friday 27th June 2008)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3

At last I have got round to finishing my full TV-report of this
match - including a point-by-point description, transcriptions of the
commentary, and statistics. I have just uploaded it to my website:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/wimbledon2008.html

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://championships.wimbledon.org/

Annabel Croft: "She takes the ball very, very early, and she does
have good groundstrokes: they're well-produced strokes, and she's got
a kind of /effortless/ style about her... She is an interesting
player, but I think a lot of her problems come from the emotional
side of things. Never a dull moment when she's on court, is there?"

Simon Reed: "No - can't take your eyes off her!"

-----------
First round (Monday 23rd June 2008)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Stéphanie Dubois, 2-6 6-1 8-6

After a disastrous first set in which Anna failed to hold serve even
once, she stormed through the second and took a *3-2 lead in the
third, only to lose the next three games. Dubois had two match-points
at *5-3 (40/15), Anna saved a third at *4-5 (30/40), and also
recovered from *5-6 (15/30).

Anna served for the match at *7-6 in the third - the only game of
this match that Freeview BBCi deigned to televise. Anna had to save
two break-points after wasting her first match-point, but then sealed
victory in just under two hours with her second forehand drive-volley
winner of the game.

I have just uploaded to my website an enhanced version of my match-
report (adding the above summary, Statistics and an extra article)
that I posted here at the time:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/wimbledon2008.html

------------
Second round (Wednesday 25th June 2008)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 6-2

At last I have got round to finishing my full TV-report of this
match - including a point-by-point description, transcriptions of the
commentary, and Statistics. I have just uploaded it to my website (at
the same URI as above).

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

==========================
BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES (Beijing, China; hard (Decoturf II))
========================== http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/
Anna Chakvetadze's withdrawal
-----------------------------

I'm very disappointed that Anna is skipping the Olympics simply
because her form is "far from ideal".

Perhaps she wanted to give the Russian team a better chance by
letting that bruiser Dinara Safina replace her - "I really want to
thank her that she gives me a chance to go there," said Safina.

Or perhaps Anna just didn't want to make the long trip from America
to Beijing and back, just for a couple of matches, so close to the
US Open.

But I don't think she understands the honour that she is giving up,
and I think her decision is against the spirit of the Olympics:
"Taking part is more important than winning."

Maybe she'll understand these things when she's too old and low-
ranked to play the Olympics, which I hope she won't be by London 2012.


Article
-------

Dinara Safina to Replace Anna Chakvetadze on Russian Olympic Team
Posted by Aaress Lawless on 23rd June 2008
http://www.onthebaseline.com/2008/06/23/dinara-safina-to-replace-anna-
chakvetadze-on-russian-olympic-team/
>>>
2008 French Open finalist Dinara Safina will have an opportunity to
represent Russia in Beijing after her countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze
decided to skip the Olympics.

Safina is expected to compete alongside Maria Sharapova, Svetlana
Kuznetsova, and Elena Dementieva.

Russia's team-captain Shamil Tarpischev announced his tentative squad
last month, but Chakvetadze recently asked to have her name removed
from the team-roster.

According to Chakvetadze's mother, the Russian No.4 has decided to
skip the Olympics because of her recent struggles.

"Anna has no plans to compete in Beijing, because her current form is
far from ideal," said her mother to the Allsport news-agency.

Chakvetadze played her first match at the Wimbledon Championships on
Monday, and was forced to save three match-points before beating
Stéphanie Dubois 2-6 6-1 8-6.
<<<

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. Fourth-round TV-report: Vaidišová v Chakvetadze

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

Anna Chakvetadze (4r):
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/players/wta310623.html

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Many players (Anna in Monday 30th June):
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1

--------------------------------------------------
2. Fourth-round TV-report: Vaidišová v Chakvetadze (Monday 30th June)
--------------------------------------------------

Nice winner, nice loser:
+ NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF],
4-6 7-6 (7/0) 6-3

A mouthwatering match between the two most talented and attractive
players left in the tournament, but unfortunately the BBC didn't give
it the same priority as did the order-of-play committee: it was only
available on Freeview from Nicole serving 2-3 in the second set, so I
was left desperately wanting more of Anna at the end.

The match was serve-dominated, as befits the best server in women's
tennis (Nicole) and the girl with the best one-two punch (Anna).
There were only two breaks in the entire match, the first occurring
when Anna broke Nicole to take the first set 6-4.

When BBCi started showing the match, both girls were very calm (at
least, Anna was very calm for Anna!). Anna had made just 11 unforced
errors to Nicole's 16.

Nicole had two nonconsecutive break-points at 4-4* in the second set,
and another at 5-5* (40/30*). Her failure to convert them meant that
she had to serve to stay in the match at *4-5 and *5-6, but she did
so to 15 and love, respectively.

But Anna suffered a sudden emotional breakdown in the tiebreak, which
Nicole won 7/0. Anna yelled "aargh" after netting a forehand on the
first point, and looked close to tears after an unsuccessful Hawk-Eye
challenge put her *0/3 down. Anna doubled over in frustration after
hitting a forehand wide for *0/4, and Nicole completed her perfect
tiebreak with a crosscourt forehand return-winner and two aces out
wide.

Although I blame Anna's emotions for losing this match, I must admit
that I love watching her (even more) when she gets emotional. Her
reactions to losing points are unique and ultracute. In this match,
she was doubling over in frustration, waggling her finger, stumbling
backwards in an exaggerated fashion when a deep ball forced her into
error, sinking to her knees, and sort of rolling along the baseline
like her feet were wheels when stretched wide by a serve down the
middle. Perhaps she should consider a second career as an actress!

Anna had a break-point in the first game of the third set, and with
breaks coming at a premium in this match, it might well have made the
difference. But Nicole saved it with an ace, and broke in the next
game as a still-emotional Anna double-faulted (and stumbled backwards
in yet another cute reaction).

They both played well at the same time after that break, and although
it would prove decisive, it didn't seem inevitable at the time, given
Nicole's history of choking and her recent fragile confidence.

The heart of the third set seemed to be a game of seven deuces on
Anna's serve at 0-3, in which she saved four break-points, but held
with three excellent points at the end: sealed with a pinpoint
crosscourt backhand winner.

That game was not on the critical path as it turned out, though; it
merely served to prolong the match and raise the quality to new
heights: Nicole's service-game at 3-1 also went to deuce, and was
full of winners from both girls.

Games continued to go with serve, and Anna's service-game at 2-5
contained a crosscourt backhand winner for her, and brilliant
crosscourt forehand winner just inside the baseline from Nicole.

Nicole had her first match-point at *5-3 (40/30), but sprayed a wild
forehand about ten feet long.

Nicole had all the luck with netcords in this match - particularly in
the third set. Whenever a ball from Nicole hit the netcord, it
dropped dead for a winner, or at least gave her the initiative.
When a ball from Anna hit the netcord at 3-5* (40/40), it fell back
on her side to give Nicole her second match-point.

And it was all over when Anna netted a backhand return, and walked
off court in tears. I felt so sorry to see her go, and sorry that the
match was over - I just wanted it to go on and on, like the Ancic v
Verdasco 13-11 fifth set later in the day (I'm glad it didn't,
though, with the winner having to play her quarter-final the very
next day).

Don't get me wrong: I love Nicole, and I'm delighted that she has
reversed her slump so impressively this Wimbledon. I'm just sad that
this match had to result in a fourth-round loser, because I wanted
both of them to reach the quarter-finals so much... and for the BBC
finally to recognise Anna as the star that she is.

I mean, they actually billed this match as "Nicole Vaidišová first on
Court One" - even though Anna was the 8th seed - and while the
commentators called Nicole a mixture of "Vaidišová" and "Nicole",
Anna is still always "Chakvetadze" to them. On the rare occasions
when the BBC televises Anna at all, that is.

Dan Walker's summary of the match in the BBC's _Today at Wimbledon_
made me laugh: "Nicole Vaidišová had to deal with the mixed emotions
of Anna Chakvetadze on Court One today. The eighth seed's tennis
isn't bad, but her paddies are even more impressive, and once the
Russian had finally finished her audition for Strop-Idol, her
opponent went on to win in three. The Force is strong with Darth
Vaidišová [incorrectly pronounced to sound like 'Vader' with two
extra syllables inserted]."

I'll post my full TV-report at a later date.

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. Third-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Rodina
3. Fourth-round draw/preview
4. Andrew's wishes
5. Order of play for Monday

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

Day 5 photos including Anna:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7477371.stm

Many players (Anna on Monday 23rd and Friday 27th June):
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1

----------------------------------------------
2. Third-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Rodina (Friday 27th June)
----------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3

Another up and down performance from Anna, who is making a lot of
errors on the third stroke of the rally when she's serving, and
rushing between points too much for my liking (except at 5-2* in the
second, when she actually made Rodina wait by putting her hand up a
couple of times).

But she hit some lovely winners too, and I'm very relieved to get
past Rodina, who had given Maria Sharapova a huge scare in the first
round of the French Open.

Rodina broke first for *2-1, but Anna broke back immediately, and
came through a long game of four deuces and three break-points to
hold for 3-2*. Rodina played a sloppy service-game to put Anna *5-3
up, but Anna failed to serve it out, then squandered three set-points
at 5-4* before a two-hour rain-delay at Deuce #3.

Anna handled the rain-delay much better than Rodina. She came back
out and won the two points required to take the first set, sealing it
with a pinpoint forehand winner down the line. She then raced to a
5-0* lead in the second set faster than you can say "Anna
Djambulilovna Chakvetadze".

But Anna made a worrying finish to the match, throwing in two double
faults and two unforced errors as she served for the match at *5-1.
She then missed two match-points at 5-2* as Rodina held after three
deuces, then three more at *5-3 (40/0) went begging. But then Rodina
made two forehand errors - I was very relieved that Anna closed it
out when she did.

Anna hired Glen Schaap as her new coach last Friday. Schaap used to
coach Nadia Petrova, and once, after Petrova played Sharapova, he
picked up Yuri Sharapov and dumped him in a dustbin!

I loved the description of this match in the BBC's _Today at
Wimbledon_: "Chakvetadze, Chakvetadze, let down your hair. The little
Russian didn't let down her fans on Court 11. After facing a match-
point in her first round, no one has been able to deal with the
return of the Chak, who hasn't dropped a set since."

I'll post my full TV-report at a later date.

--------------------
3. Fourth-round draw
--------------------

* Zheng,Jie [WC] v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [15] (jia you Jie!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF] (see below)
* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (dawaj
Agnieszka!)
* Bethanie Mattek v SERENA WILLIAMS [6] (go Bethanie!)

* SHAHAR PE'ER [24] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] (kadima Shahar!)
* Alla Kudryavtseva v NADIA PETROVA [21] (think I prefer Kud.)
* Alisa Kleybanova v VENUS WILLIAMS [7] (davai Alisa!)
* JELENA JANKOVIC [2] v Tamarine Tanasugarn (ajde Jelena!)


3.1 Chakvetadze v Vaidišová preview
-----------------------------------

Anna and Nicole have set up a mouthwatering fourth-round match
against each other, which I didn't even dare to predict before the
tournament began, given the slumps they've both been in recently -
particularly Nicole.

Nicole lost 6 matches in a row prior to Birmingham, where she got two
wins, but then suffered a dreadful 6-3 6-0 loss to Bethanie Mattek,
followed by another poor, error-strewn performance to lose 6-2 6-4 to
Olga Govortsova at Eastbourne. Nicole has tended to tank sets and
matches that are going badly, and her confidence seemed to be at an
all-time low.

However, Nicole has displayed very impressive form at Wimbledon so
far:

NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF]:
1r + Zuzana Ondrášková [Q], 6-2 6-2
2r + Samantha Stosur [WC], 6-2 0-6 6-4
3r + Casey Dell'Acqua, 6-2 6-4

At times, she has looked virtually unplayable, serving amazingly.
However, her second-set tank against Stosur was alarming to watch, as
she didn't look like she wanted to be on court at all.

