===============
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/

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

1. Photos
2. First round: Chakvetadze v Petkovic review
3. Second-round draw: Bottom half
4. Third-round draw: Top half
5. Women's Doubles: First-round result
6. Order of Play for Thursday

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

Anna Chakvetadze:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Various players including Anna Chakvetadze consoling her injured
opponent (I think you can see where the burglars injured Anna too):
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7188629.stm
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1

---------------------------------------------
2. First round: Chakvetadze v Petkovic review (Tuesday 15th January)
---------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] d. Andrea Petkovic, 0-0* (40/40) retired
(right-knee injury)

What a shame. Anna is lacking match-play, so I was hoping for a much
longer workout than these 3 minutes of play. On the other hand, she
was "spared the sapping sun" [Ossian Shine, Reuters].

Apparently Petkovic hyperextended her right knee in her opening
service-game, and collapsed in agony. Of course I'm sorry for her,
but it had to have happened to one of them with the match after
theirs starting as soon as it did, so thank God it's her instead of
Anna.


2.1 Articles (containing new information about December's burglary)
------------

Kuznetsova eases past Dechy test [CEEFAX 493]
>>>
And sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze also progressed when Andrea Petkovic
retired hurt in the first game of their match.
<<<

Kuznetsova in a hurry [Teletext 497]
>>>
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze played only six points before German
opponent Andrea Petkovic retired, while ninth seed Daniela Hantuchová
also won.
<<<

Sixth seed Chakvetadze through after Petkovic injury (Reuters)
(reporting by Simon Cambers; editing by Greg Stutchbury)
>>>
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze advanced to the second round of the
Australian Open on Tuesday when Germany's Andrea Petkovic retired
with a right-knee injury in the first game of their match.

The 20-year-old Petkovic, ranked 92, suffered the injury when
stretching for a forehand, and after treatment, the tearful German
told Chakvetadze she was unable to continue.

Russian Chakvetadze was a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last
year.
<<<

Đokovic and Ivanovic lead charge into Aussie Open tennis round two
(AFP)
>>>
Russia's Chakvetadze was the first player through to the second round
on Tuesday, barely breaking a sweat with German opponent Andrea
Petkovic retiring hurt after wrenching her knee.

Chakvetadze revealed her preparations had been shattered after she
was tied up by armed thieves during a terrifying robbery last month
at her home just outside Moscow.

"I am trying not to think about it; I am trying to think about tennis
and trying to forget this," she said.
<<<

Venus, Ivanovic advance at Australian Open (AFP)
>>>
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, meanwhile, revealed she was still
struggling with the trauma of being tied up by bandits at her Moscow
home last month, and wanted a winning-streak Down Under to take her
mind off events.

Chakvetadze went through when Germany's Andrea Petkovic retired after
wrenching her knee in the opening game of their match.

The 20-year-old said she was grateful to be able to concentrate on
tennis rather than dwelling on a robbery last month, where hooded
thieves burst into her house, pistol-whipped her father and stole
about $250,000 in cash, jewellery and other goods.

Chakvetadze suffered a minor finger-injury when she was tied up, and
the ordeal left Australian Open preparation in tatters.

"I am trying not to think about it; I am trying to think about tennis
and trying to forget this," she said.

"If I think about it more, I won't be mentally ready to play."
<<<

Chakvetadze moving on
By Neil Frankland: AP Sports Writer
>>>
After a brutal home-invasion last month interrupted her Australian
Open preparations, sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze is still lacking a
much-needed match-practice after her first-round opponent retired in
the opening game.

Chakvetadze and her parents were tied up by six masked assailants who
broke into her home outside Moscow on 18th December, stealing money
and goods worth more than $300,000 and beating her father.

The 20-year-old player said she lost feeling in the fingers on her
left hand for several days as a result of being bound around her
wrists.

Her first match of this year's Open lasted just six points on Tuesday
before her opponent Andrea Petkovic retired with an injured right
knee with the score at 0-0 and deuce.

"I think it's better to play some matches before a Grand Slam event,"
a disappointed Chakvetadze said.

Chakvetadze said she's trying to put last month's robbery out of her
mind and concentrate on the Australian Open.

"I feel better, I feel okay, and I'm thinking about tennis right now,
trying not to think about these things that happened with me and my
family," she said.

Chakvetadze is accompanied by her father Djambuli, while her mother
and 9-year-old brother Roman remained in Moscow.

"Now we have everything," she said of the beefed-up security at the
family-home. "We have a bodyguard in the house, we have an alarm. But
before it happened, we had just security on the gate."

Chakvetadze, playing in her fourth Australian Open, reached the
quarter-finals here last year before losing to eventual runner-up
Maria Sharapova.
<<<

Other Anna-quote: "You can't control these things; it can happen to
anyone."

---------------------------------
3. Second-round draw: Bottom half
---------------------------------

* VENUS WILLIAMS [8] v Camille Pin
* SANIA MIRZA [31,DF] v Timea Bacsinszky [Q] (my loyalty is to Sania)
* Maria Elena Camerin v LI,NA [24] (forza Maria Elena!)
* Marta Domachowska [Q] v Sofia Arvidsson (dawaj Marta!)

* Sabine Lisicki [Q] Mariya Koryttseva (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [21] v Caroline Wozniacki (my loyalty is to
Alyona)
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [28] v Anastasia Rodionova (dajmo Katarina!)
* ANA IVANOVIC [4,DF] v Tathiana Garbin (ajde Ana!)

* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Alisa Kleybanova [Q] (DAVAI ANNA!!)
* MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] v Akiko Morigami [S] (my loyalty is to
Maria)
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v Catalina Castańo (Ąvamos Virginia!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [9,EF] v Alizé Cornet (I like Alizé, but PODME
DANIELA!!)

* Anne Kremer v NADIA PETROVA [14] (dajee Anne!)
* Yvonne Meusburger v Ekaterina Makarova
* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [29] v Pauline Parmentier
* Tsvetana Pironkova v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [2] (aide Tsvetana!)


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

Anna has never played the 18-year-old world #154 Alisa Kleybanova
before, and I don't know much about her. Last year, she played almost
exclusively on the ITF Women's Circuit, winning $25k Monteroni
d'Arbia and compiling a 41:13 record for 2007. In 2008, she
successfully qualified for Gold Coast, and lost 6-1 6-3 to Patty
Schnyder in the first round there.

Let's take a look at the qualifier Kleybanova's route to the second
round:
1q + Marie-Čve Pelletier, 6-3 6-4
2q + Iveta Benešová, 6-3 6-1
3q + Olivia Sánchez, 6-0 6-4
1r + Peng,Shuai [S], 7-5 4-6 9-7

With seven wins this year, Kleybanova certainly has an advantage of
match-play over Anna, but her last match was a three-hour marathon in
the hottest part of the day (I believe it was (or at least going to
be) 37°C on Tuesday), so it could be very tough for her to recover
from that, and Anna should have way too much class for her despite
the trauma of the burglary.


Venus Williams returns to action (PA SportsTicker)
>>>
Also lurking in the bottom of the draw are No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze of
Russia and ninth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchová.

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.

The 20-year-old Russian had her best showing here last season when
she reached the quarter-finals, losing to countrywoman and eventual
runner-up Maria Sharapova.
<<<

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1978
>>>
(6) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. (Q) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) - First
Meeting

Russia's Chakvetadze enjoyed, without doubt, the smoothest passage
into the second round of the Australian Open after her first-round
foe Andrea Petkovic was forced to retire after injuring her right
knee in the very first game.

Contrastingly, her compatriot Kleybanova was pushed to the very limit
on her Grand Slam début against Peng,Shuai, defeating her Chinese
opponent 7-5 4-6 9-7 in a thrilling encounter.

Chakvetadze experienced a truly magnificent year on Tour in 2007,
capturing four titles and firmly establishing herself in the elite
Top 10. However, the 20-year-old's form began to tail off towards the
end of the season, and while she still sits a massive 148 places
above her opponent in the world-rankings, she is unlikely to have
things all her own way in Thursday's battle of the Muscovites.
<<<

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

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [25]
* Aravane Rezaď v Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] (my loyalty is to Aravane)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [17] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [11] (kadima Shahar!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [5,EF] v Elena Vesnina (I like Elena, but DAVAI
MARIA!!)

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v VIRGINIE RAZZANO [30] (I want Jankovic to win)
* Casey Dell'Acqua v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [18] (anyone but Mauresmo)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [12,EF] v Ai Sugiyama (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* VICTORIA AZARENKA [26] v SERENA WILLIAMS [7] (Azarenka may be
growing on me, but I'd still prefer Nicole to have the honour of
putting the defending champion out of my misery)

--------------------------------------
5. Women's Doubles: First-round result (Wednesday 16th January)
--------------------------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Li,Na
lt. (PENG,SHUAI [S]/SUN,TIANTIAN)[8], 2-6 7-6 (9/7) 2-6

-----------------------------
6. Order of Play for Thursday
-----------------------------

Margaret Court Arena: day-session (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
MS 2r: Alun Jones [WC] v JUAN CARLOS FERRERO [22]
WS 2r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Alisa Kleybanova [Q]
MS 2r: Juan Martin del Potro v DAVID FERRER [5]
|
Margaret Court Arena: evening-session (start 19:30 AEST = 08:30 GMT)
MS 2r: JAMES BLAKE [12] v Michael Russell

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/

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

This is an Anna-filtered subset of my Australian Open preview.
You can follow my full reports at any of the following:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=328704
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharapova_vaidisova_hantuchova/

--------
Contents
--------

1. Photos
2. UK TV-alert
3. First-round draw: Bottom half
4. Second-round draw: Top half
5. Anna Chakvetadze preview
6. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
7. Order of Play for Tuesday

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

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

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

--------------
2. UK TV-alert
--------------

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

My understanding is that this coverage will consist of the women's
match on the evening-session of the Rod Laver Arena (Kanepi v Molik
on Monday), followed by the men's match, followed by recorded
coverage of the "best" match of the day on a continuous loop.

But don't set your hopes too high - last year, only 7% of BBCi's
Australian Open coverage was of the women! :mad: There isn't a
women's match on the Rod Laver Arena evening-session every day.

Other Australian Open coverage on BBC television:
* Sunday 20th January on BBC 2 (12:30 to 14:00 GMT);
* Saturday 26th January: Women's Singles final on BBC 1 (from 02:20
GMT);
* Saturday 26th January: repeat of WS final on BBCi (from 07:00 GMT);
* Saturday 26th January: highlights of WS final on BBC 2 (13:00 to
14:00 GMT);
* Sunday 27th January: Men's Singles final on BBC 2 (from 08:30 GMT);
* Sunday 27th January: repeat of MS final on BBCi (from 10:00 GMT).

--------------------------------
3. First-round draw: Bottom half
--------------------------------
3.1 Third quarter: Iroda Tulyaganova
------------------------------------

* Yan,Zi [S] v VENUS WILLIAMS [8] (jia you Zi!)
* Camille Pin v Monica Niculescu [Q]
* Timea Bacsinszky [Q] v Sophie Ferguson [WC] (hopp Timea!)
* Iroda Tulyaganova [WC,EF] v SANIA MIRZA [31,DF] (I like Sania a
lot, but DAVAI IRODA!!)

* Séverine Brémond v LI,NA [24] (allez Séverine!)
* Maria Elena Camerin v Christina Wheeler [WC] (forza Maria Elena!)
* Marta Domachowska [Q] v Mathilde Johansson [WC] (my loyalty is to
Marta)
* MARION BARTOLI [10,DF,S] v Sofia Arvidsson (allez Marion!)

* Sabine Lisicki [Q] v DINARA SAFINA [16] (komm jetzt Sabine!)
* María Emilia Salerni v Mariya Koryttseva (Ąvamos María Emilia!)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Caroline Wozniacki (my loyalty is to Gisela)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [21] v Alla Kudryavtseva (davai Alyona!)

* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [28] v Lourdes Domínguez Lino (dajmo Katarina!)
* Angelika Bachmann v Anastasia Rodionova
* Tathiana Garbin v Eleni Daniilidou
* ANA IVANOVIC [4,DF] v Sorana Cîrstea (my loyalty is to Ana)


3.2 Bottom quarter: Chakvetadze, Šafárová, Hantuchová
-----------------------------------------------------

* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Andrea Petkovic (DAVAI ANNA!!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Alisa Kleybanova [Q] (jia you Shuai!)
* Michaëlla Krajícek [DF] v Akiko Morigami [S] (my loyalty is to
Michaëlla)
* MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] v Meilen Tu (davai Maria!)

* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [22,EF] v Catalina Castańo (POJDME LUCIE!!)
* Roberta Vinci v Virginia Ruano Pascual (may the better win)
* Alizé Cornet v Clarisa Fernández (allez Alizé!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [9,EF] v Vania King (PODME DANIELA!!)

* NADIA PETROVA [14] v Nicole Pratt
* Anne Kremer v Evgenia Linetskaya (dajee Anne!)
* Laura Granville v Yvonne Meusburger
* Ekaterina Makarova v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [20] (I did a Google Image search
for "Ekaterina Makarova" and found an absolute stunner, but
unfortunately she wasn't the tennis-player)

* AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [29] v Olga Savchuk
* Martina Müller v Pauline Parmentier
* Tsvetana Pironkova v Olga Govortsova (my loyalty is to Tsvetana)
* Nathalie Dechy v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [2] (allez Nathalie!)

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

* Olga Poutchkova v JUSTINE HENIN [1] (davai Olga!)
* Angelique Kerber v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [25]
* Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] v SYBILLE BAMMER [19] (jia you Su-Wei!)
* TATIANA GOLOVIN [13,DF] v Aravane Rezaď (my loyalty is to Tatiana)

* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [11] v Anabel Medina Garrigues (davai Elena!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [17] v Jessica Moore [WC] (kadima Shahar!)
* Elena Vesnina v Jill Craybas (davai Elena!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [5,EF] v Lindsay Davenport (DAVAI MARIA!!)

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v Edina Gallovits
* Flavia Pennetta [DF] v VIRGINIE RAZZANO [30] (forza Flavia!)
* Yaroslava Shvedova v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [18] (davai Yaroslava!)
* Casey Dell'Acqua v PATTY SCHNYDER [15]

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [12,EF] v Alicia Molik (POJDME NICOLE!!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis v Ai Sugiyama (davai Tatiana!)
* VICTORIA AZARENKA [26] v Sandra Klösel [Q]
* Yuan,Meng [Q] v SERENA WILLIAMS [7]

---------------------------
5. Anna Chakvetadze preview
---------------------------

Anna comes here on the back of a 7-5 6-1 loss to Katarina Srebotnik
in the first round of Sydney, but I sincerely hope that was just an
aberration. I don't think Anna would have beaten Daniela Hantuchová
at Hong Kong if she hadn't recovered from her burglary-ordeal of 18th
December 2007. Then again, Daniela was suffering from abdominal pains
at Hong Kong, so I do wonder if Anna is still affected by the trauma.


5.1 First round
---------------

Anna needs a nice, easy match to, well, ease her way into the
Australian Open after the Sydney setback, and she should have one in
#92-ranked Andrea Petkovic, against whom she has never played before.

20-year-old Petkovic has snuck into the top 100 almost unnoticed by
me, but she's been in and out of there since August 2007. She played
many ITF tournaments and WTA qualifying in 2007, and is currently on
a 3-match losing-streak after losing her opening-round qualifying-
matches at Gold Coast and Sydney to players in the #120s. So if Anna
doesn't beat her, she ought to be shot, really.

I don't have time to preview beyond the first round now.

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

* Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Li,Na v (PENG,SHUAI/SUN,TIANTIAN)[8]

----------------------------
7. Order of Play for Tuesday
----------------------------

Vodafone Arena (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF] v Andrea Petkovic
MS 1r: Thomas Johansson v MARCOS BAGHDATIS [15]
WS 1r: ANA IVANOVIC [4,DF] v Sorana Cîrstea
MS 1r: JAMES BLAKE [12] v Nicolás Massú

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/

I have just updated Anna's biography on my website:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/biography.html

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 up to the end of 2007.

I can confirm that I will be reporting on the Australian Open 2008. I
have also vowed to follow the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics.

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


Daniela Krajnc Meets Anna Chakvetadze (exclusive photos by Ralf
Reinecke):
http://www.annachakvetadze.com/en/

--
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 Krajícek
3. Wooden-Spoon List
4. Women's Doubles: Second round

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

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/players/wtaq416.html

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Many players including Anna:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=wimbledon_r3

------------------------------------------------
2. Third-round TV-report: Chakvetadze v Krajícek (Friday 29th June)
------------------------------------------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] lt. MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31],
   6-7 (8/10) 7-6 (7/5) 2-6

I should preface my remarks by saying that at the time I wrote them,
I had only watched the first set up to 5-6, and the third set from
2-4 to the end. I'll post my full TV-report at a later date.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this loss. It was my first and last chance
to see Anna play live in 2007, and I've never seen her play worse.
I saw very little power or accuracy compared with what I've come to
expect from Anna.

Michaëlla went for her shots more than Anna, though Anna has superior
mobility, and it seemed that she would be too solid for Michaëlla as
she broke early and served for the first set at 5-4.

But Anna played a horrible choky game to get broken back, and just as
it started raining, Michaëlla went 6-5* up with a winner that Anna
thought was out. She shouted at the umpire, and looked close to tears.

At 2-4* in the third, Anna had two break-points to get back in the
match, but Michaëlla was playing very impressive aggressive tennis.
At *2-5, Anna capitulated with an absolutely horrible game: not going
for her shots, yet still missing them.