Anna has also been a slump since winning Paris in February, although
her results have been merely mediocre, rather than as spectacularly
bad as Nicole's.

Anna survived a massive scare in the first round, being 3-5* down in
the third set and saving three match-points. Her next two rounds were
much more straightforward, although her form in them was very up and
down - she's been pretty erratic at times, especially on the third
stroke of the rally when she's serving. She's hit plenty of flairsome
winners, though.

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
1r + Stéphanie Dubois, 2-6 6-1 8-6
2r + Edina Gallovits, 6-4 6-2
3r + Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3

Nicole leads their head-to-head 2:0, but both matches came at a time
when Nicole was in the top 16 and Anna was outside the top 30:
+ 2006 Australian Open 2r: Nicole 6-2 6-1
+ 2006 San Diego qf: Nicole 3-6 6-4 6-3

Anna will be keen to prove that she's come a long way since the
Australian Open 2006, but it all depends on which Nicole shows up,
because her form so far this Wimbledon has been either extremely
brilliant or extremely bad, and her confidence seemed so fragile
against Stosur.

If they will both be playing as well as they did in their third-round
matches, then I would predict Nicole to win. If Nicole's serving
well, then it will be very tough for Anna to stay with her; she'll
need her one-two punches to be working much better than they have so
far this Wimbledon.

Signs to look out for:
* Anna's one-two punch: if Anna is off-form, she'll miss a lot of
shots on the third stroke of the rally when she's serving;
* How Nicole handles short balls: if Nicole is off-form, she'll miss
a lot off shots off short balls that she should be punishing.

Who do I want to win? That's a tough one, with them both being
members of my Eternal Fanship. Reaching the quarter-finals of
Wimbledon would be huge for either of them after their slumps, but
since Nicole reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2007, I feel
that this year should be Anna's turn.

I also feel that Anna deserves it more in terms of her attitude: she
wants it so much, while Nicole has done a lot of tanking recently,
and lacked focus in her matches.

I'm hoping for a hard-fought, high-quality match, with Anna winning
in three sets, but not so tiring that she won't be up for her quarter-
final on Tuesday.

------------------
4. Andrew's wishes (updated after Saturday)
------------------

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]
4r + NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF]
qf + Zheng,Jie [WC]
sf + Bethanie Mattek
_f + SHAHAR PE'ER [24]

---------------------------
5. Order of play for Monday
---------------------------

Court One (start 13:00 BST = 12:00 GMT)
WS 4r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF]
MS 4r: MIKHAIL YOUZHNY [17] v RAFAEL NADAL [2]
MS 4r: Marat Safin v STANISLAS WAWRINKA [13]

I am delighted that the mouthwatering Anna v Nicole match will be on
Court One, although I admit I'm surprised that they got show-court
billing ahead of the Williams-sisters, Jankovic and Dementieva - all
of whom are seeded higher and more famous, but have been consigned to
outside courts.

Perhaps the OoP-committee recognises that Anna v Nicole is one of
only two fourth-round matches between two seeds (the other being
Kuznetsova v Radwanska, which is on Centre Court), or that neither of
them have played on a show-court so far this Wimbledon. Or maybe Anna
and Nicole are more popular in England than I realise.

It's also an upside to Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic's early
exits, of course (I would have sacrificed Ana without hesitation if
that would have made the difference between seeing Anna v Nicole on
TV or not, but I would have sold my soul to prevent Maria's loss).

So far this Wimbledon, I can't remember any singles-match on Centre
Court or Court One not being available on Freeview BBCi, so if I
don't see Anna v Nicole on Monday, I shall cry.

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

1. Second-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Gallovits
2. Third-round draw
3. Andrew's wishes
4. Order of play for Friday

--------------------------------------------------
1. Second-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Gallovits
(Wednesday 25th June)
--------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 6-2

At last the BBC had the decency to televise Anna again! (apart from
part of the last game of her first-round win). I saw the whole match
on BBCi.

Anna was brilliant at times, with her flairsome power and deceptive
placement, but in windy conditions, it was a far-from-convincing
performance against a player who didn't seem to understand where she
was winning and losing points. Almost every time Gallovits sliced the
ball to Anna's forehand, Anna made an error, so why didn't Gallovits
use slice much more?

Anna won the first set by virtue of a single break in the third game,
and did well to keep the momentum after squandering three points at
4-2* that would gave given her a double break. She was 0/30 down in
the next game (*4-3), but recovered with great serves.

Anna was very emotional during the match - and not just upset and
looking miserable as I've come to expect from her, but angry. After
squandering a break-point in the first game of the second set, she
reacted "like it was 6-5 in the third", shouting at the umpire,
throwing her racket, and looking close to tears.

SIMON REED: "The thing with Chakvetadze is: you never know who's
coming onto court."

ANNABEL CROFT: "She's so emotional. She's really suffered mentally
since that US Open 2007 semi-final when she could hardly get a ball
in the court."

SIMON REED: "She can be well on top of the match, and then suddenly,
all the toys go out of the pram."

ANNABEL CROFT: "I used to think of her as being really solid from the
baseline - a bit like Hingis, like a chess-player - but she's a lot
more erratic these days."

SIMON REED: "She always has a worried expression on her face. I
remember going to see her at junior-Wimbledon, when she was 16.
One point it was exclamations of joy, the next point tears, then
frustration, then some more joy, then some more tears.
I thought, 'This girl's heart-attack material.' It's slightly toned
down now, but every now and again..."

Anna had to save break-point at *1-2 in the second, but came through
that game and then breezed through the last four games, each to 15.

I'll post my full TV-report at a later date.

-------------------
2. Third-round draw
-------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [1,DF] v Zheng,Jie [WC] (ajde Ana!)
* Anabel Medina Garrigues v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [15] (Ąvamos Anabel!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF] v Casey Dell'Acqua (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Evgeniya Rodina (DAVAI ANNA!!)

* Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (pojdme
Barbora!)
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] (davai
Anastasia!)
* MARION BARTOLI [11,DF,S] v Bethanie Mattek (allez Marion!)
* SERENA WILLIAMS [6] v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [29] (crush her, Serena!)

* Gisela Dulko [DF] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [24] v DINARA SAFINA [9] (kadima Shahar!)
* VICTORIA AZARENKA [16] v NADIA PETROVA [21] (davai Victoria!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Alla Kudryavtseva (jia you Shuai!)

* María José Martínez Sánchez [Q] v VENUS WILLIAMS [7] (Ąvamos María
José!)
* Ai Sugiyama v Alisa Kleybanova
* Marina Erakovic v Tamarine Tanasugarn (go Marina!)
* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [31] v JELENA JANKOVIC [2] (kom sĺ Caroline!)

So I'm now down to just two members of my Eternal Fanship - Anna
Chakvetadze and Nicole Vaidišová - but they're both slumping, and
either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can reach the
quarter-finals while the other survives.

------------------
3. Andrew's wishes (updated after Thursday)
------------------

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
3r + Evgeniya Rodina
4r + NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF]
qf + ANA IVANOVIC [1,DF]
sf + MARION BARTOLI [11,DF,S]
_f + Gisela Dulko [DF]

---------------------------
4. Order of play for Friday
---------------------------

Court 11 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
WS 3r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Evgeniya Rodina
WS 3r: MARION BARTOLI [11,DF,S] v Bethanie Mattek
MS 3r: Mischa Zverev v STANISLAS WAWRINKA [13]
XD 1r: Samantha Stosur/Bob Bryan v Bethanie Mattek/Eric Butorac

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

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. First-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Dubois
3. Second-round draw
4. Order of play for Wednesday

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

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

----------------------------------------------
2. First-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Dubois (Monday 23rd June)
----------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Stéphanie Dubois, 2-6 6-1 8-6

The match was third on Court 3, and started at 15:57 BST. BBC were
showing men's tennis on all three Freeview-channels at the time, so I
had to make do with following live scores at www.wimbledon.org -
until the very last game, when BBCi finally started showing it.


First set
---------
CHAKVE _@___@__ 2
DUBOIS @ @*@ @* 6

Anna serving 0-0: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40. 30/40. Broken.

Not an encouraging start!

Dubois serving 1-0: 15/0. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40. Broken.

Great champions break back immediately - and there are few greater
than Anna in this year's Wimbledon-draw.

Anna serving 1-1: 15/0. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40. Broken.

Well, everyone talks about first-match nerves in a Grand Slam.

Dubois serving 2-1: 0/15. 40/15. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Dubois. Held.
Anna serving 1-3: 15/0. 15/30. 30/30... broken.

Double break - what the h*** is going wrong? The Statistics tell of
13 unforced errors and 3 double faults for Anna so far.

Dubois serving 4-1: 15/15. 15/40. Broken.
Anna serving 2-4: 0/15. 30/15. 30/30. 30/40. Broken.

Anna just can't hold serve today. :help:

Dubois serving 5-2: 30/0. 30/15... Dubois won the first set 6-2 at
16:24 (27 minutes).

I can't believe I'm going to lose Anna today - and to the total
ignoration of the BBC since Wimbledon 2007. :-||


Second set
----------
CHAKVE *@*@* * 6
DUBOIS _____*_ 1

Anna serving 0-0: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15 to 40/40. Ad Dubois (BP). Deuce
#2. Ad Anna. Held.

Anna's first hold of the match, and the baggage of a wasted break-
point for Dubois. Could this be the turning-point?

BBC 1 just did a round-up during a changeover. They mentioned that
Lleyton Hewitt [20] and Svetlana Kuznetsova [4] were in trouble, but
they didn't deign to mention that Anna had dropped the first set
too! :-||

Needless to say, they're still showing men's tennis on all three
channels! :-||

Dubois serving 0-1: 0/40. 15/40. Broken.
Anna serving 2-0: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40.
Ad Anna. Held.

A very important game - Anna's had to face BPs in every single one of
her service-games so far. To hold on there could make the difference
between winning and losing today.

Dubois serving 0-3: 0/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40. Ad Dubois.
Deuce #2. Ad Anna (BP #2). Broken.

It's like Anna is determined to win every single game after her first-
set scare.

Anna serving 4-0: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15... held.

And the first convincing hold of the match for Anna! :-)

Dubois serving 0-5: 40/0. Held.
Anna serving 5-1: 15/15. 40/15 (SP #1). Anna won the second set 6-1
at 16:52 (second set 28 minutes, match so far 55 minutes).

Anna has achieved a massive momentum-shift from the first set to the
second, but can she carry it into the third?

I'm a firm believer that a new set is a new story, so the start of
the third is going to be crucial, especially as the starts of the
first two sets set the tone for the whole set.


Third set
---------
CHAKVE _* *@___@* *@* 8
DUBOIS * *__@*@__*___ 6

Dubois serving 0-0: 15/0. 30/15. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40. Ad Anna
(BP #2). Deuce #2. Ad Dubois. Held.

I'm very disappointed that Anna squandered two break-points there.
It's essential that she makes up for that with a good service-game.

Anna serving 0-1: 30/0. 30/15... held.
Dubois serving 1-1: 30/0. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 1-2: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 40/30. Held.
Dubois serving 2-2: 0/30. 15/40. 30/40. Broken.

Yay! The second point of that game - the one that gave Anna 0/30 -
could well have been the key point of the match.

Anna serving 3-2: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/40. Broken.

Oh no! How could Anna let that happen? She hadn't dropped serve since
the first set, then that break-point just came out of the blue.

Dubois serving 3-3: 0/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.

Essential for Anna to hold next, or Dubois could be serving for the
match at *5-3.

Anna serving 3-4: 30/0. 30/15. 30/40. Broken.

Another break-point after 30/15, and it looks like I'm going to have
egg on my face after my arrogant preview of this match. :-o

Dubois serving 5-3: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15 (Dubois MP #1). 40/30 (Dubois
MP #2). 40/40. Ad Anna (BP). Broken.

Wow - two match-points and she couldn't make it! It will be very
difficult for Dubois to put that disappointment behind her, but still
Anna's going to have the pressure of serving to stay in the match...

Anna serving 4-5: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (Dubois MP #3).
40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Phew - three match-points in the last two games!

Dubois serving 5-5: 30/0 to 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 5-6: 15/15. 15/30. 40/30. Held.

Two points from defeat at 15/30, Anna still holds on...

Dubois serving 6-6: 15/15. 30/15. 30/40. Broken.

Davai Anna! Now serve it out...

I'm not sure exactly when BBCi started televising it. Of course I was
keeping an eye on how the prior matches on BBCi were progressing, but
I didn't notice that the Bogdanovic v Bolelli match finished just as
BBC 2's evening-coverage was starting up at 17:50, and I switched
over to BBCi in a flash as soon as I heard that it had.

Anna serving 7-6: 0/15. 15/15. 30/30. 40/30 (Anna MP #1). 40/40.
Ad Dubois (BP). Deuce #2. Anna on the third stroke hit an off-
backhand wide. Ad Dubois (BP #2). Anna saved it with a high forehand
drive-volley winner crosscourt just inside the sideline. Deuce #3.
Anna ran down a short return and hit an off-forehand winner onto the
sideline. Ad Anna (MP #2). Anna forced a floater and hit a high
forehand drive-volley winner crosscourt. Anna won 2-6 6-1 8-6 at
17:55 (third set 1h03m, match 1h58m). She looked up at the sky and
made the Sign of the Cross.

David Mercer: "We've seen that so many times - players get to the
verge of victory against a top player, but they can't close it out."


Articles
--------

Kuznetsova survives scare [Teletext 498]
>>>
Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze survived match-points before overcoming
Canada's Stéphanie Dubois 2-6 6-1 8-6 in their marathon first-round
clash.
<<<

Russians Pushed to Limit
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2367
>>>
Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze, seeded No.4 and
No.8, respectively, were pushed to the limits in their first matches
of the tournament, but still advanced to the next round.

Kuznetsova fought back from 1-3 down in the third set to beat
qualifier Mathilde Johansson 6-7(5) 7-5 6-3, while Chakvetadze saved
three match-points in the third set - two down 5-3, one down 5-4 - to
beat Stéphanie Dubois 2-6 6-1 8-6.

Both Russians struggled mightily with unforced errors, with
Kuznetsova hitting 30 and Chakvetadze a whopping 55 (and mainly off
her normally dependable backhand side).
<<<

--------------------
3. Second-round draw
--------------------
3.1 Top half: Nicole Vaidišová and Anna Chakvetadze
---------------------------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [1,DF] v Nathalie Dechy (ajde Ana!)
* Elena Baltacha [WC] v Zheng,Jie [WC] (go Elena!)
* Anabel Medina Garrigues v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [20] (Ąvamos Anabel!)
* Monica Niculescu [S] v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [15] (hai Monica!)

* Casey Dell'Acqua v Pauline Parmentier
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF] v Samantha Stosur [WC] (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* Elena Vesnina v Evgeniya Rodina (davai Elena!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Edina Gallovits (DAVAI ANNA!!)

* Kateryna Bondarenko v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (davai Kateryna!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [28] v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q] (davai
Alyona!)
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Li,Na
* Marta Domachowska v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] (dawaj Marta!)

* MARION BARTOLI [11,DF,S] v Tatiana Perebiynis (my loyalty is to
Marion)
* Bethanie Mattek v Vera Dushevina
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [29] (Ąvamos Virginia!)
* Urszula Radwanska [WC] v SERENA WILLIAMS [6] (dawaj Urszula!)


3.2 Bottom half: Sharapova, Hantuchová, Zvonarëva
-------------------------------------------------

* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] v Timea Bacsinszky
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v LINDSAY DAVENPORT [25] (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [24] v Emilie Loit (kadima Shahar!)
* Hsieh,Su-Wei [S] v DINARA SAFINA [9] (jia you Su-Wei!)

* VICTORIA AZARENKA [16] v Sorana Cîrstea (my Reason says Victoria,
but my Passion says Sorana)
* Mara Santangelo v NADIA PETROVA [21] (forza Mara!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v SYBILLE BAMMER [26] (jia you Shuai!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [3,EF] v Alla Kudryavtseva (DAVAI MARIA!!)

* VENUS WILLIAMS [7] v Anne Keothavong
* SANIA MIRZA [32,DF] v María José Martínez Sánchez [Q] (go Sania!)
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [22,DF] v Ai Sugiyama (forza Flavia!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Alisa Kleybanova (PODME DANIELA!!)

* VERA ZVONARËVA [13,EF] v Tamarine Tanasugarn (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Marina Erakovic v Julia Görges (my Reason says Marina, but my
Passion says Julia)
* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [31] v Aleksandra Wozniak (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* JELENA JANKOVIC [2] v Carla Suárez Navarro [WC] (ajde Jelena!)

------------------------------
4. Order of play for Wednesday
------------------------------

Court 2 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
WS 2r: Elena Baltacha [WC] v Zheng,Jie [WC]
MS 2r: LLEYTON HEWITT [20] v Albert Montańés
WS 2r: Urszula Radwanska [WC] v SERENA WILLIAMS [6]
WS 2r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Edina Gallovits

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

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://www.wimbledon.org/
Contents
--------

1. First-round draw
2. Anna Chakvetadze preview
3. Andrew's wishes
4. Order of play for Monday

-------------------
1. First-round draw
-------------------
1.1 Top quarter: Nicole Vaidišová and Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [1,DF] v Rossana de los Ríos (ajde Ana!)
* Nathalie Dechy v Yuan,Meng
* Elena Baltacha [WC] v Angelique Kerber
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [30] v Zheng,Jie [WC] (podme Domi!)

* Tamira Paszek v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [20] (gemma Tamira!)
* Yan,Zi [S] v Anabel Medina Garrigues (jia you Zi!)
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF] v Monica Niculescu [S] (my loyalty is
to Magda)
* Tathiana Garbin v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [15]

* PATTY SCHNYDER [12] v Casey Dell'Acqua
* Akgul Amanmuradova v Pauline Parmentier
* Ioana Raluca Olaru v Samantha Stosur [WC] (hai Ioana Raluca!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF] v Zuzana Ondrášková [Q] (POJDME NICOLE!!)

* VIRGINIE RAZZANO [27] v Evgeniya Rodina
* Elena Vesnina v Nuria Llagostera Vives (davai Elena!)
* Yvonne Meusburger v Edina Gallovits
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Stéphanie Dubois (DAVAI ANNA!!)


1.2 Second quarter
------------------

* Mathilde Johansson [Q] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (allez Mathilde!)
* Kateryna Bondarenko v Rika Fujiwara [Q]
* Camille Pin v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q]
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [28] v Melanie South [WC] (davai Alyona!)

* ALIZÉ CORNET [17] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (allez Alizé!)
* Anastasia Rodionova v Li,Na
* Marta Domachowska v Jill Craybas (dawaj Marta!)
* Iveta Benešová v AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] (pojdme Iveta!)

* MARION BARTOLI [11,DF,S] v Sabine Katharin Lisicki (my loyalty is
to Marion)
* Tatiana Perebiynis v Petra Kvitová (davai Tatiana!)
* Séverine Brémond v Bethanie Mattek (allez Séverine!)
* MARIA KIRILENKO [19,DF] v Vera Dushevina (davai Maria!)

* Ashley Harkleroad v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [29] (go Ashley!)
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v Milagros Sequera (Ąvamos Virginia!)
* Klára Zakopalová v Urszula Radwanska [WC] (pojdme Klára!)
* Kaia Kanepi v SERENA WILLIAMS [6]


1.3 Third quarter: Maria Sharapova and Lucie Šafárová
-----------------------------------------------------

* Maria Elena Camerin v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] (forza Maria Elena!)
* Timea Bacsinszky v Julie Ditty (hopp Timea!)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Aravane Rezaď (my loyalty is to Gisela)
* Renata Vorácová v LINDSAY DAVENPORT [25]

* SHAHAR PE'ER [24] v Katie O'Brien [WC] (my loyalty is to Shahar)
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] v Emilie Loit (POJDME LUCIE!!)
* Hsieh,Su-Wei [S] v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (jia you Su-Wei!)
* Chan,Yung-Jan v DINARA SAFINA [9]

* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v VICTORIA AZARENKA [16] (aide Tsvetana!)
* Ekaterina Bychkova v Sorana Cîrstea (davai Ekaterina!)
* Maret Ani v Mara Santangelo (go Maret!)
* Olga Govortsova v NADIA PETROVA [21] (davai Olga!)

* SYBILLE BAMMER [26] v Sofia Arvidsson
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Viktoriya Kutuzova [Q] (my Reason says Shuai, but
my Passion says Viktoriya)
* Ekaterina Makarova v Alla Kudryavtseva
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [3,EF] v Stéphanie Foretz [Q] (DAVAI MARIA!!)


1.4 Bottom quarter: Daniela Hantuchová and Vera Zvonarëva
---------------------------------------------------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [7] v Naomi Cavaday [WC]
* Anne Keothavong v Vania King
* Martina Müller v María José Martínez Sánchez [Q]
* SANIA MIRZA [32,DF] v Catalina Castańo (go Sania!)

* FLAVIA PENNETTA [22,DF] v Julia Vakulenko (my loyalty is to Flavia)
* Yanina Wickmayer v Ai Sugiyama (komaan Yanina!)
* Alisa Kleybanova v Tzipora Obziler
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Sara Errani (PODME DANIELA!!)

* VERA ZVONARËVA [13,EF] v Aiko Nakamura [S] (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Petra Cetkovská v Tamarine Tanasugarn (pojdme Petra!)
* Michaëlla Krajícek [DF] v Marina Erakovic (my loyalty is to
Michaëlla)
* Julia Görges v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [23] (my Reason says Kata, but my
Passion says Julia)

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [31] v Eva Hrdinová [Q] (my Reason says
Caroline, but my Passion says Eva)
* Aleksandra Wozniak v Mariya Koryttseva
* Galina Voskoboeva v Carla Suárez Navarro [WC]
* Olga Savchuk v JELENA JANKOVIC [2] (davai Olga!)

---------------------------
2. Anna Chakvetadze preview
---------------------------

It's been a strange year so far for Anna, after her run-in with the
burglars last December. She won WTA Paris in February, but her other
2008 results have been pretty mediocre - even when she struggled
through an easy draw to reach the semi-finals at Rome.

Anna followed up her second-round loss at the French Open by
attempting to defend her title at 's-Hertogenbosch, but she struggled
past Angelique Kerber 6-3 3-6 7-6(1), then lost 6-2 3-6 6-2 to Alyona
Bondarenko in the quarter-finals. I fear for her ranking when she has
to defend Cincinnati and Stanford next month.

But first, Anna must try to improve on her career-best Wimbledon-
result of reaching the third round - in 2006 she was pretty unlucky
to draw Justine Henin, but her 2007 third-round loss to Michaëlla
Krajícek was very disappointing to me.

Anna used to list grass as her favourite surface, but she has done
better in the other three Grand Slams, with quarter-finals at the
Australian and French Opens, and a semi-final at the US Open, all in
2007. She can definitely improve her Wimbledon-record, but can she do
so in her slump-year, with Virginie Razzano in her third-round draw?


Nick Bollettieri: "Chakvetadze has yet to really break through at a
Grand Slam, especially at Wimbledon. She is coming off a second-round
loss at the French Open, and so far in 2008, her results have been
inconsistent. She can become ill-tempered at times, which has a
negative effect on her game. She must stay positive throughout the
tournament. There are going to be ups and downs, and it is the player
that can best negotiate through them that will be standing last."
<http://nickstennispicks.com/>


2.1 First round
---------------

Anna has never played Stéphanie Dubois before, but will go into this
match as a huge favourite, as Dubois is 9:16 for 2008 so far, and is
currently on a 4-match losing-streak.