I don't know whether Anna was feeling "very, very bad", but I expect
a lot more courage than that from someone who is ranked #7 and is a
member of my Eternal Fanship. When Anna loses, I want to see her go
down with all guns blazing.


Michaëlla Krajícek
------------------

I am a pretty little Dutch girl
As pretty as can be
And all the boys in the neighbourhood
Are crazy over me

Michaëlla is now a member of my demi-fanship (my second tier of
favourites, the first tier being my Eternal Fanship).

Although I first saw Michaëlla play at the French Open 2006, and
again at Birmingham 2007 (both first-round losses), she has been a
revelation to me this Wimbledon. She was more impressive in the third
round than her victim Anna Chakvetadze, who is a member of my Eternal
Fanship!

I already knew that Michaëlla serves big and moves great, that she
can play spreading rallies from the baseline, and is also very
willing to come to the net behind her wicked sliced backhand, but
when I watched her quarter-final (ultimately a three-set loss to
eventual finalist Marion Bartoli), her added value was sharp
groundstrokes of flairsome power!

I tuned in at the start of the third set of that quarter-final to see
Michaëlla hit three flairsome groundstroke-winners, including a
crosscourt backhand winner onto the sideline just like Karina
Habšudová used to do!

Indeed, the match reminded me of my all-time favourite match to
watch: a Wimbledon 2000 first round between Monica Seles and Karina
Habšudová, which was also played on Court 2, and which Monica won in
three sets after dropping the first 3-6.

Michaëlla is also slim, cute and exceptionally pretty, with beautiful
eyelashes. Before she changed her hairstyle from a ponytail to a
short, boyish cut, she was very definitely one of the prettiest girls
in tennis - and, well, once you get used to it and see close-ups on
TV, she still is.

--------------------
3. Wooden-Spoon List
--------------------

1. VENUS WILLIAMS (23)
2. MARION BARTOLI (18)
3. ANA IVANOVIC (6)
4. JUSTINE HENIN (1)
5. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (5)
6. MICHAELLA KRAJICEK (31)
7. NICOLE VAIDISOVA (14)
8. SERENA WILLIAMS (7)
9. MARIA SHARAPOVA (2)
10. JELENA JANKOVIC (3)
11. NADIA PETROVA (11)
12. PATTY SCHNYDER (15)
13. Tamira Paszek
14. Laura Granville
15. AMELIE MAURESMO (4)
16. DANIELA HANTUCHOVA (10)
17. Akiko Morigami
18. SHAHAR PE'ER (16)
19. Aravane Rezai
20. Elena Vesnina
21. Agnieszka Radwanska
22. ANNA CHAKVETADZE (8) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
23. Victoria Azarenka
24. Milagros Sequera
25. AI SUGIYAMA (26)
26. LUCIE SAFAROVA (25)
27. Virginia Ruano Pascual
28. ALYONA BONDARENKO (24)
29. ELENA DEMENTIEVA (12)
30. MARTINA HINGIS (9)
31. MARA SANTANGELO (28)
32. KATARINA SREBOTNIK (19)
33. Hana Sromova (Q)
34. Olga Govortsova (Q)
35. Meilen Tu
36. Vera Dushevina
37. Bethanie Mattek
38. Katie O'Brien (WC)
39. Nicole Pratt
40. Alicia Molik
41. Severine Bremond
42. Jarmila Gajdosova
43. Sania Mirza
44. Roberta Vinci
45. TATIANA GOLOVIN (17)
46. SYBILLE BAMMER (20)
47. Yvonne Meusburger
48. Elena Likhovtseva
49. DINARA SAFINA (13)
50. Kaia Kanepi
51. FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE (29)
52. Emilie Loit
53. MARTINA MULLER (32)
54. Tatiana Poutchek
55. TATHIANA GARBIN (11)
56. SAMANTHA STOSUR (27)
57. Alize Cornet (LL)
58. Eleni Daniilidou
59. Tatiana Perebiynis
60. Agnes Szavay (Q)
61. Iveta Benesova
62. Aiko Nakamura
63. Caroline Wozniacki (WC)
64. Nika Ozegovic (Q)
65. Alla Kudryavtseva
66. Flavia Pennetta
67. Melinda Czink
68. Jorgelina Cravero (Q)
69. Julia Vakulenko
70. Tzipora Obziler
71. Karin Knapp
72. Lourdes Dominguez Lino
73. Chan,Yung-Jan
74. Anne Keothavong (WC)
75. Vania King
76. Camille Pin
77. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Q)
78. Aleksandra Wozniak
79. Jamea Jackson
80. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WC)
81. Alberta Brianti
82. Tamarine Tanasugarn
83. Shenay Perry
84. OLGA POUTCHKOVA (30)
85. Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova
86. Angelique Kerber
87. Jelena Kostanic Tosic
88. Julia Schruff
89. Melanie South (WC)
90. Zuzana Ondraskova
91. ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES (22)
92. Jill Craybas
93. Nathalie Dechy
94. Naomi Cavaday (WC)
95. Ayumi Morita
96. Elena Baltacha (WC)
97. Peng,Shuai
98. Greta Arn
99. Edina Gallovits
100. Timea Bacsinszky
101. Vasilisa Bardina
102. Sandra Kloesel
103. Casey Dell'Acqua (Q)
104. Anastasia Rodionova
105. Ekaterina Bychkova
106. Meghann Shaughnessy
107. Yaroslava Shvedova
108. Ashley Harkleroad
109. Hsieh,Su-Wei
110. Varvara Lepchenko
111. Virginie Razzano
112. Maria Elena Camerin
113. Kateryna Bondarenko
114. Tatjana Malek
115. Anne Kremer
116. Sun,Tiantian
117. Anna Smashnova
118. Viktoriya Kutuzova (WC)
119. Yan,Zi (Q)
120. Kristina Brandi (Q)
121. Maria Kirilenko
122. Gisela Dulko
123. Emmanuelle Gagliardi
124. Eva Birnerova
125. Catalina Castano
126. Martina Sucha
127. Anastasiya Yakimova
128. Anna-Lena Groenefeld

--------------------------------
4. Women's Doubles: Second round (Tuesday 3rd July)
--------------------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka
lt. (MARIA KIRILENKO [DF]/ELENA VESNINA)[12], 7-6 (7/3) 1-6 6-8

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

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

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

1. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Poutchek
2. Third-round draw
3. Women's Doubles: First round
4. Order of play for Friday

---------------------------------------------------------
1. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Poutchek
    (Thursday 28th June)
---------------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Tatiana Poutchek, 6-2 6-1

The match was first on Court 14, starting at 11:14. I followed live
scores, but only on a game-by-game basis as I had a three-way clash
including Daniela Hantuchová on TV!


First set
---------
CHAKVETA * *@* *@ 6
POUTCHEK _*___*__ 2

Anna came through a deucy service-game to hold for 4-1*.

Anna won the first set at 11:44 (30m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVETA * *@*@* 6
POUTCHEK _*_____ 1

Anna won at 12:10 (second set 26m, match 56m) after at least one
deuce in her final service-game. They showed her match-point on BBC2,
but unfortunately I missed it as I wasn't watching or recording that
channel at the time - I just caught Anna walking to the net when I
quickly checked BBC2. :-(

She was completely ignored in _Today at Wimbledon_, for the simple
reason that there's no "ova" in her name. :-||

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

* Elena Vesnina v JUSTINE HENIN [1] (davai Elena!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [24] v PATTY SCHNYDER [15] (davai Alyona!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19] (both nice;
podme Daniela!)
* Milagros Sequera v SERENA WILLIAMS [7]

* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v JELENA JANKOVIC [3] (pojdme Lucie!)
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v SHAHAR PE'ER [16] (both nice; allez Marion!)
* MARTINA HINGIS [9] v Laura Granville (hopp Martina!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] (both nice; davai
Anna!)

* ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Aravane Rezaď (both nice; ajde Ana!)
* Virginia Ruano Pascual v NADIA PETROVA [11] (Ąvamos Virginia!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [14,EF] v Victoria Azarenka (pojdme Nicole!)
* MARA SANTANGELO [28] v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [4] (forza Mara!)

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] v Agnieszka Radwanska
* Tamira Paszek v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] (both nice; gemma Tamira!)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v VENUS WILLIAMS [23] (ganbatte Akiko!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v AI SUGIYAMA [26] (davai Maria!)

-------------------------------
3. Women's Doubles: First round (Andrew's selections)
-------------------------------

+ Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka d.
   Hsieh,Su-Wei [S]/Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-3 7-5

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

Court 13 (start 11:00 BST = 10:00 GMT)
1. WS 3r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31]
2. WS 3r: DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19]
3. MS 3r: RICHARD GASQUET [12] v Edouard Roger-Vasselin
4. WD 1r: (KATARINA SREBOTNIK/AI SUGIYAMA)[4] v Andreea Ehritt-Vanc/
Anastasia Rodionova
5. XD 1r: Jelena Jankovic/Jamie Murray v Sarah Borwell/Richard
Bloomfield
6. XD 1r: Gisela Dulko [DF]/Fernando González v Roberta Vinci/
František Cermák

I hope to God that Anna v Michaëlla will be televised by the BBC!
Competitors for televisation at 11:00 will be Henin v Vesnina (Court
2) and Schnyder v Alyona Bondarenko (Court 18). Otherwise it's just
doubles everywhere (and no Britons first up!).

Both of Michaëlla's matches so far have been televised by the BBC.
She's playing very well, and the commentators are talking about her
like they expect her to reach the second week. But they have not
acknowledged the existence of Anna Chakvetadze!

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

*** NOTE THE EARLIER START-TIME ON OUTSIDE COURTS! ***

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

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

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

1. Second-round draw
2. Order of play for Thursday

--------------------
1. Second-round draw (Wednesday's losers removed)
--------------------
1.1 Top half: Daniela Hantuchová, Anna Chakvetadze
--------------------------------------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] won
* Elena Vesnina won
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [24] v Ágnes Szávay [Q] (davai Alyona!)
* Roberta Vinci v PATTY SCHNYDER [15] (forza Roberta!)

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Elena Likhovtseva (both nice; podme
Daniela!)
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19] v Nika Ožegovic [Q] (dajmo Katarina!)
* Milagros Sequera won
* SERENA WILLIAMS [7] won

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] won
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 3-6 *4-2 (40/40)
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] won
* SHAHAR PE'ER [16] won

* MARTINA HINGIS [9] won
* Laura Granville won
* MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] v Katie O'Brien [WC] (both nice; kom op
Michaëlla!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Tatiana Poutchek (davai Anna!)


1.2 Bottom half: Nicole Vaidišová, Maria Sharapova
--------------------------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Meilen Tu (ajde Ana!)
* Aravane Rezaď v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [29] (allez Aravane!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis [Q] v Virginia Ruano Pascual (may the better
win!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v NADIA PETROVA [11] (chal Sania!)

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [14,EF] v Nicole Pratt (pojdme moja krasná Nicole!)
* Victoria Azarenka v TATHIANA GARBIN [21]
* Caroline Wozniacki [WC] v MARA SANTANGELO [28] (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Yvonne Meusburger v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [4] (jeder außer Mauresmo...)

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] v Bethanie Mattek (...und bitte Kuznetsova
auch nicht)
* Agnieszka Radwanska v MARTINA MÜLLER [32]
* TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF] v Tamira Paszek (both nice; allez Tatiana!)
* Iveta Benešová v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] (both nice; pojdme Iveta!)

* Akiko Morigami [S] v DINARA SAFINA [13] (ganbatte Akiko!)
* Hana Šromová v VENUS WILLIAMS [23]
* Alizé Cornet [LL] won v AI SUGIYAMA [26] (allez Alizé!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Séverine Brémond (both nice; davai Maria!)

-----------------------------
2. Order of play for Thursday
-----------------------------

Court 14 (start 11:00 BST = 10:00 GMT)
1. WS 2r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Tatiana Poutchek
2. MS 2r: DAVID FERRER [17] v Paul-Henri Mathieu
3. WS 2r: Alizé Cornet v AI SUGIYAMA [26]
4. WD 1r: Lucie Šafárová [DF]/Petra Cetkovská v Arantxa Parra
Santonja [S]/Lourdes Domínguez Lino
5. MD 1r: Dominik Hrbatý/Michal Mertinák v Harel Levy/Rajeev Ram

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

*** NOTE THE EARLIER START-TIME ON OUTSIDE COURTS! ***

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

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

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

1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Kerber
2. First-round draw: Bottom half
3. Second-round draw: Top half
4. Order of play for Wednesday

------------------------------------------------------
1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Kerber
    (Tuesday 26th June)
------------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Angelique Kerber, 7-5 6-3

The match was third on Court 13, and started at 15:28 (three minutes
after BBC2 ended its transmission, reducing the slight probability
that this match had of being televised).


First set
---------
CHAKVE __*__@* *@*@ 7
KERBER @* *@__*____ 5

Anna serving 0-0: 0/40 (3 BPs). Broken.
Kerber serving 1-0: 40/0. Held.

A shocking start for Anna. I hope she isn't injured or something
after winning 's-Hertogenbosch!

Anna serving 0-2: Held to love.
Kerber serving 2-1: 30/15. 30/30. 40/40. Ad Kerber. Held.
Anna serving 1-3: 30/0. 30/15. 40/30. 40/40. Broken.
Kerber serving 4-1: 0/30. Broken.
Anna serving 2-4: 15/15. 15/30. 40/30. Held.

Phew! Already the hideous thought of Anna limping out of Wimbledon
without being televised is going through my head, and there won't be
another chance for me to see her play for the first time in 2007. :-(

There've been several occasions in the past when someone has won a
tournament the week before Wimbledon, only to crash out early at
Wimbledon. The obvious example to me is Monica Seles in 1996, when
she won Eastbourne, then lost in the second round of Wimbledon to
Katarína Studeníková on the very day of which this (26th June) is the
11th anniversary.

Kerber serving 4-3: 15/30. 30/30. Held.

And already, Kerber has won more games off Anna than she did at 's-
Hertogenbosch (6-2 6-2).

Anna serving 3-5: 0/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Kerber serving 5-4: 0/40 (3 BPs). Broken.

YES!! Anna has recovered from two breaks down!! I thought she was
badly out of sorts, but now she has the momentum on her side, which
should put her in a stronger position than the 5-5 score.

Anna serving 5-5: 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. Held.

Phew! At 15/30, it looked like Anna's bad day at the office might be
continuing!

Kerber serving 5-6: 0/15. 15/40 (2 SPs). Anna won the first set 7-5
at 16:05 (37m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVE * *@* * * 6
KERBER _*___* *_ 3

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

Well recovered. At 30/40, I was already thinking about how Anna was
going to have to fight back from a break down in this set, but now
she may not have to.

Kerber serving 1-2: 0/15. 40/15 to 40/40. Ad Anna (BP). Broken.

And for the first time in the match, Anna is a break up. It should be
plain sailing from here, as long as she doesn't rest on her laurels.

Anna serving 3-1: 0/30. 30/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Well recovered again. At 0/30, I thought Anna was going to be pulled
right back into the heart of battle, but 4-1* is a huge lead, even
though it's just one break.

Kerber serving 1-4: 40/0. 40/40. Ad Kerber. Held.

That could be the key game of the match. For Anna to pull her
opponent back from 40/0, yet still let her hold serve and reduce the
deficit to two games, on a bad day for Anna, could well be fatal to
Anna's chances. I cannot overemphasise how important is
the /momentum/ of a tennis-match: as we saw in the first set, it is
far more important than the score.

Anna serving 4-2: 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

A very important hold for Anna. If she'd been broken after all those
little leads in that game, it would have handed the momentum firmly
over to Kerber.

Kerber serving 2-5: Held to love.
Anna serving 5-3: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 40/30 (MP #1). 40/40.
Ad Kerber (BP). Deuce #2. Ad Anna (MP #2). Anna won 7-5 6-3 at 16:45
(second set 40m, match 1h17m).

I'm very relieved that Anna closed out the match in that game,
because although she had accumulated a huge lead, I didn't sense that
she had the momentum firmly in her favour.


PA SportsTicker:
>>>
A quarter-finalist at both the Australian Open and French Open,
eighth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze booked her spot in the second round
with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Angelique Kerber of Germany.

It was a bit of a sloppy performance for Chakvetadze, who overcame 27
unforced errors. She did rifle 33 winners, compared to just 14 for
Kerber.
<<<

--------------------------------
2. First-round draw: Bottom half (Tuesday's losers removed)
--------------------------------
2.1 Third quarter: Nicole Vaidišová
-----------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Melinda Czink (ajde Ana!)
* Edina Gallovits v Meilen Tu
* Aravane Rezaď v Shenay Perry (allez Aravane!)
* Anne Kremer v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [29] (dajee Anne!)

* Virginia Ruano Pascual v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [22] (Ąvamos
Virginia!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis [Q] v Emmanuelle Gagliardi (davai Tatiana!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] won
* NADIA PETROVA [11] won

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [14,EF] v Karin Knapp (pojdme Nicole!)
* Nicole Pratt v Casey Dell'Acqua [Q]
* Victoria Azarenka v Jelena Kostanic Tošic
* Yan,Zi [Q,S] v TATHIANA GARBIN [21] (jia you Zi!)

* Ayumi Morita [Q,S] v MARA SANTANGELO [28] (ganbatte Ayumi!)
* Caroline Wozniacki [WC] v Anastasiya Yakimova (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Yvonne Meusburger won
* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [4] won


2.2 Bottom quarter: Maria Sharapova
-----------------------------------

* SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] won
* Bethanie Mattek won
* Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova v Agnieszka Radwanska (aide Tsvetana!)
* Anna Smashnova v MARTINA MÜLLER [32]

* TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF] v Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] (allez Tatiana!)
* Tamira Paszek v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q] (auf jetzt Tamira!)
* Iveta Benešová v Catalina Castańo (pojdme Iveta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] v Nathalie Dechy (davai Elena!)