Dubois tried to qualify for Wimbledon in 2005-2007, but lost in the
first qualifying-round each time; in fact she has never even won a
match on grass in her life AFAICT, so why start by beating Anna?



2.2 Second round
----------------

#84 Edina Gallovits or #85 Yvonne Meusburger? It's tough to pick a
winner, with Gallovits having won their only meeting in three sets
this year. I would certainly prefer it to be Gallovits if their
wtatour.com profile-photos are anything to go by!

Gallovits is 15:11 in 2008. She reached the quarter-finals of Hobart
as a qualifier, then had rather mediocre results, then reached the
quarter-finals of Barcelona, beating Julia Vakulenko 6-2 0-6 6-3 and
Klára Zakopalová 6-2 6-0, before losing 7-6 6-1 to eventual champion
Maria Kirilenko. She's won 5 matches in Wimbledon-qualifying over the
years, but never been past the first round of the main draw. I can
imagine her giving Anna a good match, but not beating her.

Meusburger is 10:14 in 2008. She lost 6-0 6-0 to Katarina Srebotnik
at Prague, and 6-0 6-2 to Caroline Wozniacki at the French Open. She
was runner-up at ITF Rome-Tiro a Volo, as Tathiana Garbin beat her
6-4 4-6 7-6 (8/6), but lost 1-6 6-4 7-6 (8/6) to Polona Hercog in the
first round of ITF Zlin, so she should be easy pickings for Anna.


2.3 Third round
---------------

How worried should we be about Virginie Razzano? Quite worried I'd
say, as she pushed eventual champion Agnieszka Radwanska to 3-6 6-3
6-4 in the second round of Eastbourne, and upset Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the first round of Wimbledon 2004.

On the other hand, Razzano is only 14:14 for 2008 so far, and nothing
really scary jumps out of her results for this year.

Anna leads Razzano 2:1 head to head, although Razzano's win came by
Anna's retirement at Toronto 2007.


2.4 Fourth round
----------------

I don't have time for detailed second-week previews at this stage,
but I don't see why Anna couldn't beat Patty Schnyder in the fourth
round, though I wouldn't fancy her chances against Ana Ivanovic in
the quarter-finals.

However, a very dangerous floater lurks in Anna's fourth-round draw:
Samantha Stosur, who looked very impressive on the grass at
Birmingham and Eastbourne.

------------------
3. Andrew's wishes
------------------

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
1r + Stéphanie Dubois
2r + Edina Gallovits
3r + Elena Vesnina
4r + NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [18,EF]
qf + Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF]
sf + MARIA KIRILENKO [19,DF]
_f + MARIA SHARAPOVA [3,EF]

---------------------------
4. Order of play for Monday
---------------------------

Court 3 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
WS 1r: Ioana Raluca Olaru v Samantha Stosur
MS 1r: Robby Ginepri v FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ [15]
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Stéphanie Dubois
MS 1r: MICHAËL LLODRA [32] v Mario Ancic

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

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Kanepi
3. Women's Doubles

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

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

For completists:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1

-------------------------------------------------------
2. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Kanepi
(Thursday 29th May 2008)
-------------------------------------------------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] lt. Kaia Kanepi, 4-6 6-7 (2/7)

An incredibly wasteful display from Anna: she converted only 3 of 11
break-points, including 4-4* (15/40) in the first set, and at least
two at 3-3* in the second. She was actually up *3-2 in the second,
and squandered a set-point as she served for it at *5-4. And she had
a woeful W:UE ratio of 5:38.

It's so sad to see a player with so much talent and so little
confidence right now. And it's even sadder not to be able to see her
play.

So another Grand Slam passes by without Anna being televised by the
BBC. I can only hope she'll make a late entry into Birmingham now
[edit: she didn't] - I missed her there last year, and she could
certainly do with the match-play on grass as she prepares to
defend 's-Hertogenbosch and play Wimbledon.

Anna means so little to the BBC that there isn't even a headline on
CEEFAX about her loss, as there is for the men's 6th seed David
Nalbandian and women's 22nd seed Amélie Mauresmo - just a little
paragraph at the bottom of that report. :-||


First set
---------
CHAKVE _*___*@*__ 4
KANEPI * *@*___*@ 6

The match started at 18:53 CEST. I followed live scores at
www.rolandgarros.com, which sadly was updating only every few points.

Kanepi serving 0-0: 0/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 0/15... held.
Kanepi serving 1-1: 30/0. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 1-2: 15/15. 15/30. 15/40. 30/40. Broken.
Kanepi serving 3-1: 0/15. 15/30. 30/40... Ad Kanepi. Held.

Very disappointing from Anna so far. I would expect a player of her
calibre not to waste break-point at 1-3 down, or at least somehow
find a way to break back immediately against a player ranked #49.

Anna serving 1-4: 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. Held.
Kanepi serving 4-2: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40. 30/40. Broken.

That's more like it! Anna just needs to consolidate that break with a
hold, and she'll have the momentum.

Anna serving 3-4: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Kanepi serving 4-4: 15/0. 15/40 to 40/40. Held.

What a waste of two break-points. Anna often struggles to close sets
out this year.

Anna serving 4-5: Broken. Kanepi won the first set 6-4 at 19:28 (35m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVE _* *@__*@__*_ 6(2)
KANEPI * *__@*__@* T 7(7)

Kanepi serving 0-0: 30/0. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 15/15. 40/15. 40/30.
Kanepi serving 1-1: 40/0. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 1-2: 15/0... held.

Kanepi serving 2-2: 15/0. 15/30. 30/30. Broken.
Anna serving 3-2: 0/15. 30/15. 30/40. 40/40. Broken.

We are not amused!

Kanepi serving 3-3: 15/0. 15/30. 30/40. 40/40. Ad Anna. Deuce #2.
Ad Kanepi. Held.

Two more break-points go begging. Anna's been so wasteful with her
opportunities today.

Anna serving 3-4: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Kanepi serving 4-4: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40. Broken.

At last! The most important break-point of the match so far, and
finally Anna converts.

Anna serving 5-4: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/40. 40/40. Ad Anna (SP #1).
Deuce #2. Ad Kanepi (BP #2?). Deuce #3. Ad Kanepi (BP #3?). Deuce #4.
Ad Kanepi (BP #4?). Broken.

Typical of how this year has been for Anna - I might have known it
wouldn't be enough to get the break.

Kanepi serving 5-5: 15/0. 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 5-6: 15/0. 15/15. 40/30. Held.

6-6 tiebreak (all scores Chakvetadze/Kanepi): 0/0*. *0/1. *0/2. 0/3*.
0/4*. *0/5. *1/5. 1/6* (MP #1). 2/6* (MP #2). Kanepi won 6-4 7-6
(7/2) at 20:31 (second set 1h03m, match 1h38m).

Sam Smith announced the result while commenting on Maria Sharapova v
Bethanie Mattek on BBCi. She said Anna's father Djambuli had been
watching Ágnes Szávay v Sabine Lisicki - Anna could have met the
winner in the fourth round - and that Szávay and Lisicki were the
future of women's tennis.

Apparently, Anna has hired Carlos Rodríguez, who coached Justine
Henin for Henin's whole career.


Articles
--------

Kanepi Ousts Chakvetadze; Jankovic Advances on Day 5
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2295
>>>
For the most part it was a good day for seeded players at Roland
Garros, but for a few choice exceptions, there was little to
celebrate.

It was an early exit in particular for Anna Chakvetadze: the No.6
seed at the second Grand Slam event of the year, and a second-round
upset victim to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

Chakvetadze has had a scratchy season in 2008, winning her seventh
WTA Tour singles-trophy at Paris [Indoors], but winning back-to-back
matches just three times apart from that: most recently en route to
the semis at Rome.
On the terre battue on Thursday, she never looked to be in her
comfort-zone, though, with five winners being heavily outweighed by
38 errors during a 6-4 7-6(2) loss to the big-serving Kanepi, who had
to save a set-point down 4-5 in the second set for a straight-set win.

It was her first-ever win over a top-ten player; Chakvetadze is also
just the second top-ten player to be ousted from the tournament so
far - after Marion Bartoli was beaten by Casey Dell'Acqua in three
sets on Wednesday.
<<<

France's Santoro wins all of 1 game against Ferrer
By Chris Lehourites: AP Sports Writer
>>>
MOVING ON: Justine Henin's coach, Carlos Rodríguez, didn't take long
to move on.

Henin retired this month - the first woman to quit tennis while
ranked No.1 - and Rodríguez is going to be coaching Anna Chakvetadze.

"Right now, I'll go back to Belgium to practise there with him," the
sixth-seeded Chakvetadze said on Thursday after losing to Kaia Kanepi
of Estonia 6-4 7-6(2) in the French Open's second round.
<<<

------------------
3. Women's Doubles (Friday 30th May)
------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Jelena Jankovic pulled out before the first
round.

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Llagostera Vives
3. Second-round draw
4. Women's Doubles
5. Order of play for Thursday

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

Anna Chakvetadze:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/players/wta310623.html
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

----------------------------------------------------------------
2. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Llagostera Vives
(Wednesday 28th May 2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] d. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-3 5-7 6-1

The match started at 14:17 CEST, which gave me barely enough time to
recover from the scary marathon that Maria Sharapova had put me
through! I followed live scores at www.rolandgarros.com, although
sadly the scoreboard wasn't running smoothly at the time.


First set
---------
CHAKVETADZ *@__*@* * 6
LLAGOSTERA __@*___*_ 3

Anna serving 0-0: 30/0... held.
LV serving 0-1: 15/15. 30/15. 30/30... broken.

A relaxed, easy-going start compared to how I felt during Maria's
third set!

Anna serving 2-0: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40... broken.
LV serving 1-2: 15/15. 15/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad LV. Held.

But I said this could be a tough one, and so the early scores would
suggest.

Anna serving 2-2: 30/15. 40/15. Scoreboard froze for ages... Anna
held.
LV serving 2-3: 15/0. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40. Broken.
Anna serving 4-2: 40/0... held.
LV serving 2-5: 15/30. 40/30... held.
Anna serving 5-3: 15/0. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna (SP #1).
Anna won the first set 6-3 at 14:50 (33m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVETADZ @ @ @__* *__ 5
LLAGOSTERA _@ @ @* * *@ 7

LV serving 0-0: 15/15. 15/40. Broken.
Anna serving 1-0: 0/30. 15/30... broken.
LV serving 1-1: 0/15. 30/30. 30/40... Ad LV. Deuce #2. Ad Anna...
broken.
Anna serving 2-1: 0/15. 15/30. 15/40. Broken.
LV serving 2-2: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15 to 40/40. Ad Anna (BP). Deuce #2.
Ad Anna. Broken.

Well pegged back from 40/15 by Anna!

Anna serving 3-2: 15/15. 40/15 to 40/40. Ad LV. Broken.

But the same can now be said for Llagostera Vives. Anna's had trouble
closing out matches this year - will this be another such match?

LV serving 3-3: 15/0. 15/40. 30/40... held.

And another lead in a game goes begging, and Llagostera Vives becomes
the first player to hold serve in this set.

Anna serving 3-4: 0/15. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40... ad Anna. Held.

Phew - break-point saved, and Anna's first hold of the set! Can she
close out this match before Vera Zvonarëva, who started at the end of
Anna's first set but is already 6-2 3-0* up?

LV serving 4-4: 30/0... Held.
Anna serving 4-5: 0/15. 30/15. 30/30... held.
LV serving 5-5: 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 5-6: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (SP #1). Llagostera Vives won
the second set 7-5 at 15:42 (second set 52m, match so far 1h25m).

And Vera Zvonarëva, who started her match during the last game of
Anna's first set, is already in the locker-room with a 6-2 6-1 win.


Third set
---------
CHAKVETADZ @ @*@*@ 6
LLAGOSTERA _@_____ 1

LV serving 0-0: 15/40. 30/40. Broken.

Well, first blood to Anna in the third set, but since she was up
three separate breaks in the second, I wouldn't put too much stock on
that.

Anna serving 1-0: 0/40. Broken.

Here we go again. Why do my players have to make it so hard for me,
when all four of my Eternal Fanship survivors are on today's order of
play?

Whoever holds serve first will win the match - that's my prediction
for this third set.

LV serving 1-1: 15/15. 15/40. 30/40. Broken.
Anna serving 2-1: 40/0. Held.

And it's Anna! :-) She's done what she never managed to do in the
second set: win two games in a row.

LV serving 1-3: 15/15. 40/15 to 40/40. Scoreboard froze... even
Rafael Nadal's going to beat Anna to the locker-room at this rate!
(not the /same/ locker-room, obviously).

LV serving 1-5: 15/0. 30/15. 40/30... Ad Anna (MP #1). Deuce #2.
Anna won 6-3 5-7 6-1 at 16:12 (third set 30m, match 1h55m).

--------------------
3. Second-round draw
--------------------
3.1 Top half
------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v Bethanie Mattek [Q] (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* Olivia Sánchez [WC] v KARIN KNAPP [32]
* MARIA KIRILENKO [21,DF] v Zheng,Jie [Q]
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF] v DINARA SAFINA [13] (podme Magda!)

* VERA ZVONARËVA [11,EF] v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Akgul Amanmuradova v Aleksandra Wozniak
* Olga Govortsova v AI SUGIYAMA [31]
* Marta Domachowska v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [7] (my loyalty is to Marta)

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] v Vania King
* Alisa Kleybanova v NADIA PETROVA [25]
* FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [18] v Sanda Mamic
* Sorana-Mihaela Cîrstea v VICTORIA AZARENKA [16]

* Sabine Lisicki v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [12] (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* Petra Kvitová v Samantha Stosur [WC]
* Tsvetana Pironkova v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [29]
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Kaia Kanepi (DAVAI ANNA!!)


3.2 Bottom half
---------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [8] v Selima Sfar [Q]
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [Q] v FLAVIA PENNETTA [26,DF]
* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [22] v Carla Suárez Navarro [Q]
* Nathalie Dechy v Casey Dell'Acqua

* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] won
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [19], 0-6 6-4 3-3*
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [28] v Milagros Sequera (podme Dominika!)
* Marina Erakovic v JELENA JANKOVIC [3]

* SERENA WILLIAMS [5] won
* Ekaterina Makarova v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [27]
* Emilie Loit won
* PATTY SCHNYDER [10] won

* Iveta Benešová [Q] v Peng,Shuai [S]
* Galina Voskoboeva v Petra Cetkovská
* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [30] won
* ANA IVANOVIC [2,DF] won

------------------
4. Women's Doubles
-------------------
4.1 First-round draw
--------------------

* Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Jelena Jankovic v (IVETA BENEŠOVÁ/JANETTE
HUSÁROVÁ)[13]

-----------------------------
5. Order of play for Thursday
-----------------------------

Court 7 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
MS 2r: Bobby Reynolds v Nicolas Lapentti
WS 2r: ÁGNES SZÁVAY [12] v Sabine Lisicki
WS 2r: Kaia Kanepi v ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF]
MS 2r: Alejandro Falla v Julien Benneteau

Full order of play:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. First-round draw: Top half
2. First-round preview
3. Second-round draw: Bottom half
4. Order of play for Wednesday

-----------------------------
1. First-round draw: Top half
-----------------------------
1.1 Top quarter: Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonarëva
---------------------------------------------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v Evgeniya Rodina (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* Bethanie Mattek [Q] v Madison Brengle [WC]
* Olivia Sánchez [WC] won
* KARIN KNAPP [32] won

* MARIA KIRILENKO [21,DF] v Maria Elena Camerin (my loyalty is to
Maria... er, Kirilenko!)
* Zheng,Jie [Q] v Mara Santangelo
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF] v Karolina Šprem [DF] (mouthwatering
match; my loyalty is to Magda)
* DINARA SAFINA [13] won

* VERA ZVONARËVA [11,EF] v Stéphanie Foretz [WC] (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Ioana Raluca Olaru v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
* Yanina Wickmayer [Q] v Akgul Amanmuradova, 2-6 *4-3
* Aleksandra Wozniak v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]

* AI SUGIYAMA [31] won
* Yuliana Fedak v Olga Govortsova (davai Yuliana!)
* Marta Domachowska v Rossana de los Ríos (dawaj Marta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [7] v Vera Dushevina (davai Elena!)


1.2 Second quarter: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] won
* Vania King v Violette Huck [WC]
* Alisa Kleybanova v Tamarine Tanasugarn
* Aravane Rezaď v NADIA PETROVA [25] (allez Aravane!)

* FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [18] v Jill Craybas
* Michaëlla Krajícek [DF] v Sanda Mamic (kom op Michaëlla!)
* Sorana-Mihaela Cîrstea v Anne Kremer
* Edina Gallovits v VICTORIA AZARENKA [16]

* ÁGNES SZÁVAY [12] won
* Sabine Lisicki won
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Petra Kvitová (ganbatte Akiko!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [17] v Samantha Stosur [WC] (kadima Shahar!)

* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [29] v María José Martínez Sánchez [Q]
* Tsvetana Pironkova v Chan,Yung-Jan (aide Tsvetana!)
* Kaia Kanepi v Yuan,Meng
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives (DAVAI ANNA!!)

----------------------
2. First-round preview
----------------------

French Open Preview: Day Three
by Aaress Lawless
http://www.onthebaseline.com/2008/05/26/french-open-preview-day-three/
>>>
ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6] v Nuria Llagostera Vives

While the big four – Maria, Ana, Jelena, and Serena – are being
touted as title-favourites, I like Anna Chakvetadze's chances of
making some noise in Paris. She is in the top half of the draw with
Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, but if her fellow Russians tumble,
she'll have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Although Llagostera Vives is ranked almost eighty spots beneath
Chakvetadze, both of their previous meetings have been close and gone
to three sets.

Anna Chakvetadze in 2 sets.
<<<

---------------------------------
3. Second-round draw: Bottom half
---------------------------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [8] v Selima Sfar [Q]
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [Q] v (1r: FLAVIA PENNETTA [26,DF] v
Tatiana Perebiynis, 4-3* (Ad Pennetta))
* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [22] v Carla Suárez Navarro [Q]
* Nathalie Dechy v (1r: MARION BARTOLI [9,DF,S] v Casey Dell'Acqua,
*6-5)

* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] v Jelena Pandžic [Q]
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [19] (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [28] v Milagros Sequera (podme Dominika!)
* (1r: Marina Erakovic v Tathiana Garbin, 6-7 (9/11) 6-3 5-3*) v
JELENA JANKOVIC [3]

* Mathilde Johansson [WC] v SERENA WILLIAMS [5] (allez Mathilde!)
* Ekaterina Makarova v (1r: Virginia Ruano Pascual v KATARINA
SREBOTNIK [27], *4-3)
* Klára Zakopalová v Emilie Loit (pojdme Klára!)
* Timea Bacsinszky v PATTY SCHNYDER [10] (hopp Timea!)

* Iveta Benešová [Q] v (1r: Peng,Shuai [S] v Anastasia Rodionova, 6-0
2-6 4-3*)
* Galina Voskoboeva v Petra Cetkovská
* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [30] v Anastasiya Yakimova [Q] (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] v ANA IVANOVIC [2,DF] (my loyalty is to Lucie)

------------------------------
4. Order of play for Wednesday
------------------------------

Court 6 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
MS 1r: JUAN CARLOS FERRERO [23] v Marcos Daniel
WS 1r: FLAVIA PENNETTA [26,DF] v Tatiana Perebiynis (4-3* to finish)
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives
WS 2r: CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [30] v Anastasiya Yakimova

Full order of play:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. First-round draw
2. First-round preview
3. Order of play for Tuesday

-------------------
1. First-round draw
-------------------
1.1 Top quarter: Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonarëva
---------------------------------------------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v Evgeniya Rodina (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* Bethanie Mattek [Q] v Madison Brengle [WC]
* Jarmila Gajdošová [Q] v Olivia Sánchez [WC]
* KARIN KNAPP [32] won

* MARIA KIRILENKO [21,DF] v Maria Elena Camerin (my loyalty is to
Maria... er, Kirilenko!)
* Zheng,Jie [Q] v Mara Santangelo
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF] v Karolina Šprem [DF] (mouthwatering
match; my loyalty is to Magda)
* Kateryna Bondarenko v DINARA SAFINA [13]

* VERA ZVONARËVA [11,EF] v Stéphanie Foretz [WC] (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Ioana Raluca Olaru v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
* Yanina Wickmayer [Q] v Akgul Amanmuradova, 2-6 *4-3
* Aleksandra Wozniak v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]

* AI SUGIYAMA [31] v Alla Kudryavtseva
* Yuliana Fedak v Olga Govortsova (davai Yuliana!)
* Marta Domachowska v Rossana de los Ríos (dawaj Marta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [7] v Vera Dushevina (davai Elena!)


1.2 Second quarter: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

* Aiko Nakamura [S] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (ganbatte Aiko!)
* Vania King v Violette Huck [WC]
* Alisa Kleybanova v Tamarine Tanasugarn
* Aravane Rezaď v NADIA PETROVA [25] (allez Aravane!)

* FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [18] v Jill Craybas
* Michaëlla Krajícek [DF] v Sanda Mamic (kom op Michaëlla!)
* Sorana-Mihaela Cîrstea v Anne Kremer
* Edina Gallovits v VICTORIA AZARENKA [16]

* ÁGNES SZÁVAY [12] won
* Sabine Lisicki v Elena Vesnina (my Passion says Elena but my Reason
says Sabine)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Petra Kvitová (ganbatte Akiko!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [17] v Samantha Stosur [WC] (kadima Shahar!)

* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [29] v María José Martínez Sánchez [Q]
* Tsvetana Pironkova v Chan,Yung-Jan (aide Tsvetana!)
* Kaia Kanepi v Yuan,Meng
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives (DAVAI ANNA!!)


1.3 Third quarter
-----------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [8] won
* Selima Sfar [Q] won
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [Q] won
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [26,DF] v Tatiana Perebiynis, 0-1* (40/0*)

* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [22] v Olga Savchuk
* Carla Suárez Navarro [Q] v Pauline Parmentier
* Nathalie Dechy won
* MARION BARTOLI [9,DF,S] v Casey Dell'Acqua (allez Marion!)

* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] v Mariya Koryttseva, 5-4* (40/40)
* Jelena Pandžic [Q] won
* Gisela Dulko [DF] won
* ALIZÉ CORNET [19] won

* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [28] won
* Milagros Sequera won
* Marina Erakovic v Tathiana Garbin, 6-7 (9/11) 6-3 5-3*
* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] won


1.4 Bottom quarter: Lucie Šafárová
----------------------------------

* SERENA WILLIAMS [5] won
* Mathilde Johansson [WC] won
* Ekaterina Makarova won
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [27], *4-3

* Klára Zakopalová won
* Emilie Loit won
* Timea Bacsinszky won
* PATTY SCHNYDER [10] won

* Iveta Benešová [Q] won
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Anastasia Rodionova, 6-0 2-6 4-3*
* Galina Voskoboeva won
* Petra Cetkovská won

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [30] won
* Anastasiya Yakimova [Q] won
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] won
* ANA IVANOVIC [2,DF] won

----------------------
2. First-round preview
----------------------

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2287
>>>
ANNA CHAKVETADZE (RUS)[6] vs. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) – Series
tied 1:1

Talented world No.6 Chakvetadze won't be relishing this first-round
task.