* Kateryna Bondarenko v DINARA SAFINA [13] (davai Kateryna!)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Alberta Brianti (ganbatte Akiko!)
* Hana Šromová won
* VENUS WILLIAMS [23] won

* AI SUGIYAMA [26] won
* Alizé Cornet [LL] won
* Séverine Brémond v Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 *4-3
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] won

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

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v Vera Dushevina
* Elena Vesnina v Emilie Loit (davai Elena!)
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [24] v Ágnes Szávay [Q] (davai Alyona!)
* Roberta Vinci v PATTY SCHNYDER [15] (forza Roberta!)

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Elena Likhovtseva (both nice; podme
Daniela!)
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19] v Nika Ožegovic [Q] (dajmo Katarina!)
* SAMANTHA STOSUR [27] v Milagros Sequera
* Alicia Molik v SERENA WILLIAMS [7] (go Alicia!)

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v Jarmila Gajdošová
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v Eleni Daniilidou (pojdme Lucie!)
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v Olga Govortsova [Q] (both nice; allez
Marion!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [16] v Kaia Kanepi (kadima Shahar!)

* Aiko Nakamura [S] v MARTINA HINGIS [9] (ganbatte Aiko!)
* Laura Granville v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]
* MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] v Katie O'Brien [WC] (both nice; kom op
Michaëlla!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Tatiana Poutchek (davai Anna!)

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

Court 3 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
1. WS 1r: ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] v Nathalie Dechy
2. MS 2r: Fernando Verdasco v Andreas Seppi
3. MS 2r: Gilles Muller v JUAN CARLOS FERRERO [20]
4. WS 2r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Tatiana Poutchek

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/

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

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

1. First-round draw
2. Women's Doubles: First-round draw
3. Order of play for Tuesday

When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
That I'll always be your friend
Took an oath, I'mma stick it out 'till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella

[Rihanna, "Umbrella"]

-------------------
1. First-round draw (Monday's losers removed)
-------------------
1.1 Top quarter: Daniela Hantuchová
-----------------------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] won
* Vera Dushevina
* Sun,Tiantian v Emilie Loit
* Elena Vesnina v OLGA POUTCHKOVA [30] (may the better win!)

* ALYONA BONDARENKO [24] v Jill Craybas (davai Alyona!)
* Eva Birnerová v Ágnes Szávay [Q] (pojdme Eva!)
* Roberta Vinci won
* PATTY SCHNYDER [15] won

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [WC] (podme
Daniela!)
* Maria Elena Camerin v Elena Likhovtseva (both nice; forza Maria
Elena!)
* Nika Ožegovic [Q] v Anna-Lena Grönefeld
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19] v Elena Baltacha [WC] (dajmo Katarina!)

* SAMANTHA STOSUR [27] v Kristina Brandi [Q]
* Milagros Sequera v Julia Schruff
* Alicia Molik won
* SERENA WILLIAMS [7] won


1.2 Second quarter: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v Anne Keothavong [WC]
* Meghann Shaughnessy v Jarmila Gajdošová
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Eleni Daniilidou, 7-5 3-6 *0-0 (15/30)
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] won

* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] won
* Olga Govortsova [Q] v Greta Arn, 6-7 (5/7) 0-0*
* Kaia Kanepi won
* SHAHAR PE'ER [16] won

* MARTINA HINGIS [9] won
* Aiko Nakamura [S] won
* Laura Granville won
* SYBILLE BAMMER [20] won

* MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] v Tzipora Obziler, 6-2 6-7 (6/8) *0-0
* Sandra Klösel v Katie O'Brien [WC], *3-5
* Viktoriya Kutuzova [WC] v Tatiana Poutchek
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Angelique Kerber (davai Anna!)


1.3 Third quarter: Nicole Vaidišová
-----------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Melinda Czink (ajde Ana!)
* Edina Gallovits v Meilen Tu
* Aravane Rezaď v Shenay Perry (allez Aravane!)
* Anne Kremer v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [29] (dajee Anne!)

* Virginia Ruano Pascual v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [22] (Ąvamos
Virginia!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis [Q] v Emmanuelle Gagliardi (davai Tatiana!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Yaroslava Shvedova (both nice; chal Sania!)
* Vania King v NADIA PETROVA [11]

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [14,EF] v Karin Knapp (pojdme Nicole!)
* Nicole Pratt v Casey Dell'Acqua [Q]
* Victoria Azarenka v Jelena Kostanic Tošic
* Yan,Zi [Q,S] v TATHIANA GARBIN [21] (jia you Zi!)

* Ayumi Morita [Q,S] v MARA SANTANGELO [28] (ganbatte Ayumi!)
* Caroline Wozniacki [WC] v Anastasiya Yakimova (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Virginie Razzano v Yvonne Meusburger
* Jamea Jackson v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [4] (anyone but Mauresmo!)


1.4 Bottom quarter: Maria Sharapova
-----------------------------------

* Julia Vakulenko v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] (davai Julia!)
* Bethanie Mattek v Vasilisa Bardina
* Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova v Agnieszka Radwanska (aide Tsvetana!)
* Anna Smashnova v MARTINA MÜLLER [32]

* TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF] v Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] (allez Tatiana!)
* Tamira Paszek v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q] (auf jetzt Tamira!)
* Iveta Benešová v Catalina Castańo (pojdme Iveta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] v Nathalie Dechy (davai Elena!)

* Kateryna Bondarenko v DINARA SAFINA [13] (davai Kateryna!)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Alberta Brianti (ganbatte Akiko!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Hana Šromová (jia you Shuai!)
* Alla Kudryavtseva v VENUS WILLIAMS [23]

* AI SUGIYAMA [26] v Melanie South [WC]
* Maria Kirilenko v Alizé Cornet [LL] (both nice; davai Maria!)
* Séverine Brémond v Ekaterina Bychkova (both nice; allez Séverine!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Chan,Yung-Jan (davai Maria!)

------------------------------------
2. Women's Doubles: First-round draw (Andrew's selections)
------------------------------------

* Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka
v Hsieh,Su-Wei [S]/Alla Kudryavtseva

Kirilenko/Vesnina is a very nice pairing, but whatever happened to
Chakvesnina and Dulkirilenko?

----------------------------
3. Order of play for Tuesday
----------------------------

Court 13 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
1. MS 1r: Rik de Voest v MARAT SAFIN [26]
2. WS 1r: MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] v Tzipora Obziler, 6-2 6-7 *0-0
3. WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Angelique Kerber
4. MS 1r: Jonathan Marray [WC] v Sébastien Grosjean
5. WS 1r: ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Melinda Czink

Court 13 /is/ one of the televised courts, but I get the feeling that
Anna means nothing to the BBC after they failed to televise her this
year despite her Australian and French Open quarter-finals! :-||

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/

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

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

1. First-round draw
2. Anna Chakvetadze preview
3. Order of play for Monday

This is an Anna-filtered subset of my full analysis of the draw:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=305015

-------------------
1. First-round draw
-------------------
1.1 Top quarter: Daniela Hantuchová
-----------------------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v Jorgelina Cravero [Q]
* Timea Bacsinszky v Vera Dushevina (hopp Timea!)
* Sun,Tiantian v Emilie Loit
* Elena Vesnina v OLGA POUTCHKOVA [30] (may the better win!)

* ALYONA BONDARENKO [24] v Jill Craybas (davai Alyona!)
* Eva Birnerová v Ágnes Szávay [Q] (pojdme Eva!)
* Ashley Harkleroad v Roberta Vinci (both nice; go Ashley!)
* Camille Pin v PATTY SCHNYDER [15]

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [WC] (podme
Daniela!)
* Maria Elena Camerin v Elena Likhovtseva (both nice; forza Maria
Elena!)
* Nika Ožegovic [Q] v Anna-Lena Grönefeld
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [19] v Elena Baltacha [WC] (dajmo Katarina!)

* SAMANTHA STOSUR [27] v Kristina Brandi [Q]
* Milagros Sequera v Julia Schruff
* Alicia Molik v Anastasia Rodionova (go Alicia!)
* Lourdes Domínguez Lino v SERENA WILLIAMS [7]


1.2 Second quarter: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

* JELENA JANKOVIC [3] v Anne Keothavong [WC]
* Meghann Shaughnessy v Jarmila Gajdošová
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Eleni Daniilidou
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v Zuzana Ondrášková (both nice; pojdme
Lucie!)

* Flavia Pennetta [DF] v MARION BARTOLI [18,S] (both nice; forza
Flavia!)
* Olga Govortsova [Q] v Greta Arn (davai Olga!)
* Tatjana Malek v Kaia Kanepi (ich wünsche, daß Tatjana gewinnt)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [16] v Tamarine Tanasugarn (kadima Shahar!)

* MARTINA HINGIS [9] v Naomi Cavaday [9] (hopp Martina!)
* Martina Suchá v Aiko Nakamura [S] (my Reason says Aiko, but my
Passion says Martina)
* Aleksandra Wozniak v Laura Granville
* Varvara Lepchenko v SYBILLE BAMMER [20] (davai Varvara!)

* MICHAËLLA KRAJÍCEK [31] v Tzipora Obziler (kom op Michaëlla!)
* Sandra Klösel v Katie O'Brien [WC]
* Viktoriya Kutuzova [WC] v Tatiana Poutchek
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Angelique Kerber (davai Anna!)


1.3 Third quarter: Nicole Vaidišová
-----------------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [6,DF] v Melinda Czink (ajde Ana!)
* Edina Gallovits v Meilen Tu
* Aravane Rezaď v Shenay Perry (allez Aravane!)
* Anne Kremer v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [29] (dajee Anne!)

* Virginia Ruano Pascual v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [22] (Ąvamos
Virginia!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis [Q] v Emmanuelle Gagliardi (davai Tatiana!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Yaroslava Shvedova (both nice; chal Sania!)
* Vania King v NADIA PETROVA [11]

* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [14,EF] v Karin Knapp (pojdme Nicole!)
* Nicole Pratt v Casey Dell'Acqua [Q]
* Victoria Azarenka v Jelena Kostanic Tošic
* Yan,Zi [Q,S] v TATHIANA GARBIN [21] (jia you Zi!)

* Ayumi Morita [Q,S] v MARA SANTANGELO [28] (ganbatte Ayumi!)
* Caroline Wozniacki [WC] v Anastasiya Yakimova (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Virginie Razzano v Yvonne Meusburger
* Jamea Jackson v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [4] (anyone but Mauresmo!)


1.4 Bottom quarter: Maria Sharapova
-----------------------------------

* Julia Vakulenko v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [5] (davai Julia!)
* Bethanie Mattek v Vasilisa Bardina
* Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova v Agnieszka Radwanska (aide Tsvetana!)
* Anna Smashnova v MARTINA MÜLLER [32]

* TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF] v Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] (allez Tatiana!)
* Tamira Paszek v Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová [Q] (auf jetzt Tamira!)
* Iveta Benešová v Catalina Castańo (pojdme Iveta!)
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [12] v Nathalie Dechy (davai Elena!)

* Kateryna Bondarenko v DINARA SAFINA [13] (davai Kateryna!)
* Akiko Morigami [S] v Alberta Brianti (ganbatte Akiko!)
* Peng,Shuai [S] v Hana Šromová (jia you Shuai!)
* Alla Kudryavtseva v VENUS WILLIAMS [23]

* AI SUGIYAMA [26] v Melanie South [WC]
* Maria Kirilenko v Alizé Cornet [LL] (both nice; davai Maria!)
* Séverine Brémond v Ekaterina Bychkova (both nice; allez Séverine!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Chan,Yung-Jan (davai Maria!)

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

Although too late to affect the Wimbledon-seedings, Anna has just
overtaken Serena Williams to rise to a career-high #7 in the WTA
Singles Rankings, having won her fourth title - all since September
2006, and she has a 4:0 record in finals! - at 's-Hertogenbosch with
the following results:
1r + Victoria Azarenka, 5-7 6-2 6-2
2r + Francesca Schiavone, 6-4 7-6 (7/3)
qf + Angelique Kerber, 6-2 6-2
sf + DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [5,EF], 6-3 6-4
_f + JELENA JANKOVIC [1], 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 6-3

The win over Jankovic was especially impressive, as Jankovic has been
one of the form-players of the year so far, and had beaten Maria
Sharapova in the Birmingham final! Jankovic may have been struggling
with a left-hamstring injury, and may have been tired after a
marathon three-set semi-final, but beating her is an excellent
message for Anna to send out when they could meet again in the
quarter-finals of Wimbledon!


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

Anna has only played Angelique Kerber once before, and you see the
result right there from 's-Hertogenbosch above!

19-year-old Kerber has played mainly on the ITF Women's Circuit this
year, but with an impressive win/loss record of 42:13, having won ITF
Saguenay, ITF Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ITF Antalya-Attaleia, and
ITF Prerov just two weeks ago, beating none other than Klára
Zakopalová (née Koukalová) in the final!

But it's a big step up from the ITF circuit to competing with an on-
form world #7, so I expect another easy victory for Anna over the
world #76.

I watched the whole match of Kerber beating Olga Poutchkova 6-0 6-0
at Birmingham, but it was hard to get an impression of Kerber's
abilities, as an overweight, miserable Poutchkova was making either a
winner or, more likely, an unforced error within six strokes of every
single point.


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

I hope it will be the pretty Viktoriya Kutuzova, but she is ranked
#159 to Tatiana Poutchek's #85, despite beating Poutchek in their
only meeting.

Anna leads Kutuzova 2:0 head-to-head (2005 US Open 1r: 6-3 3-6 7-5,
2006 Indian Wells 2r: 6-4 7-5), so they've had tough matches, but
Anna has improved so much since those times! She's never played
Poutchek.

Kutuzova is not having a good year. The only times she's won two
matches in a row have been in failed qualifying-attempts at Gold
Coast and Dubai. She suffered a 5-match losing-streak in March/April,
and is on a 3-match one now, despite playing two ITF tournaments
since the French Open.

Poutchek is also on a 3-match losing-streak, having lost in the
second round of the French Open, and first rounds at Barcelona and
Eastbourne. But she's playing at a higher level than Kutuzova, so
sadly she should beat her.

Either way, it should be easy pickings for Anna in the second round.


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

I hope and expect that Michaëlla Krajícek - who won 's-Hertogenbosch
last year, just as Anna did this - will be Anna's third-round
opponent.

Michaëlla isn't having a good year, though: she has a win/loss record
of 11:15, although she did have a great run at Charleston, where she
beat Nicole Vaidišová 4-6 6-4 6-3 and Sybille Bammer 6-7 6-2 6-1 to
reach the quarter-finals, and also reached the third round of the
French Open.

Michaëlla lost 7-6 6-4 to Yuliana Fedak in 1r Birmingham, but I
attended that match, and it was a very impressive performance from
Yuliana to frustrate Michaëlla, who was hitting big serves and coming
to the net behind them.

Michaëlla beat Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-2 at 's-Hertogenbosch before losing
6-4 3-6 6-4 to Dinara Safina.

Anna's only meeting with Michaëlla was at Hasselt 2005. Michaëlla was
leading 6-3 3-1 when Anna retired with a right-wrist strain.

If Michaëlla loses before the third round, it will be to her first-
round opponent, Tzipora Obziler, whom Anna has never played, and who
is having an impressive 20:11 year highlighted by runs to the quarter-
finals of Pattaya City (from qualifying) and semis of Bangalore.


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

Ten years ago, Martina Hingis was dominating the WTA Tour, winning
the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. But women's tennis
has become much more powerful since then, and Hingis is in her second
year of a comeback after retiring for three years.

Anna has often been compared with Hingis, due to her anticipation and
ability to make her defensive shots awkward for her opponent. But
they've only met once: Hingis was leading 6-3 3-1 in the semi-finals
of Montréal 2006 when Anna retired with a right-forearm strain.

Hingis had an impressive start to the year, culminating in the Tokyo
Pan Pacific title, but after that she lost to Daniela Hantuchová at
Doha and Indian Wells, and to Agnieszka Radwanska at Miami. Her
claycourt-season was restricted to just Berlin, where she lost
6-4 6-0 to Patty Schnyder, then pulled out of the French Open with a
left-hip injury, and Wimbledon is her first tournament back. So I
don't rate her as much of a threat to Anna.

Perhaps the greater danger comes from Sybille Bammer, who has been in
the form of her life this year. She beat Serena Williams to reach the
semi-finals of Hobart, won Pattaya City over Gisela Dulko, reached
the semi-finals of Indian Wells with wins over Ana Ivanovic and
Tatiana Golovin, the semi-finals of Amelia Island, and the fourth
round of the French Open.

But Anna is 2:0 head-to-head against Bammer, both this year: 1r
Australian Open 6-4 7-5, 2r Antwerp 4-6 7-6 6-2.

Bammer had a good run at Eastbourne, beating Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3
and Lucie Šafárová 6-7 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, where she
lost 6-7 7-5 6-4 to Nadia Petrova. The 27-year-old's Wimbledon-record
is an unenviable 3:5, her best result being a third-round appearance
last year, though that was before her transformation.


2.5 Quarter-final
-----------------

It's good that Anna got one over on Jelena Jankovic in the 's-
Hertogenbosch final when they might have to meet again here! Anna
actually leads their head-to-head 5:2, with Jankovic's only wins
coming in 1r Wimbledon 2005 and Warsaw 2007 (Jankovic was leading 7-6
3-1 when Anna retired with a right-shoulder strain).

Admittedly four of Anna's wins came before 2007, when Jankovic became
so powerful, but it's still a very encouraging head-to-head.

Of course, it's possible that Jankovic might be so tired after her
three-set marathons in the last two rounds of 's-Hertogenbosch that
she might be vulnerable to an early exit - and who better to deliver
it than Lucie Šafárová, of whom Anna writes in her latest Diary at
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ : "Lucie is a great player. You
better watch out because Lucie will climb up the rankings this
year : ), Wait and see : )."

---------------------------
3. Order of play for Monday
---------------------------

Court 18 (start 12:00 BST = 11:00 GMT)
1. WS 1r: SHAHAR PE'ER [16] v Tamarine Tanasugarn
2. MS 1r: Benjamin Becker v JUAN IGNACIO CHELA [14]
3. MS 1r: Rik de Voest v MARAT SAFIN [26]
4. WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] v Angelique Kerber

Court 18 /is/ one of the televised courts, but I get the feeling that
Anna means nothing to the BBC after they failed to televise her this
year despite her Australian and French Open quarter-finals! :-||

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/

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

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

1. Photos & videos
2. Quarter-final scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Sharapova
3. Player-portrait: Anna Chakvetadze

------------------
1. Photos & videos
------------------
1.1 Photos
----------

Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/players/wtaq416.html (Anna)
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ (Anna)
http://www.tennis-reinecke.de/spieler.php?kez=anch (Anna)
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Various players including Anna:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/ (Quarterfinal
action)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6722585.stm
http://www.tennis.info/Paris7.html (Quarterfinals - day 1)


1.2 Videos
----------

Quarter-final press-conferences:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/interviews/20070605.html

Anna interviewed by Barbara Schett:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/230b/popup/index.php?cl=2928688

-----------------------------------------------------------
2. Quarter-final scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Sharapova
(Tuesday 5th June)
-----------------------------------------------------------

Very nice winner, very nice loser:
+ MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF], 6-3 6-4

Unfortunately BBCi did not deign to televise this mouthwatering match
on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but it certainly seemed like Maria's most
convincing performance of the tournament so far, after her alarming
breakdown for half a set against Alla Kudryavtseva, and then saving
two match-points against Patty Schnyder, who served for the match
three times in that 2h38m marathon on Sunday.

But Anna was the one who admitted to feeling tired and "very bad" in
this quarter-final, even after having a day off on Monday. She too
had been taken to three sets on Sunday (by Lucie Šafárová), albeit
only for 1h29m. I think Anna needs to work on her stamina!

I have added my match-report to my French Open reports for Maria
Sharapova:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/shara/french_open2007.html

Features:
* match-preview
* point-by-point scores
* statistics
* transcripts of press-conferences
* articles

------------------------------------
3. Player-portrait: Anna Chakvetadze
------------------------------------

Saturday, June 2, 2007
By Benjamin Adler
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2q2w2z (www.rolandgarros.com)
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze broke into the top 10 at the end of May - four short
years after turning pro - and she does not intend stopping there.
We met the 20 year-old Russian and found her cool, calm, and fiercely
determined to succeed at the highest level.

"I don't need inspiration, I can think for myself," she tells us,
shortly after her comfortable victory over Ai Sugiyama. On the back
of her quarter-final at the Australian Open, the No.9 seed has taken
her progress to the last sixteen very much in her stride. "I'm happy
because I played a lot better today, which explains why I was calmer
on the court. I controlled things well," she says in flawless English.

"I'm ambitious"

Chakvetadze is accompanied on Tour by her Georgian father while her
Ukrainian mother looks after her younger brother at home. She needs
no prompting when we ask her about her ambitions. "I'm not the type
to announce what my objectives are: to win a Grand Slam or whatever.
Everyone wants to win them. I'd like to get into the top 5 for sure,
but I take things as they come and try to do my best."

Anna has something of a reputation for being very emotional on court,
even to the point of breaking into tears. Though she travels without
a coach, she has been receiving guidance from Robert Lansdorp, the
former mentor of Maria Sharapova, Pete Sampras and Anastasia Myskina.
That is in Los Angeles, where she will return to prepare for the
North American leg of the tour, prior to the US Open. Chakvetadze has
been compared to Martina Hingis, with a game that is more varied than
many of her compatriots. That may go to explain her meteoric rise
through the rankings since her début on the ITF tour in 2001, in
Minsk.

Moscow memories
By 2004 she was playing in her first Grand Slam, at the US Open,
where she reached the third round, beating Myskina on the
way. "That's a great memory. I couldn't believe it at the time.
It was a dream to beat the No.1 Russian - someone who had won Roland
Garros that year," remembers the Wimbledon juniors finalist of 2003.

2005 saw her enter the top 50, and in 2006 she won her first two
titles, in Guangzhou and her home-town of Moscow. "To win the Kremlin
Cup at home was fantastic. The win in China gave me a lot of
confidence. When I beat a top-10 player, I tell myself I can really
go far and my game improves," she says. Anna has a title to her name
this year too, in Hobart, and made the semi-finals in Miami, Warsaw
and Montréal.

"It's important to be consistent", reasons the future opponent of
Lucie Šafárová - a friend among many on the circuit. "I have a lot of
friends on Tour, but we forget our friendship when we meet on court,"
says Chakvetadze. Whether she is facing friend or foe, Anna
Chakvetadze knows she only needs to concentrate on her own game.
Her natural talent usually does the rest...
<<<

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

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

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

1. Photos
2. Fourth-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Šafárová
3. Quarter-final draw/preview
4. Order of play for Tuesday

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

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/
- Anna Chakvetadze (2r, 3r, 4r, Week 1)

I like Anna's "unique braid", and that 2r photo where she's looking
up to serve gives a nice new angle on Anna! :-)

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?pg=1&cap=1
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze")

---------------------------------------------------------
2. Fourth-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Šafárová
(Sunday 3rd June)
---------------------------------------------------------

Nice winner, nice loser:
+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF], 6-4 0-6 6-2

A mouthwatering match between the latest player I have inducted into
my Eternal Fanship, and quite possibly the next player I will induct,
unfortunately I could only concentrate 33% on following live scores
for this match, because I was watching Sharapova v Schnyder on BBCi,
which started 3 minutes before the end of the first set here.

So I couldn't really feel the Passion I was looking to feel for
Lucie - it just felt so right when Anna won.

And since Lucie failed the Anna-test, I certainly won't be inducting
her into my Eternal Fanship before Wimbledon, which I hope will be my
next chance to watch her play. I won't be inducting her on the
strength of watching her play one match, no matter how excited I felt
when she beat Mauresmo.

If it gets to the end of the 2007 season and Lucie remains
untelevised and uninducted, I will order some DVDs from Tennis Videos
International <http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/> in order
to evaluate her, just as I evaluated Anna in the last off-season
(I would particularly like to see her fourth-round and quarter-final
matches at the Australian Open, and her matches from WTA Paris).
There are no shortcuts to inducting a player like Lucie into my
Eternal Fanship.

The match started at 16:37 CEST.


First set
---------
CHAKVETA @* * * * * 6
ŠAFÁROVÁ __* * * *_ 4

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

What a first game!

Anna serving 1-0: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs). 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Lucie came back from *0-3 in the first set and 0-3* in the second
against Mauresmo, so Anna can never be complacent on her leads.

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

Wasted opportunities for Anna there.

Anna serving 4-3: 40/0. Held.
Lucie serving 3-5: 40/0. 40/15. Held.

The moment of truth: can Anna serve out this set? She often tends to
wobble when she's serving for a set or match - a prime example being
her second-round match against Ágnes Szávay, when she was taken to
three sets after leading 6-4 *5-4.

Anna serving 5-4: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15 (2 SPs). Anna won the first set
6-4 at 17:17 (40m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVETA ______ 0
ŠAFÁROVÁ *@*@*@ 6

Lucie serving 0-0: 0/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.
Lucie serving 2-0: 40/0. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 0-3: 0/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40. Ad Lucie (BP #2). Broken.
Lucie serving 4-0: 40/0. Held.
Anna serving 0-5: 30/40 (3 SPs). Lucie won the second set 6-0 at
17:38 (21m).

What happened there? Was Anna injured, or did Lucie suddenly find the
hot form she showed against Mauresmo? Or did Anna sacrifice the set,
as an expert chess-player offers up a piece to induce the opponent to
make a fatal blunder?


Third set
---------
CHAKVETA _*@*@ @* 6
ŠAFÁROVÁ *____@__ 2

Lucie serving 0-0: 40/0. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: 0/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.
Lucie serving 1-1: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.
Anna serving 2-1: 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.
Lucie serving 1-3: 0/40 (3 BPs). 15/40. Broken.
Anna serving 4-1: 15/15. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.
Lucie serving 2-4: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.
Anna serving 5-2: 40/0 (3 MPs). Anna won 6-4 0-6 6-2 at 18:06 (third
set 28m, match 1h29m).


Articles
--------

Sharapova survives at French Open
June 3, 2007
By Steve Douglas, Special to PA SportsTicker
>>>
Sharapova, who has never got past the quarter-finals at the Paris
Grand Slam, will next play Russia's Anna Chakvetadze after the ninth
seed beat Lucie Šafárová 6-4 0-6 6-2.

A day of rest may be in order for Sharapova, who seems to be dealing
with her shoulder-injury just fine.

"I still feel it at times. It's still there," Sharapova said. "It
will be very important to see how it is tomorrow, to rest it. I might
even need to take a day off. But that's fine."

Šafárová came into the match buoyed by her surprise-win over home-
favourite Amélie Mauresmo on Saturday, but she could not repeat her
exploits a day later.

It is only the second time Chakvetadze has reached the last eight of
a Grand Slam.
<<<

Old articles
------------

{Second-round preview - Wednesday 30th May}
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1394
>>>
(9) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. (Q) Agnes Szávay (HUN) - First Meeting

Russia's Anna Chakvetadze is one of the rising stars of the Tour, and
she will hope to continue her progress on Thursday by making it
through to the third round at Roland Garros for the second time in
her career. The 20-year-old from Moscow has enjoyed a fantastic year
so far, breaking into the Top 10 for the first time, and reaching her
maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open. Her second-
round opponent Szávay was forced to battle through three rounds of
qualifying just to take her place in the draw, but the 18-year-old
delivered a mature performance on her Grand Slam début to dismiss
experienced campaigner Anne Kremer in straight sets.
<<<

{Third-round preview - Friday 1st June}
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1403
>>>
(9) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. (21) Ai Sugiyama (JPN) - First Meeting

Saturday's second match on Suzanne Lenglen could well prove to be one
of the day's most fascinating, as Russian rising star Chakvetadze
comes up against experienced Japanese campaigner Sugiyama. Neither
player has looked entirely convincing during the opening rounds of
the tournament, and both will look for an improved performance in
their third-round clash. Chakvetadze has enjoyed a memorable first
half of the season, breaking into the Top 10 for the first time and
reaching her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open.
However, the 20-year-old Muscovite made hard work of her second-round
opponent, Hungarian qualifier Agnes Szávay, being pushed all the way
before finally edging a thrilling battle, 6-4 6-7(1) 6-4. 31-year-old
Sugiyama also required three sets to overcome her second-round foe
Meilen Tu and secure her place in the third round for the first time
since 2003. Despite their earlier travails, if both players are on-
song, this is one clash that really has the potential to get the
Parisian crowd on their feet.
<<<

{Fourth-round preview - Saturday 2nd June}
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1406
>>>
(9) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs. (25) Lucie Šafárová (CZE) -
Šafárová leads, 1-0

Šafárová may be the lowest-ranked player left in the draw at Roland
Garros, but Russia's Chakvetadze will certainly not be taking the
world No.29 lightly when they clash in the day's final match on Court
1. Šafárová looked in great touch during her shock third-round
victory over home-favourite Amélie Mauresmo, and if she maintains
this form, there is every possibility of her repeating the trick
against world No.9 Chakvetadze. Sunday's encounter between the two 20-
year-olds will be their second in less than a month; Šafárová
triumphed in a second-round match in Berlin in the middle of May. The
Czech starlet is certainly enjoying playing in the French capital
this season; she was a losing finalist at the Open Gaz de France in
February, and on her return this week, the No.25 seed has yet to drop
a set. Chakvetadze's progression into her first fourth-round
appearance in Paris has not been so serene, labouring to victories
over qualifier Agnes Szávay and then No.21 seed Ai Sugiyama. However,
these victories were the Muscovite's 27th and 28th of a highly
successful season, and the talented Russian will go into the contest
hungry for revenge and a place in her second Grand Slam quarter-final.
<<<

-----------------------------
3. Quarter-final draw/preview
-----------------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v SERENA WILLIAMS [8]
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v JELENA JANKOVIC [4] (pojdme Nicole!)
* ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (ajde Ana!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF]

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity either for Maria to reach her first
French Open semi-final, or for Anna to reach her first Grand Slam
semi-final!

Anna has had a disappointing claycourt-season, relative to the
standards she set by winning Moscow last year! She's been struggling
with a right shoulder-strain, so it's no wonder that she hasn't been
firing on all cylinders.

But Anna has a golden opportunity to upset Maria on Maria's least-
favourite surface, with Maria a long way from her best form -
particularly her serve, as she too has been struggling with a right-
shoulder injury. And I wouldn't have thought that one day off would
be nearly enough for Maria to recover from that draining 2h38m
marathon she played against Patty Schnyder on Sunday, especially
after she also played on Saturday. Maria does tend to struggle when
she's played too many matches in too few days.


http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1409
>>>
Next up for Sharapova is No.9 seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 6-4 0-6 6-2
winner over No.25 seed Lucie Šafárová. Sharapova is 3-0 in their head-
to-head series.

"I had a tough one against her in Australia," said Sharapova, who is
six weeks Chakvetadze's junior. "Obviously this is clay, and I've
never faced her on clay. But just like with everyone else, I've got
to worry about myself."
<<<

It's not true that Maria has never faced Anna on clay - she beat her
6-1 6-4 in 3r French Open 2005! But Anna has improved beyond
recognition since then: no longer just a grinder, she now has
flairsome power, a wonderful command of angles and width, and Hingis-
like abilities to anticipate and to make her defensive shots awkward
for her opponent.

Maria leads their head-to-head 3:0. She won their next meeting
4-6 6-4 7-5 at Los Angeles 2005, when they were both struggling with
injury, and Maria pulled out of the tournament after surviving that
marathon. And they met in the Australian Open quarter-finals, with
Maria winning 7-6 7-5.


http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1411
>>>
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs. (9) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) -
Sharapova leads, 3-0

Sharapova's reward for her thrilling three-set victory over Patty
Schnyder is a quarter-final match-up with her compatriot and rival
Chakvetadze. The pair also met at the same stage of the Australian
Open, and world No.9 Chakvetadze will be out to avenge the narrow
defeat she suffered at Melbourne Park. Prior to this year, the
Muscovite had never been beyond the fourth round in Grand Slam
competition, but now she has achieved the feat in consecutive Majors.

Sharapova, on the other hand, will be making her third quarter-final
bow at Roland Garros, although her previous two appearances both
ended in defeat; losing straight-sets encounters with Paola Suárez in
2004 and Justine Henin one year later. Entering the tournament off
the back of an injury-plagued last few months, the Russian has
improved with every round, and will be quietly confident of chalking-
up her fourth career-triumph over her fellow 20-year-old. However,
Chakvetadze will be out to put an end to that run, and in a year
which has seen the elegant Russian capture her third career-title in
Hobart, as well as climb to her highest-ever world-ranking of No.9,
few would rule her out of doing so, and recording her 30th victory of
the season in the process.
<<<

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

Court Suzanne Lenglen (start 12:00 CEST = 10:00 GMT = 11:00 BST)
1. WS qf: NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v JELENA JANKOVIC [4]
2. WS qf: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF]
3. MS qf: NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO [4] v GUILLERMO CAŃAS [19]

BBCi will be on Chatrier all day, so I won't get to see any members
of my Eternal Fanship playing their quarter-finals! :-||

Ana is a nice girl and a good tennis-player, who I'm sure is on her
way to becoming a Grand Slam champion, and I can understand all the
hype about Henin v Williams, but I can't believe they think that the
Ivanovic v Kuznetsova quarter-final will be a more attractive match
than Vaidišová v Jankovic and especially Sharapova v Chakvetadze!

They should play all four women's quarter-finals back to back on
Chatrier, and all four men's quarter-finals on Wednesday.

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/

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

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

1. Third-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Sugiyama
2. Fourth-round draw
3. Order of play for Sunday

--------------------------------------------------------
1. Third-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Sugiyama
(Saturday 2nd June)
--------------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. AI SUGIYAMA [21], 6-4 6-4

Again, it was a case of Anna holding serve reliably until she had to
serve for the match at 6-4 *5-3, when she was broken. Fortunately
there was no repeat of the second-round scare, where she was taken to
a third set after failing to serve it out!

The match started at 12:30 CEST, and had to compete for my attention
with the televised Šafárová v Mauresmo match which started a few
minutes later, and later with live scores for Daniela Hantuchová.


First set
---------
CHAKVETA * * *@__*@ 6
SUGIYAMA _* *__@*__ 4

Anna serving 0-0: 0/30. 15/30. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.
Sugiyama serving 0-1: 40/0. Held.
Anna serving 1-1: 30/0. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Sugiyama serving 1-2: 0/15. 30/15. 30/40 (BP). 40/40. Ad Sugiyama.
Held.
Anna serving 2-2: 0/15. 15/15. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40.
Ad Sugiyama (BP). Deuce #2. Ad Anna. Held.
Sugiyama serving 2-3: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.
Anna serving 4-2: 0/40 (3 BPs). Broken.
Sugiyama serving 3-4: 15/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Sugiyama.
Deuce #2. Ad Sugiyama. Held.
Anna serving 4-4: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40 (2 BPs) to 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Well recovered from 15/40!