A few years ago, Llagostera Vives was No.35 in the world, before
injury prompted a slump to No.686. Firmly on the comeback and in the
top 100 once again, she has been a revelation in Fed Cup play this
year, first shocking Francesca Schiavone in Naples, then spearheading
her country's charge to the final – in the absence of Anabel Medina
Garrigues – by clinching both her singles-rubbers for an unlikely win
over China in Beijing. In between, the 28-year-old bagged the biggest
title of her career - the Tier III event in Bogotá - as a qualifier.

Sure, Chakvetadze reached the semis at Rome last week, but she lost
to France's Alizé Cornet having led 6-3 3-0, and also squandered a
4-1 third-set lead over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in her Berlin
opener. Normally a cool customer who isn't in the business of making
first-round exits at the Majors – the last time she did so was back
in 2005 – the 21-year-old Muscovite can expect to work hard to
maintain her consistent Grand Slam record today. Both previous
encounters between these two were decided in three sets; this one
might be too.
<<<

----------------------------
3. Order of play for Tuesday
----------------------------

Court 16 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
MS 1r: Mario Ancic v ANDREAS SEPPI [31]
MS 1r: Albert Montańés v Kristof Vliegen (7-6 *3-2 to finish)
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives
WS 1r: FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [18] v Jill Craybas

Anna's match was originally scheduled for Court 1 on Monday. The
prior match finished shortly after 16:00 CEST, but with light drizzle
falling, they didn't start, and all courts were suspended at 16:32
(eventually for the day).

Full order of play:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Contents
--------

1. UK TV-alert
2. First-round draw
3. Anna Chakvetadze preview
4. Order of play for Monday

--------------
1. UK TV-alert
--------------

The French Open will be televised on BBCi from 10:00 BST each day of
the tournament (digital viewers press Red or select the appropriate
Freeview-channel - 301 or 302).

Live: Sunday 25th May to Wednesday 4th June, 10:00-19:00, BBCi
Highlights: Sunday 25th May to Friday 6th June, 20:00-09:59, BBCi

Highlights: Saturday 31st May, 13:00-14:10, BBC 1

Women's semis live: Thursday 5th June, 13:00-19:00, BBCi

Men's semis live: Friday 6th June, 10:00-19:00, BBCi

Women's final live: Saturday 7th June, 14:00-16:30, BBC 2
Highlights: Saturday 7th June, 16:30-09:59, BBCi

Men's final live: Sunday 8th June: 14:00-18:00, BBC 2
Highlights: Sunday 8th June, 18:00-11:59, BBCi

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6102132.stm

-------------------
2. First-round draw
-------------------
2.1 Top quarter: Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonarëva
---------------------------------------------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v Evgeniya Rodina (DAVAI MARIA!!)
* Bethanie Mattek [Q] v Madison Brengle [WC]
* Jarmila Gajdošová [Q] v Olivia Sánchez [WC]
* Martina Müller v KARIN KNAPP [32]

* MARIA KIRILENKO [21,DF] v Maria Elena Camerin (my loyalty is to
Maria... er, Kirilenko!)
* Zheng,Jie [Q] v Mara Santangelo
* Magdaléna Rybáriková [Q,DF] v Karolina Šprem [DF] (mouthwatering
match; my loyalty is to Magda)
* Kateryna Bondarenko v DINARA SAFINA [13]

* VERA ZVONARËVA [11,EF] v Stéphanie Foretz [WC] (DAVAI VERA!!)
* Ioana Raluca Olaru v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
* Yanina Wickmayer [Q] v Akgul Amanmuradova
* Aleksandra Wozniak v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]

* AI SUGIYAMA [31] v Alla Kudryavtseva
* Yuliana Fedak v Olga Govortsova (davai Yuliana!)
* Marta Domachowska v Rossana de los Ríos (dawaj Marta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [7] v Vera Dushevina (davai Elena!)


2.2 Second quarter: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

* Aiko Nakamura [S] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [4] (ganbatte Aiko!)
* Vania King v Violette Huck [WC]
* Alisa Kleybanova v Tamarine Tanasugarn
* Aravane Rezaď v NADIA PETROVA [25] (allez Aravane!)

* FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [18] v Jill Craybas
* Michaëlla Krajícek [DF] v Sanda Mamic (kom op Michaëlla!)
* Sorana-Mihaela Cîrstea v Anne Kremer
* Edina Gallovits v VICTORIA AZARENKA [16]

* ÁGNES SZÁVAY [12] v Ayumi Morita [S]
* Sabine Lisicki v Elena Vesnina (my Passion says Elena but my Reason
says Sabine)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Petra Kvitová (ganbatte Akiko!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [17] v Samantha Stosur [WC] (kadima Shahar!)

* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [29] v María José Martínez Sánchez [Q]
* Tsvetana Pironkova v Chan,Yung-Jan (aide Tsvetana!)
* Kaia Kanepi v Yuan,Meng
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives (DAVAI ANNA!!)


2.3 Third quarter
-----------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [8] v Tzipora Obziler
* Selima Sfar [Q] won
* Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [Q] v María-Emilia Salerni
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [26,DF] v Tatiana Perebiynis (my loyalty is to
Flavia)

* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [22] v Olga Savchuk
* Carla Suárez Navarro [Q] v Pauline Parmentier
* Nathalie Dechy won
* MARION BARTOLI [9,DF,S] v Casey Dell'Acqua (allez Marion!)

* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [14] v Mariya Koryttseva
* Séverine Brémond [WC] v Jelena Pandzic [Q] (allez Séverine!)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Sara Errani, 6-4 4-6 1-3* suspended
* ALIZÉ CORNET [19] won

* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [28] won
* Milagros Sequera won
* Marina Erakovic v Tathiana Garbin (go Marina!)
* Monica Niculescu [LL] v JELENA JANKOVIC [3]


2.4 Bottom quarter: Lucie Šafárová
----------------------------------

* SERENA WILLIAMS [5] won
* Mathilde Johansson [WC] won
* Ekaterina Makarova won
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [27]

* Klára Zakopalová won
* Yan,Zi [S] v Emilie Loit (jia you Zi!)
* Tamira Paszek v Timea Bacsinszky (my loyalty is to Tamira)
* Ekaterina Bychkova v PATTY SCHNYDER [10] (davai Ekaterina!)

* Iveta Benešová [Q] won
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Anastasia Rodionova (jia you Shuai!)
* Galina Voskoboeva won
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [30] v Petra Cetkovská (davai Alyona!)

* CAROLINE WOZNIACKI [30] won
* Anastasiya Yakimova [Q] won
* Lucie Šafárová [EF] won
* ANA IVANOVIC [2,DF] won

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

Anna is having a strange year after being tied up by burglars at her
Moscow-home last December. After a third-round loss at the Australian
Open, she seemed to have put her problems behind her by winning
Paris, but then went on a lean streak before reaching the semi-finals
of Rome.


3.1 First round
---------------

This could be a tough opener for Anna against the diminutive Nuria
Llagostera Vives, who beat her at ITF Bronx 2004. More relevant is
their Fed Cup rubber on clay last year, which Anna only won
3-6 7-6(5) 6-2.

And Llagostera Vives has had some pretty impressive results on clay
this year: she was runner-up at Vińa del Mar, and won Bogotá with a
series of one-sided scorelines against players ranked no higher than
#63. Less impressive was her 7-5 6-1 loss to Angelika Bachmann in the
first round of qualifying for Berlin.

Anna should win this, but we have to be ready for a tough three-
setter with the danger of a loss.


3.2 Second round
----------------

I don't have time to analyse Kaia Kanepi and Yuan,Meng right now, but
if Anna is too good for Llagostera Vives, she should certainly be too
good for her second-round opponent.


3.3 Third round
---------------

Anabel Medina Garrigues is very dangerous on clay: she beat my
Daniela Hantuchová in the third round of the French Open 2007, and
just won Strasbourg.

But Anna has the huge advantage of a 5:0 head to head over Medina
Garrigues, including their only claycourt-meeting at Berlin 2006.

I would prefer the cute Tsvetana Pironkova to come through here, of
course. Tsvetana won five matches to qualify and reach the quarter-
finals of Rome - including a sensational 6-4 5-7 6-2 over Ana
Ivanovic. But it was Anna who beat her in the quarters, 6-2 3-6 6-1 -
the only time they've ever played each other.


3.4 Fourth round
----------------

If the seedings hold, it will be Ágnes Szávay. Anna leads Szávay 2:0
head to head, but they were both three-setters: 6-4 6-7(1) 6-4 at the
French Open 2007, and 6-3 2-6 6-2 in the Paris 2008 final.

Like Anna, Szávay hasn't done much since Paris... apart from beating
Dinara Safina to reach the quarter-finals of Charleston, and also
reaching the quarters of Berlin. But her last match was a 6-0 6-3
thrashing by Sara Errani at Rome.

Or it could be Shahar Pe'er, although she's in a bit of a slump at
the moment; her last match was a 7-5 6-1 loss to Sabine Lisicki at
Berlin. Lisicki herself could come through here - I've heard great
things about her this year, as well as noting her beauty!
Another possibility is Anna's best friend Elena Vesnina.


3.5 Quarter-final
-----------------

This would probably be the end of the road for Anna if she has to
play Svetlana Kuznetsova, who leads her 3:0 including a 6-1 6-1
hammering on the clay of Warsaw 2006.

Kuznetsova certainly has claycourt-pedigree, being runner-up at the
French Open 2006 (as well as winning the US Open 2004). She's also
having an impressive 2008 without actually winning a title - it was
she who snapped Maria Sharapova's winning-streak at Indian Wells.


3.6 Semi-final
--------------

At this stage, I can only dream of a mouthwatering semi-final with
Maria Sharapova. Maria leads their head to head 6:0 without even
counting a couple of exhibitions. Two of those matches came at the
French Open: third round in 2005 and a quarter-final in 2007.

---------------------------
4. Order of play for Monday
---------------------------

Court 1 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
WS 1r: Séverine Brémond [WC] v Jelena Pandzic [Q]
MS 1r: Michael Llodra v Oliver Patience
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Nuria Llagostera Vives
MS 1r: STANISLAS WAWRINKA [9] v Philipp Kohlschreiber

Full order of play:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/

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

=================
THE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Wimbledon, England; grass; Grand Slam)
================= http://championships.wimbledon.org/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
1r + Angelique Kerber, 7-5 6-3
2r + Tatiana Poutchek, 6-2 6-1
3r - MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31], 6-7 (8/10) 7-6 (7/5) 2-6

Anna Chakvetadze: "He was watching the rain. If we are still playing,
he should watch the ball."

-----------
Third round (Friday 29th June 2007)
-----------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] lt. MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31],
6-7 (8/10) 7-6 (7/5) 2-6

Overlapped by the amazing Šafárová v Jankovic match, Anna's loss -
and more particularly her performance - was a major disappointment at
the time, but now that I have watched and analysed the whole match,
it doesn't seem so bad. Both Anna and Michaëlla are a lot of fun to
watch, especially when they're so emotional!

I have also uploaded my scoreboard-reports of Anna's first- and
second-round matches - with the addition of Statistics and one more
first-round article to the version I posted here at the time.

My Anna-reports - including a point-by-point description of her third-
round match - are at:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/wimbledon2007.html

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

=============
ROLAND GARROS (Paris, France; red clay; Grand Slam)
============= http://2007.rolandgarros.com/

I have uploaded my reports of all five of Anna's matches to my website:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/french_open2007.html

The first four are just the reports I posted here at the time, plus
Statistics for her third- and fourth-round matches.

I have upgraded her quarter-final against Maria Sharapova to a
TV-report, based on a DVD acquired from Tennis Videos International
<http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/>.