Sugiyama serving 4-5: 15/0. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (SP #1). Anna won the
first set 6-4 at 13:11 (41m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVETA * * * *@ @ 6
SUGIYAMA _* * *__@_ 4

Anna serving 0-0: 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Sugiyama serving 0-1: 0/15. 30/15. Held.
Anna serving 1-1: 15/0. 15/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Sugiyama serving 1-2: 40/0. Held.
Anna serving 2-2: 30/0. 30/15. 30/15. 40/30. Held.
Sugiyama serving 2-3: 0/30. 15/30. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). 40/40.
Ad Sugiyama. Held.
Anna serving 3-3: 0/15. 15/15. 30/30. Held.
Sugiyama serving 3-4: 0/40 (3 BPs). Broken.
Anna serving 5-3: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/40 (BP). Broken.
Sugiyama serving 4-5: 15/15. 15/40 (2 MPs). Anna won 6-4 6-4 at 13:53
(second set 42m, match 1h23m).

This sets up a mouthwatering fourth-round match with Lucie Šafárová,
whom I'm contemplating inducting into my Eternal Fanship after her
fantastic win over Amélie Mauresmo, which I saw on BBCi.

Passion and Reason are needed to induct a player into my Eternal
Fanship. For Lucie I have Reason, but I need to be convinced about
the Passion. So it's great that she's playing Anna, for whom I have a
lot of Passion. This match should help to clarify my feelings for
Lucie, especially if she wins - which I suspect she will, with Anna
not firing on all cylinders this claycourt-season, and Lucie having
played so brilliantly to beat Mauresmo.

My loyalty is to Anna - she's the one who's in my Eternal Fanship,
after all - but I don't think I'd mind her losing to Lucie after what
Lucie did to Mauresmo! ;-)


Patty Schnyder's press-conference
---------------------------------

I found some interesting news about Anna:

Q. I saw your husband clearly being Chakvetadze's coach the other day.

PATTY SCHNYDER: Yeah.

Q. You know, the draw is shaping up. There is a possibility. Does
this make things tricky for you?

PATTY SCHNYDER: Not really. I mean, I know he's my husband and my
coach. And so if it would be a match against Anna, all of us know
what he's doing and who he's rooting for. So there is no point for me
to worry in any stage.

Q. How did that all come about?

PATTY SCHNYDER: It was a long time ago. We did it just, yeah, behind
the scenes or whatever you call it, in the background. And she was
always wanting him to do it, but he never wanted to do it officially.

And we'll see what's going to work out. And she's always, yeah,
together with her dad. So we have to see how things work out. But I
don't want to be too much involved in it. And I like Anna, and maybe
we do some workouts together and hit sometimes, very few. But, yeah,
better ask him.

--------------------
2. Fourth-round draw
--------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]
* DINARA SAFINA [10] v SERENA WILLIAMS [8]
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v JELENA JANKOVIC [4] (allez Marion!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v TATHIANA GARBIN [19] (pojdme Nicole!)

* ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [24] (ajde Ana!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [15] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (kadima Shahar!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] (both nice; my
loyalty is to Anna)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v PATTY SCHNYDER [14] (davai Maria!)

---------------------------
3. Order of play for Sunday (Anna-filtered)
---------------------------

Court 1 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
1. WS 4r: TATHIANA GARBIN [19] v NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF]
2. WS 4r: SHAHAR PE'ER [15] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3]
3. WS 4r: ANA IVANOVIC [7] v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [24]
4. WS 4r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF]

I hate the way they play all the women's fourth-round matches on
Sunday, leaving only half the men's fourth round to be played on
Monday! :-||

At least that will give me a much-needed rest and catch-up day before
the quarter-finals (which are guaranteed to feature either Anna or
Lucie). It's been a very hectic first week for me, and my players
have done better than I expected, given that they were all injured in
the lead-up to the French Open!


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/

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

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

1. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Szávay
2. Third-round draw (bottom half)
3. Fourth-round draw (top half)
4. Women's Doubles: First round
5. Order of play for Saturday

-------------------------------------------------------
1. Second-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Szávay
(Thursday 31st May)
-------------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. Ágnes Szávay [Q], 6-4 6-7 (1/7) 6-4

Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
[Dylan Thomas]

The 18-year-old Hungarian, who won the French Open 2005 Girls'
Singles & Doubles but is only ranked #102, gave Anna and me a huge
fright! With both players struggling to break serve in the first two
sets, Anna led 6-4 *5-4 when play was suspended for more than two
hours by a torrential downpour.

When play resumed, Anna failed to serve out the match, lost the
second set on a tiebreak, and looked in danger of suffering a
traumatic defeat in the fading light as she dropped serve in the
first game of the third set.

But in fact the third set went totally against serve except when Anna
held in the third game! Hardly impressive for a world #9, but they're
the matches that you have to get through, and I can only hope that
Anna will be stronger for having been in hot water and come through.


The match was scheduled fourth on Court 1, and started at 16:45 CEST.


First set
---------
CHAKVE _* *@* * * 6
SZÁVAY * *___* *_ 4

Szávay serving 0-0: 40/0 to 40/40. Ad Szávay. Held.

Well, at least Anna has sent a message that even at 40/0 up, it's not
going to be an easy hold for Szávay.

Anna serving 0-1: 15/0. 15/30. 40/30. Held.
Szávay serving 1-1: 40/0 to 40/40. Ad Szávay. Deuce #2. Ad Szávay.
Deuce #3. Ad Szávay. Deuce #4. Ad Szávay. Held.

I think all these squandered game-points should be preying on
Szávay's mind more than Anna's inability to break should be preying
on hers.

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

First blood to Anna, and not before time!

Anna serving 3-2: 0/15. 40/15. Held.
Szávay serving 2-4: Held to love.
Anna serving 4-3: 15/0. 15/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Anna. Held.

Phew! We don't want Anna getting broken back when breaks are rather
hard to come by in this set!

Szávay serving 3-5: 0/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.

The moment of truth. Anna's had a few nerves serving for sets and
matches, and was in a little bit of trouble in her last service-game.

Anna serving 5-4: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15 (2 SPs). 40/30. Anna won the
first set 6-4 at 17:24 (39m).


Second set
----------
CHAKVE _* * * *@__*_ 6(1)
SZÁVAY * * * *__@*_T 7(7)

Szávay serving 0-0: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. Held.
Anna serving 0-1: Held to love.
Szávay serving 1-1: 0/15. 40/15. Held.

Anna serving 1-2: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. The scoreboard said 2-2, then
corrected itself to 40/30. 40/40. Ad Szávay (BP). Deuce #2. Ad Anna.
Deuce #3. Ad Anna. Held.

Phew! That's twice this match that the scoreboard has said that Anna
has won a game when she hasn't, and she almost went on to lose that
game!

It's a pretty tight match so far: just the one break in it (fifth
game of the first set), so whoever breaks first in the second set
should gain huge momentum.

Szávay serving 2-2: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs) to 40/40. Ad Szávay.
Deuce #2. Ad Szávay. Deuce #3. Ad Szávay. Held.

What a waste. The only previous game in which Anna had break-point
was the fifth game of the first set, when she did break.

She's still got a lot of work to do in this match. No clear advantage
in this set yet.

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

Another golden opportunity to break goes begging! :rolleyes: 0/30 and
two break points - a lot of baggage will be building up in Anna's
mind in this set, and /I/ certainly feel uneasy that my world #9 is
facing so much resistance from the #102 in the second round of a
Grand Slam.

Anna /should/ have the consistency to come through this match, but
there /are/ some doubts in my mind, especially as she hasn't been
firing on all cylinders this claycourt-season.

Anna serving 3-4: 40/0. 40/30. Held.

Phew! I thought opportunities were going begging on Anna's own serve
that time!

Szávay serving 4-4: 0/15. With Anna potentially 7 points away from
victory, play was suspended for rain at 18:10 on Court Suzanne
Lenglen Court (what BBCi were showing), but it seems that we only had
a very short delay on Court 1, as the scoreboard updated again at
18:13: 30/40 (BP). 40/40. Now play really /is/ suspended (at 18:15).
I imagine what happened is that they stopped for a lengthy discussion
at 18:10, decided to play on at 18:13, and officially suspended play
at 40/40 (18:15).

At 18:18, the scoreboard updated again to say that Anna had broken
for 5-4 (at last!), and that we are in a rain-delay (the first time
that the scoreboard has actually said this). I can see on my TV-
screen that the rain is very heavy on Court Lenglen now, so I guess
Anna will have a long time to contemplate having to come back out and
serve for the match!

Sam Smith: "We thought it was only going to be a light shower, but
it's turned into a tropical storm like we've never seen before!"

She added that there was no prospect of play until at least 19:00
CEST.

Play resumed at 20:19 CEST (2h04m rain-delay).

Sam Smith: "Amazing that they brought the players back at this late
hour, even though the light is /terrible/."

Anna serving 5-4: 0/15. 30/15. 30/40 (BP). Broken.

Back to square one for Anna! :-( Breaks have been very hard to come
by in this match, so Anna only has a 50% chance of winning this set,
I think.

Szávay serving 5-5: Held to love.

And Anna has to serve again with minimum respite, this time to save
the set.

Anna serving 5-6: Held to love.

6-6 Tiebreak (all scores Chakvetadze/Szávay): 0/0*. *0/1. *0/2. 0/3*.
0/4*. *0/5. *0/6 (6 SPs). 1/6*. Szávay won the second set 7-6 (7/1)
at 20:33 (3h09m gross, 1h05m net).

I wish they'd suspend this match for the day right now, because it's
becoming more and more difficult for the players to see in the fading
light (according to Sam Smith, commentating on Kuznetsova v
Shaughnessy), and I can imagine Anna being very upset by her change
of fortune since the resumption.


Third set
---------
CHAKVE _@*@ @ @ @ 6
SZÁVAY @___@ @ @_ 4

Anna serving 0-0: 0/30. 15/30. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.

Anna will have to dig deep to get out of this one alive - from a
break down in the third set. She's only broken Szávay twice in this
match, and the failing light must make it that much more difficult
for the receiver to see the serve.

Szávay serving 1-0: 0/40 (3 BPs). 15/40. Broken.

Yay! Now we're back on serve, with Anna having the advantage of
serving first! :-)

Anna serving 1-1: 15/0. 15/15. 40/15. 40/30. Held.
Szávay serving 1-2: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.

Two breaks in a row to Anna - what a turnaround, and what a relief!

Anna serving 3-1: 30/0 to 30/30. 40/30. 40/40. Ad Szávay (BP). Broken.

Pegged back from 30/0 and 40/30, and broken! Anna is going to be so
traumatised if she goes on to lose this one. :-( But at least she has
the advantage of serving first.

Szávay serving 2-3: 0/30 -> 30/30. 30/40 (BP). Broken.

Phew! At 30/30 it looked like Anna was letting yet another
opportunity go begging!

Anna serving 4-2: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.

Anna's torments continue, and this match has degenerated into break-
and-counterbreak.

This next game is hugely important. After it, either Anna will be
serving for the match at *5-3, or it will be *4-4 and anybody's match.

Szávay serving 3-4: 15/0. 15/40 (2 BPs). 30/40. Broken.

And serve for the match she will! Can she succeed where she failed at
6-4 *5-4? There've been five breaks in a row now.

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

Six breaks in a row now. It's not pretty, but if Anna can just make
it seven, she'll be home and hosed, and be able to put this nightmare
behind her - it certainly /would/ be a traumatic nightmare if she
lost now after all the chances she's had.

Szávay serving 4-5: 15/0. 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40.
Ad Anna (MP #1). Anna won 6-4 6-7 (1/7) 6-4 at 21:14 (third set 41m;
match 4h29m gross, 2h25m net).


Statistics
----------

Anna got 66% of first serves in, winning 60% of the points when she
did so, and 53% on second serve - disappointing statistics,
particularly in the third set (won 40% on first serve, 30% on second
serve).

The corresponding percentages for Szávay were 56%, 63% and 44% - she
too had woeful winning-percentages in the third set (first serve 33%,
second serve 31%).

Szávay served 4 aces, but a monstrous 10 double faults (7 coming in
the second set), while Anna served one ace and no DFs.

W:UE ratios were abysmal for both girls: Anna 8:52 (including 24 UEs
in the second set), Szávay 10:53 (28 UEs in the second set).

Anna won 9 of 18 points at the net (she didn't come into the net at
all in the first set), while Szávay was more selective and
successful, winning 10 of 15 points at the net.

Anna broke 7 times from 18 break-points (once each in the first two
sets, 5 times in the third), Szávay 5 times from 6 BPs (once in the
second set, 4 times in the third). It could have been so much easier
if Anna had taken more than one of the 8 BPs she had in the second
set.

In points, Anna won 117-114 (first set 38-34, second set 47-51, third
set 32-29).

-------------------
2. Third-round draw (bottom half)
-------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v Ioana Raluca Olaru [Q] (ajde Ana!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [12,EF] v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [24] (podme
Daniela!)
* SHAHAR PE'ER [15] v KATARINA SREBOTNIK [17] (both nice; my loyalty
is to Shahar)
* Dominika Cibulková [Q] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (podme Dominika!)

* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [5] (pojdme Lucie!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v AI SUGIYAMA [21] (davai Anna!)
* PATTY SCHNYDER [14] v Karin Knapp
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Alla Kudryavtseva [Q] (davai Maria!)

--------------------
3. Fourth-round draw (top half)
--------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v SYBILLE BAMMER [20]
* DINARA SAFINA [10] v SERENA WILLIAMS [8]
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v JELENA JANKOVIC [4] (allez Marion!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v TATHIANA GARBIN [19] (pojdme Nicole!)

-------------------------------
4. Women's Doubles: First round (Friday 1st June)
-------------------------------

- Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka lt.
   Klaudia Jans/Alicja Rosolska, 4-6 3-6

Doubles isn't the strongest part of Anna's career, to put it mildly.
When I watched her play doubles at Eastbourne 2006, she was always
looking behind her to watch her partner hit the ball.

-----------------------------
5. Order of play for Saturday
-----------------------------

Court Suzanne Lenglen (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
1. WS 3r: ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v Ioana Raluca Olaru [Q]
2. WS 3r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v AI SUGIYAMA [21]
3. MS 3r: MARCOS BAGHDATIS [16] v Ján Hájek
4. MS 3r: NOVAK ĐOKOVIC [6] v Olivier Patience [WC]

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/

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

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

1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Molik
2. Second-round draw (bottom half)
3. Third-round draw (top half)
4. Order of play for Thursday

-----------------------------------------------------
1. First-round scoreboard-report: Chakvetadze v Molik
-----------------------------------------------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. Alicia Molik, 6-2 6-3

I was watching Maria Sharapova's match on BBCi, and only remembered
at 11:30 CEST that Anna was playing! :-o

Not much to say, really, as it was a pretty straightforward win for
Anna. Perhaps the most important point was the break-point that she
saved at *3-2 in the first set, and the most worrying aspect was that
she failed to serve out the match at 6-2 *5-2.


First set
---------
CHAKV _*@* *@* 6
MOLIK *___*___ 2

Molik serving 1-3: Ad Molik. Deuce. Ad Molik. Deuce #2. Ad Molik.
Held.
Anna serving 3-2: 0/15. 15/15. 15/30. 30/30. 40/30. 40/40.
Ad Molik (BP). Deuce #2. Ad Anna. Held.
Molik serving 2-4: 0/15. 15/15. 15/40. Broken.
Anna serving 5-2: 30/15. Anna won the first set 6-2 at 11:45.


Second set
----------
CHAKV @* * *@ @ 6
MOLIK __* *__@_ 3

Molik serving 0-0: 15/15. 30/15. 30/30. 30/40 (BP). Broken.
Anna serving 1-0: 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Molik serving 0-2: 30/0. 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 2-1: 40/0. Held.
Molik serving 1-3: 15/0. 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Anna serving 3-2: 30/15. 40/15. Held.
Molik serving 2-4: 0/15. 15/15. 30/40 (BP). Broken.
Anna serving 5-2: 0/15. 15/40 (2 BPs). Broken.
Molik serving 3-5: 0/40 (3 MPs). Anna won 6-2 6-3 at 12:14.


Statistics
----------

In points, Anna won 62-43 (first set 35-25, second set 27-18).

The ratios of winners and unforced errors look rather poor at face-
value: Anna 3:16 (all her winners came in the second set), Molik 3:18
(all her winners came in the first set).

But what the official statistics don't say /directly/ is that Anna
won 41 of the remaining points by forcing Molik into error, while
Molik only won 24 points by forcing Anna into error. On clay it's
harder to hit winners and easier to make unforced errors, so I don't
think their UE-counts are too bad.

Anna played predominantly from the baseline, winning 4 of 5 points at
the net, while Molik - who plays a serve & volley game on grass - won
7 of 8 points at the net.

Anna got 70% of first serves in, winning 79% of the points when she
did so, but only 43% on second serve. In the second set, she traded
her high percentage of first serves in (79% to 58%) for a slightly
higher percentage of points won when she did get it in (77% to 82%),
and also improved her second-serve percentage (33% to 50%).

Corresponding statistics for Molik were 66%, 55% and 35%.

Anna served 4 aces, Molik 3, and they made one double fault each.