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

===============
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Rebound Ace); Grand Slam)
=============== http://2007.australianopen.com/

For last year's Australian Open, I have added a new TV-report of
Anna's quarter-final with Maria Sharapova, which I recently acquired
from Tennis Videos International
<http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/>.

My report is at:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/australian_open2007.html

It also includes reviews of Anna's first four matches, adding no new
information to the reports I posted here at the time - except a link
to Anna's fourth-round press-conference.


==================================
Articles from Australian Open 2008
==================================

Venus makes her presence felt
By Clive White for The Sunday Telegraph (20th January 2008)
>>>
Two of the top Russian seeds went out, but that wasn't a complete
disaster because one of them - Anna Chakvetadze - went out to another
Russian, Maria Kirilenko, who, if she was a shade more successful,
might start challenging her friend Maria Sharapova for some of the
game's bigger contracts because she certainly has the requisite
looks. Maybe she just needs a little more confidence.

"Usually I'm losing like every time first round in the Grand Slam,"
she said, which isn't exactly true. The fourth round here will be as
far as she has gone in one, and she might well go even further.

<snip discussion of other players>

Chakvetadze normally sheds enough tears both for herself and all her
fans when she loses, but on this occasion, one could not help but
feel for the No6 seed, who was the victim of a frightening robbery at
her family's home in Moscow just before Christmas when she, her
father and a maid were tied up and robbed. Her father was struck over
the head - he thinks with a pistol-butt.

Even so, the 20-year-old could have done without him walking out of
the arena just as she fell 2-5 behind in the third set; there's
nothing like having the support of one's family when you most need
it. After staving off four match-points, somewhat inevitably, she
lost 6-7 6-1 6-2.
<<<

http://tennis.com/news/ticker.aspx
>>>
In a press-conference ahead of the Paris Indoors, Chakvetadze says
playing in Australia was a mistake as she had not fully recovered
from the armed robbery at her home in December.
<<<

I don't regret Anna playing the Australian Open, but playing Antwerp
was certainly a mistake. I know Anna was considering pulling out for
rest and recovery after winning Paris with injuries!


=======================
Anna's official website
=======================

has moved from
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/
to
http://www.annachakvetadze.us/

It seems that the old URI has already been taken over by a new
website called "Hot Tennis Celebrity Anna Chakvetadze"!


=====================
Andrew dreams of Anna
=====================

A few nights ago, I saw Anna in a dream. I dreamed that I arrived at
some tennis-tournament, and as I went past the queue to get in (which
was surreal enough as it was the players - not me - who had to
queue), I saw Anna close up and she smiled at me!

According to Freud's interpretation of dreams, if you recognise
someone's face in a dream, then she is not herself but a symbol for
someone else - she is only herself if you don't see her face but you
feel her presence.

Well, I /did/ see Anna's face, but I still feel rather certain it was
her! Unfortunately I couldn't take a photo, because I had forgotten
to take my camera into the dream. Perhaps one day we'll be able to
record our dreams on video.


=====================================
UK TV-alert: Anna in Transworld Sport
=====================================

Congratulations to Anna on winning Paris and extending her record in
finals to 7:0!

Look out for brief highlights of the Paris-final in the next
Transworld Sport, which - for those in the UK - is televised from
06:35 to 07:30 GMT on Sunday morning on Channel 4.

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

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

1. Photos
2. Third round: Chakvetadze v Kirilenko scoreboard-report

Apologies for the delay.
This was due to Maria Sharapova going all the way!

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

Anna and her wasps:
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"

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

---------------------------------------------------------
2. Third round: Chakvetadze v Kirilenko scoreboard-report
(Saturday 19th January)
---------------------------------------------------------

Nice winner, nice loser:
+ MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF],
6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2

Quote of the day comes from Maria Kirilenko: "There are two big
screens on the court, and I was watching them and I saw Anna's face,
and she seemed really tired. And of course, when you see someone
dying on the other side, you feel more energy."

Three or even two years ago, I would have approved of this result -
and even as an Anna-fan, I'm happy for Maria that she has reached the
fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, six days ahead of
her 21st birthday.

Maria "She's So Lovely" Kirilenko is one of my favourite players
outside my Eternal Fanship. But then the equally ultracute Anna came
along, and developed such a game of flairsome power and spreading
rallies that I inducted her into my Eternal Fanship, whilst remaining
a demi-fan of Maria.

Maria, who is just 6 weeks older than Anna, made her mark first,
winning the doubles at Birmingham 2004 with Maria Sharapova, while
Anna made her mark by knocking reigning French Open champion
Anastasia Myskina out of the US Open 2004.

In 2005, their careers progressed in parallel, although Maria won her
first WTA singles-title at Beijing, while Anna had to wait until
Guangzhou 2006 for hers. After that, Anna went from strength to
strength, winning Moscow 2006, persuading me to induct her into my
Eternal Fanship, winning four more titles in 2007, rising to a career-
high ranking of #5, and seeming to have pulled clear of Maria with a
3:1 head-to-head.

But Anna's preparations for the Australian Open were shattered when
burglars broke into her house on 18th December, beat her father up,
and tied Anna up so tightly that she couldn't feel the fingers of her
left hand for days. Three exhibition-matches, a first-round exit at
Sydney, and Andrea Petkovic's retirement in the first game of her
first match here, left Anna desperately short of match-play, while
Maria hit top form with a 6-1 6-1 thrashing of Akiko Morigami in the
previous round. So I knew this was going to be a danger-match for
Anna, and so it proved.

When Anna won the first set on a tiebreak, I thought it would be
tough for Maria to come back and Anna would roll through the second,
but instead it was Anna who got tired, while Maria played a brilliant
second set according to those lucky enough to see it (or unlucky if
you only like Anna). The third set was closer than the scoreline
implies, but with Maria serving first, a single break left Anna in a
*2-5 hole, and she sank after saving four match-points in that game.


Because this match was something special, I decided to burn the
midnight-oil in England and follow live scores. After a brief rain-
delay while they closed the roof on Rod Laver Arena, the match
started at 11:18 AEDT.

I also used the live-scores thread at
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=329429


First set
---------
CHAKVETAD _* * * * * *T 7(8)
KIRILENKO * * * * * *__ 6(6)

Maria serving 0-0: Double fault. 0/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 30/0 -> 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Tough so far! And they're having long rallies according to
TheBoiledEgg - unlike Kuznetsova v Radwanska (*0-3) on Vodafone,
which is the only other court with a roof.

Maria serving 1-1: 30/0. 30/15. Maria hit a "great dropshot". 40/15.
40/30. Held.
Anna serving 1-2: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. Held.

I'm actually feeling equal passion for these girls, even though Anna
is a member of my Eternal Fanship while Maria's tennis isn't up to my
EF-standards. My Passion just wants this match to go on and on
without a loser, even though it's eating into my sleep (it's gone
00:30 GMT, and I have to be up in time for the evening-session at
08:30).

I think Anna and Maria are the two cutest girls in tennis, and as
cute as each other. Maria is prettier and has a lovely smile, while
Anna is so expressive, and has all these cute on-court habits (as
documented on my website).

Maria serving 2-2: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 2-3: 0/15. 0/30 -> 30/30. 30/40 (BP). Maria had a "rough
miss" with a forehand down the line. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Now Maria has the baggage of a missed break-point to deal with.

Maria serving 3-3: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 3-4: Held to love.

I can sense the momentum shifting ever so slightly in Anna's favour,
along with my loyalty.

Maria serving 4-4: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.

Now we come to the sharp end of the set, where Maria's advantage of
serving first comes into play as she can break for the set in any of
Anna's remaining service-games, whereas Anna has to either break or
serve it out, or win it on a tiebreak.

Anna serving 4-5: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

Now it's fascinating, as Maria has the material advantage but Anna
has the momentum.

Maria serving 5-5: 0/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Maria. Held.

Now Maria has both the lead and the momentum, as Anna failed to push
home her 0/30 opening. Come on Anna!

Anna serving 5-6: Held to love.

What a response!

6-6 tiebreak: Maria *0/0;
Anna *1/0, *1/1, 2/1*, 3/1*, *3/2, *4/2, 4/3*. Would have been 5/3*,
but Maria made a successful challenge.
Maria *4/4;
Anna *5/4. Double fault. *5/5. Lucky netcord for Anna. 6/5* (SP #1).
Maria saved it with great retrieving.
Maria 6/6*;
Anna *7/6 (SP #2), *7/7.
Anna won the first set 7-6 (8/6) at 12:22 (1h04m).

A most intriguing set, with no breaks but subtle momentum-shifts. But
I could do with Anna finishing this in two, or I'm going to end up
with about four hours' sleep!

Wintermute: "Match is not great quality though, most points ending on
errors."


Second set
----------
CHAKVETAD *______ 1
KIRILENKO _*@*@*@ 6

Anna serving 0-0: Held to love.

Wintermute: "Masha tried to do a Radwanska on return of serve by
stepping in and failed quite badly. Anna wasn't very impressed and
complained to the umpire."

Maria serving 0-1: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15 -> 40/40. Ad Maria. Held.
Anna serving 1-1: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.

Aargh! Anna has yet to break Maria this match. What am I gonna do if
this goes to a third set and it's past 2am in England? (it's 01:35
right now).

Agnieszka Radwanska just got rid of Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4 - that was
pretty sweet. Right now Rod Laver Arena is the only court playing.

DownTheLine21: "Maria looks extremely fired up."

Maria serving 2-1: 0/30 -> 40/30. Held.

The momentum's firmly in Maria's favour now, as Anna wastes another
0/30 opening. It's times like these that Anna's burglary-ordeal comes
flooding back into my head if not hers.

2moretogo: "Finally Makiri playing with some aggression. It only took
her a set to get settled. Anna C, moonballing"
DownTheLine21: "Maria is playing fearlessly at the moment."

Anna serving 1-3: 0/40 (3 BPs). 15/40. Broken.

2moretogo: "Anna hits a lot of angles but she goes for a lot (and I
am being kind here) room over the net. If Makiri can continue to
flatten the ball out she can run away with this match."
saniapower: "Makiri playing brilliant tennis in the 2nd"
DownTheLine21: "Maria was p***ed that she lost that tiebreak.
She channeled her aggression into great playing."

Well, if it's gonna go to a third set, the sooner the better in terms
of my sleep, though Anna needs to stem this momentum before Maria
takes control of the third set too!

Maria serving 4-1: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 1-5: 0/30. 15/40 (2 SPs). Double fault. Maria won the
second set 6-1 at 12:50 AEDT.

Now it's beginning to resemble - in scoreline at least - that
horrible US Open semi-final when Anna lost 3-6 6-1 6-1.

And Anna hasn't had a single break-point the entire match.


Third set
---------
CHAKVETAD @__*____ 2
KIRILENKO _@* *@*@ 6

Maria serving 0-0: 0/40 (3 BPs) -> 30/40. Broken.

First break-points of the match for Anna, and she converts! I'm a
strong believer that a new set is a new beginning, and can easily
reset the momentum of the player who won the second.

Anna's had matches before where she's lost the second set 6-0 and got
her act together in the third, e.g. 4r French Open 2007 v Lucie
Šafárová and rr Sony Ericsson Championships v Jelena Jankovic. Maybe
she's learned the art of tactical tanking.

And Maria has had plenty of third-set let-downs in her career - in
fact she's 0:8 in third sets against top-ten players! Well, no. She
did beat #3 Jankovic 6-2 3-6 7-5 at San Diego 2007.

Anna serving 1-0: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.
Maria serving 1-1: Held to love.

Not good! My loyalty is firmly to Anna now, as my vows of Eternal
Fanship are separate from how attractive I find Maria.

Anna serving 1-2: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Maria serving 2-2: 0/15. 15/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 2-3: 30/0 -> 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Maria (BP). Deuce
#2. Ad Maria (BP #2). Broken.

Could that be the final nail in Anna's coffin - broken after 30/0 and
40/30? She's going to need all her grit and fighting-qualities to
come through this one now.

DownTheLine21: "It seems Chakvetadze is playing ace or die tennis."

Maria serving 4-2: 40/0. 40/15. Held.

This is a terrible hole for Anna to dig herself out of, even though
it's just one break. Maria would have to choke horribly.

2moretogo: "Usually she's [Anna] more demonstrative, winning or
losing. Tonight she's just 'whateva' I got someplace else to be."

Anna serving 2-5: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (2 MPs) -> 40/40. Ad Anna.
Double fault #9. Deuce #2. Ad Maria (MP #3). Deuce #3.
Ad Maria (MP #4). Deuce #4. Ad Anna. Deuce #5. Ad Maria (MP #5).
"For Russia, Maria?" "No, for me." Maria won 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2 at
13:31 - the first in a series of long matches that led to the latest-
ever finish to a day's play at a Grand Slam: 4:33am!


2.1 Statistics
--------------

Anna racked up a woeful W:UE ratio of 28:54, while Maria's looks just
as bad, though less aggressive, at 17:30.

A big difference between the two was the quality of their second
serves. Maria won 59% of the points on her second serve, while Anna
won only 42% on her own second serve (it deteriorated from set to
set: 67%, 30%, 23%) and served a monstrous 9 double faults. Maria's
second serve was a bit faster than Anna's too.

With the first set going completely with serve until the tiebreak,
Maria broke Anna 6 times from 15 break-points (only one of which was
in the first set), while the only break-points Anna had were the
three at 0/40 in the first game of the third, when she scored her
only break of the match.

Maria is renowned for her returns of serve. Having studied Anna's
game closely, I can't say the same about her.


2.2 Articles
------------

Kuznetsova makes shock early exit [CEEFAX 491]
>>>
And sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze lost 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2 to Maria
Kirilenko.
<<<

Chakvetadze dumped out [Teletext 498]
>>>
Maria Kirilenko won an all-Russian third-round battle to end sixth
seed Anna Chakvetadze's title-hopes.

Chakvetadze, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open last autumn,
looked on the way to victory when she edged the opener 8/6 on a
tiebreak.

But Kirilenko, 20, came storming back to win the next two sets for a
6-7 6-1 6-2 victory to seal a fourth-round spot in a Grand Slam for
the first time.
<<<

Kirilenko thanks coach [Teletext 498]
>>>
Maria Kirilenko paid tribute to coach Eric van Harpen after her
victory over Anna Chakvetadze in Melbourne.

The 20-year-old Russian recovered from losing the third set to see
off sixth seed Chakvetadze 6-7 6-1 6-2.

Kirilenko said: "I understand him, and he's speaking to me about
things I haven't considered before. We have been working on more
positive things. He's helped me a lot."
<<<

Kirilenko storms past sixth seed
By Adam Lucius <www.australianopen.com>
>>>
Another top-10 seed has bitten the dust at the Australian Open, with
Russian Anna Chakvetadze bounced out of the tournament by compatriot
Maria Kirilenko.

Kirilenko dropped the first set, but came back to win the next two
and claim a surprise 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2 win over the sixth seed.

The first set went to serve, forcing it into a thrilling tiebreak,
which Chakvetadze won 8/6.

It was supposed to be an uphill battle for Kirilenko from there, with
Chakvetadze boasting a 28:1 win/loss record in Grand Slams after
taking the first set.

But the No.27 seed ignored the trend, breaking Chakvetadze on three
occasions en route to securing the second set in under half an hour.

Kirilenko broke Chakvetadze at 3-2 and 5-2 in the deciding set to
complete her first victory over her fellow Russian in three years.

The loss was too much to bear for Chakvetadze's father, who fled Rod
Laver Arena as his daughter slid towards defeat.
<<<

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7197439.stm
>>>
Russians Chakvetadze and Kirilenko played out a tense encounter, with
Chakvetadze edging the opening set on a tiebreak after neither player
managed a break of serve.

But Kirilenko, trying to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for
the first time, dominated the second set, and recovered from dropping
serve at the start of the decider.

There were plenty of nerves from the 27th seed as four match-points
went begging on Chakvetadze's serve in game eight, but Kirilenko
converted her fifth chance for a huge win.

"It was a really tough match," said Kirilenko.

"In the first set, I was a little bit unlucky, and I decided to tell
myself, 'Maria, come on, keep working, fight for every point,' and I
did it and I'm so happy."
<<<

Sixth seed Chakvetadze sunk by Kirilenko (Reuters)
By Greg Stutchbury (eeporting by Greg Stutchbury; editing by Ed
Osmond)
>>>
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze was knocked out of the Australian Open
6-7 6-1 6-2 by her former clubmate and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko
on Saturday.

Chakvetadze was the second top-10-ranked women's player to lose
within the space of an hour at a wet Melbourne Park early on Saturday
after second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was bundled out in the third
round by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

Kirilenko, who used to train at the same club as Chakvetadze in
Moscow, had not beaten her compatriot since 2005, and the three-match
losing-streak had started to annoy the 27th seed.

"The last few times I lost [to] her, both in Indian Wells, I got
really p***ed, you know," Kirilenko told reporters. "Oh, my God,
I beat her every time and now I'm losing.

"I was always the best... when I was small, in juniors. Then the last
two years she has [been] very successful, wins everything, so she
became a top-10 player."

The match was evenly poised in the first set, with the 20-year-old
Chakvetadze prevailing in the tiebreak 8/6, and Kirilenko admitted
she had begun to ponder another loss.

"The first set was really tough," said Kirilenko.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God: if it's going to be like [this] all game,
it's going to be really difficult'".

Kirilenko, however, said she noticed from watching the television-
screens above Rod Laver Arena that Chakvetadze was beginning to look
fatigued.

"I saw that she was a little bit tired, because there's two big
screens on the court," she said. "When you see like someone is dying
on that side, you feel more energy."

Chakvetadze saved four match-points, but she was unable to halt the
momentum of Kirilenko, who won the match at her fifth opportunity
when her opponent sent a forehand wide.
<<<

Seeds tumble out of Australian Open tennis
by Martin Parry (AFP)
>>>
World number two Svetlana Kuznetsova became a shock-casualty on day
six of the Australian Open on Saturday, with sixth seed Anna
Chakvetadze and men's seventh seed Fernando González also skidding
out.

With rain delaying play on the outside courts at Melbourne Park, the
early action was restricted to the Rod Laver and Vodafone Arenas,
which have retractable roofs.

At the Rod Laver Arena, Chakvetadze let slip a one-set lead against
27th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko, a childhood-friend, crashing
6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2.

"It was a really tough match; in the first set I was a little bit
unlucky, and I decided to tell myself, 'Maria, come on, keep working,
fight for every point,' and I did it and I'm so happy," said
Kirilenko.

"Usually I'm losing my third match in a Grand Slam, so I'm happy the
tradition is broken and I'm in the fouth round."

She now plays either the Slovak Republic's Daniela Hantuchová or
Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual.
<<<

Radwanska stuns second-seeded Kuznetsova (PA SportsTicker)
>>>
Another top-seeded Russian fell on Saturday, as No. 27 Maria
Kirilenko upset sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2.

Quite naturally, Kirilenko was thrilled with her accomplishment.

"I think it's quite good to win for me. And before, of course, I beat
a couple good players, like top 10. Usually, I'm losing like every
time first round in the Grand Slam," Kirilenko said. "Really, it's
good I broke this tradition in the first round already, so I'm quite
happy."
<<<

The other Maria dares to dream
By Adam Lucius <www.australianopen.com>
>>>
Maria Kirilenko has hailed her shock third-round Australian Open win
over compatriot Anna Chakvetadze as a career-breakthrough following
years of misery at Grand Slam tournaments.

The No. 27 seed, a regular first- or second-round loser at Slams,
powered past her highly-rated opponent 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2 in one of
the real surprises on day six at Melbourne Park.

It sets up a fourth-round clash with either Daniela Hantuchová or
Virginia Ruano Pascual - a rarefied position for a player who lists
classical music as one of her great loves.

"I think it's quite a good win for me," Kirilenko said.

"I have beaten a couple of good players in the top 10 [in other
tournaments], but usually I'm losing every time in the first round in
Grand Slams. It's good I broke this tradition here, so I'm quite
happy."

"I'm working really hard, and now everything's coming together and
I'm starting to play better."

Chakvetadze had a hold over Kirilenko leading into the Australian
Open, boasting a 4:1 career-record against her childhood-friend from
juniors.

But despite the losing-trend and dropping the first set, Kirilenko's
confidence soared as Chakvetadze tired and began making a series of
unforced errors.

"There's always competition between us to see who would be better,
and the last few times I lost to her, I got really p***ed off,"
Kirilenko revealed.

"It's not really easy to play against her, because she plays quite
deep and she has good hands.

"But today I felt like I was running well, and I felt strong, like I
can play the ball how I want."

Kirilenko, who turns 21 on Friday, will now play in the fourth round
of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

So is she daring to dream?

"I wish I can keep going like this. If I can keep playing a good game
then I'm going to go far," she said.

"But I want to think about each game, each opponent.

"It's better step by step."
<<<

Kirilenko closes game with junior rival Chakvetadze (AP)
>>>
Maria Kirilenko is slowly closing the gap on childhood-opponent Anna
Chakvetadze.

"Actually, I was always the best when I was small," Kirilenko said
after rallying to beat No. 6 Chakvetadze 6-7(6) 6-1 6-2 and advancing
to the fourth round. "Then the last two years she is very successful,
wins everything, so she became a top-10 player."

"To be honest, like I was little bit surprised, because from the
small age I never thought that she could play as good as she's
playing."

The 20-year-old Kirilenko broke her fellow Russian in the second game
of the second set. Chakvetadze conceded two double faults to hand
Kirilenko the win on her fifth match-point.

"Usually I'm losing like every time in the first round in a Grand
Slam," No. 27 Kirilenko said. "So I'm happy the tradition is broken."

Kirilenko is 2:4 against Chakvetadze, who is a little more than a
month younger than Kirilenko.
<<<

Bottom Quarter Rocked as Svetlana, Anna Ousted
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1985
>>>
The bottom quarter of the Australian Open draw was rocked on
Saturday, as its two highest seeds - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna
Chakvetadze - were bundled out of the tournament, as the third round
continued Down Under.

While Kuznetsova went down on Vodafone Arena, Chakvetadze was
succumbing as well across the way at Rod Laver Arena. The No.6 seed
was defeated in three sets by No.27-seeded countrywoman Maria
Kirilenko: 6-7(6) 6-1 6-2.

"It's quite a good win for me," Kirilenko said. "I've beaten some top-
10 players before, but usually I'm losing in the first week of a
Grand Slam, and so it's really good I could break this tradition
here. I'm really quite happy."

Both women displayed erratic form throughout the one-hour, five-
minute opening set, Chakvetadze compiling a -10 differential and
Kirilenko a -15 differential, and a gritty Chakvetadze managed to
close it out in the tiebreak. But while Kirilenko tidied up her game
in the next two sets (hitting 11 winners to nine errors), the No.6
seed's game seemed to crumble (16 winners, 32 errors).

"The first set was so tough; I thought, 'If it's like this the whole
match, it's going to be really tough," Kirilenko said. "But in the
second and third sets, she looked a little tired; there are two big
screens on the court and I was watching them and I saw Anna's face,
and she seemed really tired. And I wasn't tired. And of course, when
you see someone dying on the other side, you feel more energy."

The win over Chakvetadze was Kirilenko's third career top-10 win and
second-best, having beaten a No.3-ranked Jelena Jankovic last summer
in San Diego. It propels the Russian into her career-first Grand Slam
second week.
<<<

Maria's third-round press-conference:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3xwk9j

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

===============
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/