Anna broke 5 times from 10 break-points (2 of 6 in the first set,
3 of 4 in the second), while Molik broke once from 3 BPs, but the
worrying thing is that it came when Anna was serving for the match at
6-2 5-2.

I've observed before that Anna holds serve reliably, but can get
nervous when she's serving for a set or a match. She might get away
with it against the likes of Molik, but not against the top players:
if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.
t 34-29, second set 26-12).

--------------------
2. Second-round draw (bottom half)
--------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v Sania Mirza [DF] (both nice; my loyalty is to
Sania)
* Tatiana Poutchek v Ioana Raluca Olaru [Q]
* ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [24] v Elena Likhovtseva
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [12,EF] v Olga Poutchkova (both nice; my loyalty
is to Daniela)

* SHAHAR PE'ER [15] v Edina Gallovits (kadima Shahar!)
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [17] v Vera Dushevina (dajmo Katarina!)
* Dominika Cibulková [Q] v MARTINA MÜLLER [32] (podme Dominika!)
* Meghann Shaughnessy v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3]

* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [5] v Nathalie Dechy
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v Nicole Pratt (pojdme Lucie!)
* AI SUGIYAMA [21] v Meilen Tu
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v Ágnes Szávay [Q] (davai Anna!)

* PATTY SCHNYDER [14] v Kateryna Bondarenko
* ALYONA BONDARENKO [22] v Karin Knapp (davai Alyona!)
* GISELA DULKO [29,DF] v Alla Kudryavtseva [Q] (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Jill Craybas

-------------------
3. Third-round draw (top half)
-------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v MARA SANTANGELO [28]
* SYBILLE BAMMER [20] v LI,NA [16]
* DINARA SAFINA [10] v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [23]
* Michaëlla Krajícek v (2r: Milagros Sequera v SERENA WILLIAMS [8])

* JELENA JANKOVIC [4] v VENUS WILLIAMS [26]
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [13] (allez Marion!)
* Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro [WC] v TATHIANA GARBIN [19]
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v SAMANTHA STOSUR [27] (pojdme Nicole!)

-----------------------------
4. Order of play for Thursday (Anna-filtered)
-----------------------------

Court 1 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
1. MS 2r: MARCOS BAGHDATIS [16] v Kristian Pless
2. WS 2r: ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v Sania Mirza [DF]
3. MS 2r: CARLOS MOYÁ [23] v Florent Serra
4. WS 2r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v Ágnes Szávay [Q]

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/

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

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

1. UK TV-alert
2. Photos
3. First-round draw (bottom half)
4. Second-round draw (top half)
5. Anna Chakvetadze preview
6. Order of play for Wednesday

This report is derived from my full tournament-reports (preview):
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=300336

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

The French Open will be televised on BBCi from 09:50 BST each day of
the tournament (digital viewers press Red or select the appropriate
Freeview-channel - 301 or 302).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6102132.stm
>>>
Sunday 27th May to Sunday 3rd June, 10:00-19:00, BBCi
Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th June, 11:00-19:00, BBCi
Thursday 7th June, 13:00-19:00, BBCi
Friday 8th June, 12:00-19:00, BBCi
Saturday 9th June: Women's final 14:00-16:30, BBC Two
Sunday 10th June: Men's final 13:45-19:00, BBCi
Sunday 10th June: Highlights of men's final 16:00-17:30, BBC Two
<<<

---------
2. Photos
---------

Nouf's photos - various players including Anna:
http://www.teamwta.com/content/view/996/91/

-------------------
3. First-round draw (bottom half)
-------------------
3.1 Third quarter: Hantuchová
-----------------------------

* ANA IVANOVIC [7,DF] v Sofia Arvidsson [LL] (ajde Ana!)
* Sania Mirza v Alberta Brianti (go Sania!)
* Tatiana Poutchek v Youlia Fedossova [WC]
* JULIA VAKULENKO [30] v Ioana Raluca Olaru [Q] (davai Julia!)

* Varvara Lepchenko v ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES [24] (davai Varvara!)
* Elena Likhovtseva v Chan,Yung-Jan (davai Elena!)
* Olga Poutchkova v Eleni Daniilidou (davai Olga!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [12,EF] v Jelena Kostanic Tošic (podme Daniela!)

* SHAHAR PE'ER [15] v Kaia Kanepi (kadima Shahar!)
* Edina Gallovits v Vasilisa Bardina
* Vera Dushevina v Camille Pin
* KATARINA SREBOTNIK [17] v Anastasia Rodionova (dajmo Katarina!)

* MARTINA MÜLLER [32] v Rossana de los Ríos [Q]
* Dominika Cibulková [Q] v Sun,Tiantian (podme Dominika!)
* Anastasia Myskina v Meghann Shaughnessy (davai Anastasia!)
* Ekaterina Bychkova v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (davai Ekaterina!)


3.2 Bottom quarter: Chakvetadze, Sharapova
------------------------------------------

* AMÉLIE MAURESMO [5] v Laura Granville
* Caroline Wozniacki v Nathalie Dechy
* Flavia Pennetta [DF] v Nicole Pratt (forza Flavia!)
* LUCIE ŠAFÁROVÁ [25,DF] v Yulia Beygelzimer (pojdme Lucie!)

* AI SUGIYAMA [21] v Eva Birnerová
* Romina Oprandi v Meilen Tu
* Anne Kremer v Ágnes Szávay [Q]
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v Alicia Molik (davai Anna!)

* Martina Suchá v PATTY SCHNYDER [14] (podme Martina!)
* Zuzana Ondrášková v Kateryna Bondarenko (pojdme Zuzana!)
* Karin Knapp v Victoria Azarenka
* Iveta Benešová v ALYONA BONDARENKO [22] (both nice; my loyalty is
to Iveta)

* GISELA DULKO [29,DF] v Hsieh,Su-Wei [Q,S] (Ąvamos Gisela!)
* Julia Schruff v Alla Kudryavtseva [Q]
* Lourdes Domínguez Lino v Jill Craybas
* MARIA SHARAPOVA [2,EF] v Emilie Loit (davai Maria!)

--------------------
4. Second-round draw (top half)
--------------------

* JUSTINE HENIN [1] v Tamira Paszek
* Tamarine Tanasugarn v MARA SANTANGELO [28]
* SYBILLE BAMMER [20] v Olga Savchuk [Q]
* Pauline Parmentier [WC] v LI,NA [16]

* DINARA SAFINA [10] v Tzipora Obziler
* Timea Bacsinszky [Q] v FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE [23] (hopp Timea!)
* Michaëlla Krajícek v Shenay Perry (kom op Michaëlla!)
* Milagros Sequera v SERENA WILLIAMS [8]

* JELENA JANKOVIC [4] v Catalina Castańo
* Ashley Harkleroad v VENUS WILLIAMS [26] (go Ashley!)
* MARION BARTOLI [18,S] v Andrea Petkovic [Q] (allez Marion!)
* Mathilde Johansson [WC] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [13] (allez Mathilde!)

* Kveta Peschke [Q] v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro [WC]
* Nuria Llagostera Vives v TATHIANA GARBIN [19]
* Maria Kirilenko [DF] v SAMANTHA STOSUR [27] (davai Maria!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [6,EF] v Akgul Amanmuradova [Q] (pojdme Nicole!)

---------------------------
5. Anna Chakvetadze preview
---------------------------

Anna isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment, as she's been
struggling in the claycourt-season with a right shoulder-strain.

At Warsaw, she should have crucified Jill Craybas easier than
7-6 7-5. Beating Tathiana Garbin 6-2 6-2 was a much more convincing
scoreline, but then she retired at 6-7 (1/7) 1-3 against Jelena
Jankovic, following a dramatic loss of form in the tiebreak.

At Berlin, playing with a patch on her shoulder, she struggled past
Samantha Stosur 3-6 7-6 7-6, then lost 6-4 6-4 to Lucie Šafárová, who
is also one of the most promising young players on the WTA Tour.

At Rome she beat Yan,Zi 6-1 6-3, but then lost 6-2 6-3 to Daniela
Hantuchová. Daniela is one of the most flairsomely-talented players
on the WTA Tour, just as Anna is, but I was surprised by that
scoreline as I believe Anna's game is better suited to clay than
Daniela's.

I just hope that Anna's week off will have helped her shoulder to
heal, and that she'll soon be back to the level she was at last
autumn and earlier this year. Her recent results would have been okay
this time last year, but they are disappointing by top-ten standards.


5.1 First round
---------------

Alicia Molik was becoming a formidable top-ten player when her career
was cruelly interrupted by an inner-ear infection in 2005. Her
results have been much more modest since she came back in May 2006.
She did beat four top-32 players early in 2007, but has lost seven of
her last eight matches (the one she won was 7-6 2-6 7-6 against #292
Leanne Baker at Strasbourg).

Molik on this form should be easy pickings for a healthy Anna.
They've never played each other before.


5.2 Second round
----------------

Anne Kremer is one of the veterans of the WTA Tour at age 31, with a
win over Monica Seles at Eastbourne 1999. Her 2007 results aren't too
shabby at 19:12, but they've mainly been against low-ranked players
in qualifying for WTA tournaments.

Ágnes Szávay, on the other hand, is barely out of juniors, and lacks
big-match experience. She too has been playing mainly qualifying on
the WTA Tour this year, but with a more impressive win/loss record of
18:7. She also won the ITF $75k at Zagreb a couple of weeks ago - a
timely confidence-boost ahead of the French Open!

Again, either of these players would be easy pickings for a healthy
Anna.


5.3 Third round
---------------

Ai Sugiyama is another 31-year-old veteran, but a much higher-ranked
one at #26. She's a very plucky competitor, and playing against her
can be like pulling teeth. But she's lost four of her last five
matches - most recently a 6-0 6-2 loss to Shahar Pe'er at Rome, so
that has to be encouraging for Anna. They've never played each other
before.


5.4 Fourth round
----------------

This is where the going gets tough. Anna is seeded to meet Amélie
Mauresmo, which is kind of annoying because if Anna had moved up to
#9 one week earlier, she'd have been seeded eighth and avoided this
draw.

Anna trails Mauresmo 0:3 head-to-head, but every match has been
tougher than the one before.

But Mauresmo is off-form after coming back from appendicitis, losing
to Julia Vakulenko in 3r Berlin, Samantha Stosur in 2r Rome, and
Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final of Strasbourg. And she always
underperforms at Roland Garros.

Perhaps the greater danger, then, comes from Lucie Šafárová, who
upset Mauresmo 6-4 6-3 at the Australian Open, then enjoyed a
trailblazing run to the final of WTA Paris, upsetting Nicole
Vaidišová, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Justine Henin back to back.

Lucie's results have been more modest since WTA Paris, and her
6-4 6-0 semi-final loss to Victoria Azarenka at Estoril was
particularly disappointing. But she did beat Anna 6-4 6-4 at Berlin -
their only meeting so far.


5.5 Quarter-finals
------------------

Anna could be in for a repeat of her Australian Open quarter-final
against Maria Sharapova, which she lost 7-6 7-5. Maria leads their
head-to-head 3:0. They first played each other - and I first saw Anna
play - at the French Open 2005, which Maria won 6-1 6-4, but Anna's
game has improved almost beyond recognition since then.

Due to serious injuries to her right shoulder and left hamstring,
Maria hadn't played since Miami until Constantinople, where she lost
in the semi-finals to Aravane Rezaď.

So Maria's place in that quarter-final is far from guaranteed, the
greatest danger coming from Patty Schnyder, who beat Maria at Rome
2005. Schnyder was having a poor 2007 until Rome, where she beat
Serena Williams to reach the semi-finals. But she pulled out of
Constantinople with a right-thigh strain.

Anna is 1:1 head-to-head against Schnyder after her 6-4 6-1 thrashing
of the Swiss in the fourth round of the Australian Open. But clay is
Schnyder's best surface, while Anna's claycourt-season is below par
so far.

------------------------------
6. Order of play for Wednesday (Anna-filtered)
------------------------------

Court 17 (start 11:00 CEST = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST)
1. WS 1r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] v Alicia Molik
2. WS 1r: PATTY SCHNYDER [14] v Martina Suchá
3. MS 2r: Nicolas Lapentti v Mikhail Youzhny
4. WS 2r: Kveta Peschke v Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro

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/

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

There is a 3-page article on Anna in the current (June 2007) issue of
British tennis-magazine _Ace_ (pp.30-33).

It's an exclusive interview which covers how Anna started playing
tennis at age 8 ("I was the weakest player in the group because all
the other kids started at six"), how the US Open is the Grand Slam
she would most like to win, her university-studies ("they have my
picture on the first floor"), how studying psychology has helped her
to control her emotions after being such a nervous junior, how she
doesn't like being compared with Martina Hingis, and various other
questions.

The most interesting exchange for me is the following:
Q: At 5ft 7ins and 128 pounds, you are smaller than many of the top
10 players. How do you overcome their greater size and strength?
A: It's very difficult because when you are taller and bigger, it's
easier to hit the ball harder. Since I'm not that big and tall, I
should do something else. I should change pace and think more on
court.

For me, the most obvious answer to that question is that Anna
has /flairsome/ power, i.e. she times her strokes perfectly to
generate shots of power, wonderful placement (she makes the court
seem very wide on her opponent's side), and they're very deceptive!

It's also true that when she /is/ on the defensive, she anticipates
so well, and knows exactly how to make her defensive shots awkward
for her opponent - those are Hingis-like qualities, and are the
reason why she's such a nightmare for Nadia Petrova (whom she owns
4:0).

The article includes five on-court colour-photos of Anna, including a
wonderful full-page one that showcases her eyes like twin lagoons
slumbering beneath a southern sky. There's also a small version of
that photo on the front cover.

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

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

I regret to announce my semi-retirement from writing tennis-reports,
with immediate (and indeed retrospective) effect.

I have just started a new job which means that I will have many fewer
hours to pursue my hobbies than I did before, and there is no way
that I would be able to sustain the effort currently required to
research and write my lengthy reports.

Just as tennis-players don't make it without hard work and
sacrifices, so too must I work hard and make sacrifices to progress
my career as a computer-scientist.

It pains me greatly to make this decision, but it's something I did
foresee when I made my vow for each member of my Eternal Fanship:
>>>
From now on, and until the end of her career (or my life), I will
follow her with the same level of dedication as the players of whom
I'm already an Eternal Fan, to the maximum extent that my personal
circumstances and available resources will allow.
<<<

The maximum extent that my circumstances and resources now allow is
the following:

1. I will continue to update the Matchographies on my website.

2. I will continue to update the Biographies on my website at the end
of each year.

3. During the French Open, Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon,
Australian Open, and the Olympics, I will follow these tournaments
with the same dedication as I did before. But I will not be doing any
more /extended/ reports for these tournaments (except the ones that I
actually attend).

4. I will follow other tournaments privately, without posting
reports. This even includes the US Open, which is not televised on
any channels to which I have access, and is therefore not worth
demanding two weeks' extra leave for.

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

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

==================
SONY ERICSSON OPEN (Miami, Florida, USA; outdoor hard; WTA Tier I)
================== http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF]:
1r   bye
2r + Vasilisa Bardina, 6-1 6-0
3r + TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF], 6-1 6-3
4r + MARA SANTANGELO [32], 6-1 7-5
qf + LI,NA [15], 4-6 7-5 6-2
sf - JUSTINE HENIN [2], 2-6 3-6

Anna had some luck with Jelena Jankovic [7] and Kim Clijsters [4]
losing in the rounds before she would have played them, but it's
still a great achievement to reach the semi-finals of a Super Tier I,
and her scorelines were just great in her first five sets!

Then she got tired, as she emphasises in her latest diary-entry (30th
March) at http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ (can't wait for the
Tennis Week photoshoot, but 5 hours to put on a few clothes and take
a few photos? :tape:)

Anna said in her semi-final press-conference that she came into this
tournament with no confidence. This surprises me, because I think
she's had a very good start to the year apart from her upset by
Shahar Pe'er at Indian Wells. But she's very ambitious, and certainly
has a much higher standing in the game than a year ago. She rarely
loses to lesser players anymore, and has the class to compensate
broken confidence.

Anna seems to have less confidence in herself than I do in her, and
looks so miserable on the court while I enjoy watching her so much.
Perhaps it's all just a façade to lull her opponents into a false
sense of security - in which case, hats off to her!

This result moves Anna back up to her career-high ranking of #10 -
hopefully this time for much longer than one week! With 1847 points
she's just ahead of #11 Serena Williams (1769), but is even closer to
#9 Jankovic (1867).

------
Photos
------

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=12
http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/content/20070327180219.html (qf)
http://www.tennis.info/Miami7.html (Third round - day 1,
Quarterfinals, Semifinals)
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Sonja's Miami-photos (various players including Anna in Post #23):
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=291289

-----
Video
-----

Quarter-final (Chakvetadze v Li) highlights (4˝ minutes):
http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10385634

Judging by these highlights, I don't think Anna played particularly
well in her quarter-final. Although her strokes were lovely to watch,
she seemed to have less power than the other times I've seen her play
in the last year, and in the first half of the match (Anna was
4-6 1-3* down), it was Li taking the initiative and hitting winners.

But what Anna lacked in power that day, she made up for in placement,
and I guess that's how she turned it around. It was more like
watching Martina Hingis than watching Anna Chakvetadze!

------------
Second round (Friday 23rd March)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. Vasilisa Bardina, 6-1 6-0

It was a repeat of the Hobart-final, which Anna won 6-3 7-6 (7/3).
This time, Anna made light work of her 19-year-old Russian compatriot
(it's so strange to think that Anna is no longer 19), converting all
6 break-points she had.


Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10351164>:
>>>
Match is currently suspended by rain with Anna leading 6-1 2-0 0-15*

The match started with three consecutive breaks of serve. In fact no-
one has saved a break point so far. Apart from that it's been fairly
easy for Anna. She seems to be returning very well.

She double faulted on her second set point but that's excusable, 6-1
is a good score. She looked to be really getting into a nice groove
when it started raining. Hopefully she can continue it on the restart.
<<<

-----------
Third round (Sunday 25th March)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. TATIANA GOLOVIN [17,DF], 6-1 6-3

It's only right that Anna should have beaten Tatiana, because when I
evaluated them both last December, Anna was the only one whom I
inducted into my Eternal Fanship. Anna's tennis is wonderfully
flairsome, while Tatiana often plays too passively, and it looks so
laboured.

But I've had a soft spot for Tatiana ever since 2004, when she was a
gorgeous, slim 16-year-old who sashayed around the court in sexy
microshorts. She's put on a lot of bulk since then, but can still be
very attractive.

I have to feel sorry for Tatiana, because she was defending a semi-
final here - an amazing match in which she came back from 3-6 1-5*
down against Maria Sharapova to take the match to a third set, where
she suffered a horrific ankle-sprain at 3-4* and had to retire in
tears.

Anna's victory avenges a 3-6 2-6 loss to Tatiana in 4r US Open 2006,
and levels their head-to-head at 2:2.

------------
Fourth round (Monday 26th March)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. MARA SANTANGELO [32], 6-1 7-5

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10375382>:
>>>
I thought Anna would romp away with this. But she got to 40-0 up for
a 3-0 lead in the second and then started having trouble finding a
first serve. Mara really started to attack the 2nd serve and managed
to level up. The wind must definitely have been a big factor. Mara
made seven double faults to Anna's one.

But when Anna got her first serve in she really dominated and luckily
she avoided the tiebreaker.
<<<

--------------
Quarter-finals (Tuesday 27th March)
--------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] d. LI,NA [15], 4-6 7-5 6-2

Li is a go-for-broke player who makes many winners and unforced
errors, and she made 73 of the latter against Anna, who fought back
from 4-6 1-3* to win!

Anna's victory avenges a 5-7 3-6 loss in 2r French Open 2006, and
puts her 2:1 up in her head-to-head against Li.

Gao,Shenyang (deputy-director of the China Tennis Association)
describes Li's game as follows: "She has a strong forehand-attack,
but a lack of variety and is weak in net-play. So if the opponent
withstands her first attacks, she becomes impatient. It is not simply
a mental problem."

Spiritof42 <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10379277> {before
the match}:
>>>
Li is quick and has powerful ground strokes, but she also hits a ton
of UE more often than not. Another player who can only play one way
(unlike Anna). After watching her completely self-destruct against
Hantuchova in Indian Wells, I'm confident Anna can win this by using
her superior variety of shots. A good 1st serve % will also help,
since Anna's 2nd serve can be rather vulnerable.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10382603> {after
the first set}:
>>>
They were actually level on points won at the end of the first set.
But Anna didn't save any of her break points while Na saved three.
<<<

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
On Tuesday, the No.9-seeded Russian battled back from a set and 3-1
down against No.15-seeded Chinese trailblazer Li Na to win in three
sets, 4-6 7-5 6-2.
<<<

soup <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10388320>:
>>>
Her serve looked pretty good in third set...she has improved I
think :cool: and she was really fighting well. It was like the end of
the world always when she lost a point and when she hit a winner she
made almost serena-like fist pumps :hearts: It was a matter of life
and death. She is a winner type :angel:
<<<

-----------
Semi-finals (Thursday 29th March)
-----------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [9,EF] lt. JUSTINE HENIN [2], 2-6 3-6

It was the first Miami semi-final for both of them, but Anna was not
only tired, she was up against someone who has won five Grand Slam
titles - someone who is now spending her 59th week ranked #1.

Having seen Anna's Wimbledon 2006 match against Henin, but not their
Miami match, I'd say the improvement is simply that we now consider
it an exceptionally bad day at the office that she lost 6-2 6-3,
whereas at Wimbledon, I was like, "Anna played okay, but desperately
disappointing by Eternal Fanship standards - I think she could have
done more." She's of a different stature now.


Previews
--------

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
{Tuesday 27th March}
Another fruit of Henin's labour here is her ever-extending 2007 win-
streak; this [quarter-final] win was her 12th in a row, eight of them
coming in her Middle Eastern sweep at Dubai and Doha, and four coming
here. Prior to Miami, there was a tie between Kim Clijsters, Jelena
Jankovic and Anna Chakvetadze for longest streak, with nine.

Chakvetadze, who put together that run by winning Hobart (5:0) and
reaching her first major quarter-final in Melbourne (4:1), will be
Henin's semi-final opponent.

Henin and Chakvetadze have played just once before, with the Belgian
winning in two easy sets, 6-2 6-3, in the third round of Wimbledon
last summer. But it is a different Chakvetadze now; the Russian, who
just turned 20 years old, has had seven of her eight career top-ten
wins since that match, and also made her début in the top ten earlier
this year, having been a much-lower No.34 at Wimbledon.

{Wednesday 28th March}
First up in the afternoon-session is current world No.1 Justine Henin
taking on Russian rising star Anna Chakvetadze. Although she has won
five Grand Slams and is currently spending her 58th non-consecutive
week at the top of the rankings, Henin is playing the Miami semi-
finals for the first time. Chakvetadze is in the same situation at
this event. The two have played once before, with the Belgian
winning, 6-2 6-3, in the third round of Wimbledon last year. But the
Russian is a much more dangerous player now than she was then; she
has had seven top-ten wins since that match, and also made her own
top-ten début in February.
<<<

Sandra Harwitt
<http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/content/20070328205918.html>
>>>
Not only is Justine Henin safely into today's Sony Ericsson Open semi-
finals, but she's also secure in terms of holding on to her world No.
1 ranking when the new WTA Tour rankings are released this coming
Monday.

Henin, 24, has won many prestigious titles, but she's still two
matches away from the possibility of winning her first career Sony
Ericsson Open trophy. Henin's best previous results here have been
two quarter-final finishes in 2003 and 2005.

The Belgian has only played three tournaments this year – she skipped
the Australian summer season in January for personal reasons.
In those three tournaments, she won Dubai and Doha – obviously the
Middle East agrees with Henin. She also reached the semi-finals at
Paris.

In possession of one of the best one-handed backhands in the
business, Henin has won 31 career-titles. She's won five Grand Slam
trophies, with only a Wimbledon-title missing from her collection of
majors.

Henin is the type of personality that likes to live on the edge in
order to experience a thrill. Away from the tennis-court, the only
activity that she's found that gives her as strong a sense of a
thrill is skydiving, which she has done at least 19 times.

As for her opponent today, Anna Chakvetadze, who is ranked No. 11 in
the world, it's not known if she needs to skydive to get that
exhilarating feeling. But fans could imagine that a first career-
victory over Henin - who beat her the one time they played, in the
2006 Wimbledon third round - would deliver an exhilarating sensation.

Chakvetadze, 20, has won three career-titles, including the Hobart-
title earlier this year. She's also reached the semi-finals at
Antwerp and here in Miami, as well as the quarter-finals at the
Australian Open and Paris the past three months.

Henin prefers to skydive rather than take a nosedive, so fans can
expect the Belgian to beat a path to her first career Sony Ericsson
Open final.
<<<

Match-reports
-------------

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Henin was the first to advance during the afternoon session,
dismissing young Russian Anna Chakvetadze easily, 6-2 6-3. It was an
identical score to their only prior duel, at Wimbledon last year.

The No.9-seeded Chakvetadze never developed a winning game-plan
against the No.2-seeded Henin, her normally consistent style breaking
apart upon the Belgian's variety of spins and slices, as well as
frequent rushes to the net.

With such a wide variety of shot, Henin's greatest strength is hard
to pinpoint. In addition to her powerful topspin-forehand, fluid one-
handed backhand, spins and an impeccable touch at the net, she is
perhaps most renowned for her tough mentality; the Belgian agreed
that this last attribute was best.
<<<

Steve Keating for Reuters:
>>>
World number one Justine Henin stormed into the final of the Sony
Ericsson Open on Thursday with a crushing 6-2 6-3 win over Russian
Anna Chakvetadze.

After missing the early part of the season following her split with
husband Pierre-Yves Hardenne, Henin has been almost unbeatable, and
has now reached her third consecutive final after collecting back-to-
back titles in Dubai and Doha.

Henin, who has lost just once in 16 matches this season, was never
seriously challenged by her ninth-seeded Russian opponent, who was
broken five times and managed to hold serve just three times in the
entire match.
<<<

Agence France Presse (AFP):
>>>
Henin, 24, fired five aces and broke serve five times to defeat 11th-
ranked Chakvetadze, 20, in 71 minutes, denying the Russian her second
final of the year. Chakvetadze earlier won the title at Hobart.
<<<

Steven Wine, AP Sports Writer:
>>>
The top-ranked Henin is a five-time Grand Slam champion, but until
this year she had never advanced beyond the quarter-finals at Key
Biscayne. She says she dislikes the island's windy weather, and tends
to play poorly in March because it's the anniversary of her mother's
death.

Henin said she has been hindered during the tournament by a breathing-
problem - possibly allergies - and is taking medication. She barely
survived the third round, overcoming a 1-5 deficit in the third set
to beat Virginie Razzano.

But against the ninth-seeded Chakvetadze, Henin took charge from the
start.

The latest Russian to crack the women's top 10, Chakvetadze played
tentatively early, and lost the first set in 33 minutes. In the
second set, serving at 40/0, she lost five consecutive points to fall
behind 0-2.

Henin hit consecutive aces to close out the next game, and saved some
of her most aggressive groundstrokes for the final few games.
Chakvetadze lost 20 of 35 points on her first serve, and was broken
five times.

Henin reached every major final last year. She's 15:1 this year, but
skipped the Australian Open in January because she was going through
a separation.
<<<

soup <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10398438>:
>>>
For those who didn't see it, consider yourself lucky, this was the
worst I've ever seen Anna play...
<<<http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10398461>>>
This was even worse than 2005-Anna. She had a very very bad day :sad:
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10400049>:
>>>
I couldn't help myself and watched some of Eurosport's replay of the
match. It was probably the worst Anna's played this year. I'm not
sure if the wind was having an effect and she wasn't showing signs of
nerves - it was just a bad day at the office. She showed a few
glimpses of what she could do near the end but all too late.

I thought it was quite cute when Anna got the two line calls in a row
overturned with Hawkeye and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. :)

I also notice that after the match was over as she was walking off
court she stopped to sign autographs. That's very sweet of her
considering how she just lost, not many players would do it. :hug:
<<<

cosmoose <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10401680>:
>>>
Anna looked so frustrated...maybe even tired. She just kept ball in
play and played defensively. sigh.
<<<

Spiritof42 <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10401774>:
>>>
Anna has to be disappointed with her performance today. I know I am.
She was clearly the underdog going in, but she just didn't play
nearly well enough to pose a threat to Henin. During the warm-up, my
first thought was: "I hope Anna isn't as nervous as I am, or she'll
be in trouble". She did seem tight to me. I don't recall seeing her
mishit so many 1st serves with the frame, and she looked tentative
more than once. She was overly cautious. The fact that Juju started
the match well didn't help. Anna raised her level with her back to
the wall, when there was basically no pressure, but it was too little
too late.

The happiest moment for me was Anna's reaction after successfully
challenging 2 calls in a row near the beginning of the 2nd set. She
looked so :hearts: ! Unfortunately, Henin proceeded to ruin the
moment immediately by hitting a couple of aces :mad:

So yes, basically, it was a bad day at the office. Anna looked almost
embarrassed when she waved at the crowd during her exit. She knows
she can play much better.
<<<

David <Fans' Corner at www.theannachakvetadze.com>:
>>>
I am not trying to be a negative fan; however, I really think you had
a chance against Henin. In the second Set you had 2 games in a-row
that were exactly how you play at your best...
<<<

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

"When you play the way I played today, it's not even strategy to
think if you can't hit more than three balls over the net. It's your
problem, so, yeah.

"I think Justine played pretty solid today, but I don't know, I just
felt very tired. I felt I couldn't run. I don't know why I felt
tired. I didn't run, and I was not in the match today. Yeah, but you
know, sometimes this happens, and I look forward to playing on clay-
courts.

"I felt it actually yesterday that I'm a little bit tired. I was a
little bit dizzy in the evening, but I felt maybe I would get through
that, but no.

"You know, something wrong happened, and actually, I'm still pleased
with the result because I had no confidence when I came here - after
I played one of my worst matches this year, and I didn't have
confidence at all. And the goal for me was pass one round. And when I
passed it I just felt a little bit better. Then second round,
Golovin, also pretty easy - I was surprised. Yeah, it's still a good
result, but I'm just feeling that I'm not in a good shape right now."

[Re. top ten next week]
"Yeah, I know, that's strange. If I would feel good, then maybe I
would be top five. But no, the thing is that of course I got lucky
with the draw. It was very tough match for me against Na Li - she
just didn't use her opportunities, that's why I won. It was very
lucky, so yeah, I'm happy it was a semi-final. But today in the
match, Justine, she was controlling all games. She just start to miss
a little bit in the end of the second set, so I won a few more games.
[I'm not really giving myself much credit,] but I am telling the
truth."

[Re. her improvement in the last year]
"Well, I just got more confidence against top players. I got
confidence after I won my first tournament in China. And then the
next week I won a home-tournament in Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Yeah,
I beat like three top-ten players, and after that I just felt that
I can play better and better."

[Re. no coach]
"No, my dad is with me here, and my hitting-partner. I actually was
practising before Indian Wells with Robert Lansdorp in L.A., and I
liked it a lot. But he can't travel, so probably I'll go to see him
later when I go play US Open Series. Something special? He had great
players: he was coaching Sharapova, Myskina and Sampras. He doesn't
like to compare. I liked it, you know, he's very nice guy, and we
practise good together."

[Re. next tournament]
"Well, I'm going back home and I'm going... in Russia, yes, in
Moscow. I'm going to play Fed Cup and practise on clay, outdoors.
Then I play Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, week off, and then French Open.
We'll see how it goes.

[Re. Henin]
"Well, she sees the ball very good. She likes when someone hit flat
against her. Well, all girls mostly playing like that - that's how I
played today as well, I don't know why. It's not my style of the game.

"Well, yeah, she's a great champion. I don't know. They look a little
bit similar with... no, she hit actually flatter than Mauresmo does.
But they both have one-hand backhand and serve pretty good, so yeah.
They don't play the same tennis as others play. Because usually girls
play very flat, and powerful, and Justine, she can mix her game.
That's why she's No. 1."

[Re. top five]
"Well, hopefully. That's my goal, yeah. I'll try to do my best this
year. Hopefully I will play better."


Henin quotes
------------

"She made a lot of mistakes, but I've been smart. I've played the
kind of game she doesn't like that much. But there wasn't a lot of
rhythm, so it was an easier match than was I was expecting.

"I was just happy to do my job - it was very clean. I had the
solution to every ball she was hitting today.

"I used my slice a lot. I could change the rhythm. I was running a
lot and I was moving well. Also I had good defense, but with that I
could come into the court and play a little bit more offensively too.

"That's my game, you know, to change a lot. I'm not as tall as most
of the players, not as strong, so I have to play with my qualities.
I'm not the kind of player who is hitting the ball so hard on every
shot. I just try to do something else, and that's good for me."

[Re. mental strength]
"I feel that's my biggest quality. In the past, I've proven it many
times. I have come back in tough matches, and when I was younger, not
a lot of people believed I'd really become a great tennis-player.
I proved a lot of things to those people - but first to myself.
I love playing tennis so much, because it brings me a lot of
emotions; it gives emotions to people I love, to my fans - and that's
why I play tennis now, and I'm very happy about that. I just feel
lucky to do what I love so much.

"I've been in trouble in my third round against Razzano. I was down
5-1, so I could be out of the tournament at that time. I wouldn't say
I've been lucky, because I don't feel that luck exists in sport.
I've been very focused at that time, and just try to stay in the
tournament. Conditions are pretty tough, but I just could accept that
and just, yeah, day after day, try to be myself and be happy to be on
the court.

"Emotionally, I still have to find a good balance. I had a pretty
tough time early in the year. The beginning of the season has been
fantastic. I hope I can keep it going until the end. What happened in
2006 is far away; now I just want to focus on another season.

"It's great. The beginning of the season I've had is fantastic and I
just hope I can keep going to the end in this tournament.

"It is a challenge for me. I just live for the moment now - I'm not
in the past anymore. I just try to enjoy every moment of my life, and
not try to project too far in the future, and forget a little bit of
what happened in the past. I just try to move forward. You can take
something positive from anything in your life, and that's what I am
trying to do."

[Re. on-court coaching]
"No, we didn't use it, and I don't think we're going to do it. It's
going to be 11 years we work together, and I don't have to have
Carlos [Rodríguez]. I don't need him beside me on the court. Even if
he just looks at me, I can understand what he wants from me on the
court. I also have the feeling I'm mature enough. I know what I have
to do on the court. The thing is that you alone have to find the
solutions by yourself. I'm not quite sure what the level of the top
players is going to make a difference. I'm not really positive for
that. I don't care if the other players do that, but for me, the goal
of Carlos is I take a little of my own responsibilities on the court.
So it wouldn't help me if he comes to me at the end of the set and
give me another solution - I have to find it by myself. I don't have
really an opinion. It's just that I don't need that."


================
Next tournaments
================

Anna's next WTA tournament will be Warsaw (week of 30th April), but
before that she will play Fed Cup <http://www.fedcup.com/>:
Russia are in the World Group, and will play their first-round tie on
21st/22nd April. They play Spain at Moscow, on indoor clay.

Shamil Tarpishchev was reportedly choosing between Anna and Dinara
Safina for fourth place on the team, and reportedly chose Anna. Then
Maria Sharapova withdrew, leaving Anna as the third player behind
Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova - though whether he will choose
Petrova over Anna, who owns Petrova 4:0, will depend very much on
Petrova's title-defence at Amelia Island, I would think.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/ (added 1 external link)

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

=================
PACIFIC LIFE OPEN
(Indian Wells, California, USA; outdoor hard (Plexipave); WTA Tier I)
================= http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
1r   bye
2r + Mirjana Lucic [WC], 6-2 7-5
3r + MARIA KIRILENKO [25,WC,DF], 6-4 6-1
4r - SHAHAR PE'ER [11], 4-6 6-7 (2/7)

Let's look at the positives first. Anna needed to reach the fourth
round to defend her first significant points from last year.

But Anna is of a much bigger stature now. She was seeded to reach the
quarter-finals, and needed to reach them to return to the top ten.

One win shy of the top ten; one win shy of a mouthwatering quarter-
final with Daniela Hantuchová.

------
Photos
------

On court:
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ (see Gallery; Diary updated too)

Off court:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/

Mike Werner's photos - by far the best of Anna from this tournament:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=290066
>>>
Anna is one of my favorite players to watch and photograph. She has
tremendous natural talent which comes through in photographs. She
does everything in a graceful, balanced, way, making professional
tennis look easy. This is the first time I've seen her with her hair
not in a pony tail. It is LONG and beautiful. Looks like a horses
tail.
<<<

------------
Second round (Friday 9th March)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Mirjana Lucic [WC], 6-2 7-5

It's not that often that CHOKEvetadze rears her head, but Anna nearly
blew a 4-0 lead in the second set!

Lucic was an interesting opponent, because at 17 she reached the semi-
finals of Wimbledon 1999, beating the great Monica Seles in the third
round, then fell off the face of the Earth. Let's just say that her
father makes Damir Dokic and Jim Pierce look like saints!

This was only Lucic's fourth tournament since the US Open 2003. She
played ITF Dothan in 2004 and 2005, and lost in the second qualifying-
round for Memphis last month.

Lucic is a powerful go-for-broke player who can be extremely
dangerous when she's on, or self-destruct in a deluge of unforced
errors.

Anna and Mirjana both had birthdays that week. Anna turned 20 on 5th
March, so this was her first match as a tweenager. Lucic turned 25
the day she lost to Anna!

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Chakvetadze had a rough go of it towards the end of a 6-2 7-5 victory
over former phenom Mirjana Lucic, nearly squandering 4-0 and 5-1
leads in the second set.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10249828>:
>>>
That second set worries me. Anna was up 6-2 4-1 *40-0 and got broken.
Then she lost the next two games. Then she got broken again serving
for the match the first time. What was going on? :shrug:

She seemed to be on cruise control for most of the match then forgot
she still needed to win it. I don't think it was nerves, lack of
concentration more likely. Or perhaps Mirjana just started to go all-
or-nothing on her shots and it was paying off.
<<<

MLucicSuper <http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=289326>:
>>>
Ok so my brother was there (the pics are coming) and before match
they gave Mirjana roses and a card for 25th Birthday (she was
surprised and happy) she thanked them,and for coming to cheer for
her...

So this is what he said,Mirjana was sick on the court,she was
coughing and sneezing and was blowing her nose the whole time,her
voice was gone too. And she was about to retire in the 4th game,(she
was talking to officials) at one point she said ''am dizzy'' but she
said no no,she gave a signal that she will keep on playing...and
played a good match.had some chances but didnt convert...but wasnt
negative at all...she fought.. at the end the crew gave her a
standing ovation....(we are Croats)....and she thanked them for
coming (they followed her again and took some more pics of her)
<<<

Lucic quotes {before the match}
------------

"This is no experiment. In my head, I really never left. I'm
absolutely back in the game after an incredibly difficult time.
God willing, I will be better than ever.

"There were no injuries; I've been healthy for the last few years,
and I've been practising 100%. I've been waiting for my chance to get
away from the problems and get back to playing consistently."

[Re. Anna]
"She's been playing great, but I'm just focusing one by one right
now. I try not to worry too much. I'm just very excited. I'm going to
go out there and relax. I feel like I'm improving all the time, so
I'll just go out and play my game."

-----------
Third round (Sunday 11th March)
-----------

Ultracute winner, ultracute loser:
+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. MARIA KIRILENKO [25,WC,DF], 6-4 6-1

Anna also beat Little Maria in the third round here last year - then
6-2 6-3. That win really marked the end of Anna's slump, as she had
come into the tournament having lost 7 of her last 8 matches, and as
the 22nd seed, she upset Little Maria who was the 11th seed, was in
much better form than Anna, and was higher than Anna in my favour at
that time. What a difference a year makes!

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10268731>:
>>>
Great result for Anna. Much more one-sided than I expected. Just
looking at the serving stats, Anna won 72% of her own 2nd serves and
a whopping 77% of Maria's on the return.

Peer will be a very different story I think. Shahar had a difficult
third round opponent in Safarova and she dropped the second set 1-6.
I think the scores will be a lot closer than that. Remember last time
they played Anna won 7-6 7-5.

Anna has played both her matches here at the end of the day's
schedules when I imagine it has cooled down quite a bit. If they get
scheduled during the day she may have to play in the heat for the
first time. I'm not sure whether that would help or hinder her.
<<<

------------
Fourth round (Tuesday 13th March)
------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] lt. SHAHAR PE'ER [11], 4-6 6-7 (2/7)

In the first set, Anna lost four games in a row from *2-1 to *2-5.
She broke back for *4-5, only to be broken for the set.

The second set was a bit of a break-fest, with Anna going from *2-1
to 2-2* to *3-2, and failing to serve it out at *5-4.

I like Shahar, whom I find cute and sexy, and I admire the way she
has developed her retrieval-based game into a power-game since I
first saw her play at Wimbledon 2005. Just like Anna, in fact.

But I don't like Shahar anywhere near as much as I like Anna, and
though Shahar's progress has been impressive, it pales in comparison
to that of Anna, who in recent months has won a Tier I title, two
minor WTA titles, reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the
Australian Open (as did Shahar), and briefly reached a career-high
ranking of #10.

It's Anna's worst loss of the year so far, as she had previously only
lost to Maria Sharapova and Amélie Mauresmo (twice), and this is her
first loss of the year where she's failed to win 11 games. And her
first-ever loss in three meetings with Shahar.

And she missed out on a mouthwatering quarter-final with eventual
champion Daniela Hantuchová! :sad:


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Chakvetadze served for the second set at 5-4, but a determined Pe'er
broke back, racing through the ensuing tiebreak.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10279168>:
>>>
Bad loss.

This match reminded me of some of Anna's matches last year. She won 5
of 6 break points but almost every single time she proceeded to go
0-40 down in her next service game. She couldn't back it up at all
today and got broken six times herself.

Add to that the two double faults she served in the tie-break... not
a match to remember.
<<<

selyoink <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10279310>:
>>>
Expected loss in my opinion but Anna definitely should have won a set
today. Peer was mentally tougher of the two on this occasion and that
was the difference.
<<<

Shahar quotes
-------------

"It was really tough match. Anna is a tough player. I played her
already three times - once at juniors, and two times in the women's
tour. She's a tough player. She's everywhere, and every point she's
in the match, and one of the tough - a tough match.

"I'm kind of player who change always the pace. I never play in one
pace, so I guess every match I change also against every player. And,
of course, it's hard to deal with the different pace. So I know like
for Anna, she likes to hit the ball; she likes to take your pace out.
So, I mean, if you hit to her hard, she likes it, so I had to mix it
a little bit.

"It was very warm outside. I've never been so hot! But coming from a
country which is very hot, too, so maybe my body is okay. But for
everybody it's tough. I was feeling, after the first set, if I will
keep running like that and it will be third set, I would be dead.
I didn't know. But I was just fighting for the second set, and I
start to feel better and better.

"But I think I did the best thing in the best moment. In the
tiebreaker, I was going for my serves. The second set, we had hard
time to keep our serves, and we always broke to each other except
three times. I think on the right moments, I went for my shots and
that's why I won."

----------------
Anna's new coach
----------------

Although her www.wtatour.com profile says she's still without a
coach, it appears that Anna recently began working with Maria
Sharapova's ex-coach Robert Lansdorp.

Lansdorp is quoted as saying:
>>>
It's nothing to tell yet. Anna came to me before IW. First
impressions weren't bad. I decided not to give her too much
information before the tournament, otherwise it may have caused
problems. She will think of new techniques and may lose old.

I told her to come again after 5 days, for example after Miami. Here
then we shall work as follows.

I told Anna to take her emotions under control, No Tears.
<<<

For more information: http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10289736

-------
Doubles
-------

(Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka)[WC]:
1r - (LISA RAYMOND/SAMANTHA STOSUR)[1], 3-6 4-6

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/ (+3 external links)

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

=========================================== {2006}
HASTINGS DIRECT INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Eastbourne, England; grass; WTA Tier II)
===========================================
http://eastbourne.lta.org.uk/

I have just uploaded my extended report of Anna's first-round match
against Vera Zvonarëva - of which I was an eye-witness - to:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/reports.html

(I have also added the story of my out-of-grounds encounter with Anna
and her father.)

I have uploaded all my photos for that day (Tuesday 20th June 2006),
in one big zip-file, to:
http://www.divshare.com/download/147617-6b9

The players I photographed on Tuesday:

Vera Zvonarëva (23 photos)
Anna Chakvetadze (20)
Daniela Hantuchová (12)
Tsvetana Pironkova (4)
Marion Bartoli (4)
Shahar Pe'er (4)
Nicole Vaidišová (1)
Anastasia Myskina (1)
Nadia Petrova (1)
Yuan,Meng (1)

Permission to copy my Eastbourne photos is granted provided that:
(a) no money is exchanged;
(b) they are labelled as "Copyright 2006 Andrew Broad".
Please let me know if you do use them on another website.

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

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

======================
PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES
(Antwerp, Belgium; outdoor hard (Decoturf); WTA Tier II)
====================== http://www.proximusdiamondgames.be/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF]:
1r + Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 6-2
2r + Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2
qf + NADIA PETROVA [3], 6-3 6-4
sf - AMÉLIE MAURESMO [1], 3-6 6-3 2-6

Anna moves up from #12 in the rankings to a career-high #10 this
week! Her place in the top ten was guaranteed when Dinara Safina lost
in the quarter-finals after Anna had beaten Petrova.

Anna: "It's nice, but I won't play in Dubai and Doha the next weeks
so I will drop out again. I don't really care that much about my
ranking anyway. I just want to improve my game, win matches and then
my ranking will take care of itself."

It's disappointing that Anna doesn't get to stay in the top ten for
long now, but not caring about her ranking is a very sensible
attitude. Too many players ruin their careers by playing to protect
their rankings, rather than planning their tournament-schedules to
help themselves in the long run.

Ranking is just a number. Nothing beats the thrill of holding up a
trophy.

Wintermute:
>>>
For the first time in her career, Anna has an 18th best tournament
result, that being LA with 14 points, to fall back on should she
suffer a first round defeat. Not too many players have this, only
about half the Top 20. It is a mark of consistency.
<<<

------
Photos
------

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=6 (pp. 6-8)
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1137
http://www.sport.be/proximusdiamondgames/2007/eng/inbeeld/ (Days
3,5,7,8)
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=285991
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Anna's diary updated (16th February):
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/

-----------
First round (Monday 12th February)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 6-2

I was very pleased to see that Anna beat such a dangerous opponent by
such a comprehensive scoreline! :-)

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yso4pm (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Both Chakvetadze and Daniilidou initially made too many unnecessary
errors. The Russian managed to up her level somewhat, and only needed
one break to reel in the first set, 6-4.

Then the Greek hardly resisted anymore, and Chakvetadze won the
second set with 6-2.
<<<

------------
Second round (Wednesday 14th February)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2

Anna had some difficulty closing out both of the sets that she won:
she led *5-2 in the second but needed a tiebreak, and also had a bit
of a wobble at 5-0* in the third.

Associated Press (AP):
>>>
Bammer still fought off five match-points before finally giving in to
fatigue and her opponent.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2ap5o6 (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze had the best start, but it was Sybille Bammer who
took the first set in the end.

In the second set, the Russian initially took a 5-2 lead, but still
had to allow for Bammer to make it to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak Chakvetadze came up best, and the third set was for
the Russian as well, 6-2. She is the first to move onto the quarter
finals.
<<<

http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10057965
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze survived a scare against red-hot Austrian Sybille
Bammer, when she fought back from one set down to advance to the
quarter-finals, 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2.

In the first game of the match, Chakvetadze went up 15/40 but could
not convert the early break-points. Both women went on to hold
comfortably until Bammer forced a set-point on the Chakvetadze serve
at 5-4.

The 19-year-old Russian was inconsistent and hit numerous unforced
errors. Bammer, who just won the Pattaya City tournament last week,
played a steady baseline-game and just waited for Chakvetadze to make
the mistake in the rally. This is exactly what happened on set-point
for the Austrian, and suddenly the No. 12 player was down a set.

In the opening game of the second set, Chakvetadze again took a 15/40
lead on the Bammer serve, but this time pounced on the break-point
and cruised to 5-2.

Surprisingly, the double break of serve was not enough for Anna to
make it one set apiece. She started hitting unforced errors again,
which enabled Bammer to take the set to a tiebreak.

At this point, Chakvetadze stepped it up a notch and played a solid
breaker to even up the match. In the final set, she raced out to a
5-0 lead before closing out the match 6-2.
<<<

-------------
Quarter-final (Friday 16th February)
-------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. NADIA PETROVA [3], 6-3 6-4

Anna extends her ownership of Petrova to 4-0! And this is the most
impressive result of the four, because the first two were in
Petrova's slump of August 2006, the third was the Moscow final when
Petrova was tired and injured, but this time Petrova had won Paris
the week before, and was very much in-form.

Petrova had showed signs of stomach-pain in her second-round win over
Vera Zvonarëva (what a pity that we couldn't have had another
mouthwatering Anna v Vera match, as at Birmingham and Eastbourne),
but Anna's 4-0 head-to-head speaks much louder than any excuses that
could be made for Petrova.

I find it ironic that Anna owns Petrova, Petrova owns Vera, and Vera
owns Anna. It's all psychological: Anna's previous victories over
Petrova give her a huge edge, so she goes onto court believing she's
going to beat Petrova, while Petrova - who is quite frail mentally -
probably goes on court thinking, "Oh no, I don't want to suffer
another upset against /her/ again."

It really is amazing that Anna owns a player of Petrova's standing -
a top-eight player who wins Tier I/II titles quite regularly now. I
would have thought that Petrova would have blown Anna off the court
with her huge muscular power at least once by now, but Anna's defence
is so strong, with wonderful anticipation, and she knows how to make
her defensive shots awkward for the attacking player.

Anna had a W:UE ratio of 23:19 and converted 5 of 10 break-points;
Petrova had a W:UE ratio of 19:29 and converted 2 of 8 break-points.


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
In getting to the final four, Chakvetadze extended her win-streak
against compatriot and No.7-ranked Nadia Petrova to 4-0 by winning
6-3 6-4.

Petrova, who was on a 5-0 win-streak after winning last week's Paris
[Indoors] title, was clearly frustrated by her inability to break
Chakvetadze's rhythm.

In the second set, Petrova took a 3-1 lead, but allowed Chakvetadze
back into the match. At 5-4, Petrova couldn't hold serve, and
Chakvetadze took the win.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/25f3fx (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Earlier today, the 19-year-old Russian beat her five-years-older
fellow compatriot Nadia Petrova.

Petrova consisted of frustration only as she had to allow for two
breaks, enough to give in the set.

In the second set she took a 3-1 lead, but she also allowed
Chakvetadze to come back into the match again. At 5-4 she could no
longer keep her cool; Chakvetadze broke again, and moves on to the
semi-finals.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10071767>:
>>>
Anna played some smart tennis and really wound Nadia up. However, her
serve did get her into trouble when she got broken early in the
second.

Anna is at a big disadvantage in a point when she doesn't get her
first serve in. Sam Smith on Eurosport was actually analysing it. She
said that Anna's service grip is the same as Dementieva's. She grips
so far round the racquet handle that it's impossible to generate
enough topspin on a second serve to be able to hit it with any power
and still get it in. I'm sure Anna knows this is the element of her
game she most needs to improve but it seems that maybe a few small
corrections could really help her.
<<<

soup: "What was wrong with Nadia's serve today? It was far from
normal, lucky for Anna..."


http://www.tennisreporters.net/chakvetadze_antwerp_021607.html
>>>
Russia's newest wonder girl; Chakvetadze breaks Top 10

FROM THE PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES IN ANTWERP – Anna Chakvetadze keeps
on churning, and after her 6-3 6-4 win over Nadia Petrova in the
quarter-finals, cracked the Top 10 for the first time.

Amazingly, the 19-year-old is 4-0 against her elder Russian, who has
been a solid Top-10 player for two years.

"I don't know if her game suits me, I think she made a lot of
unforced errors today," Chakvetadze told TRnet. "But she played a lot
of matches lately, so she could be tired. I didn't know I could reach
the Top 10 today. It's nice, but I won't play in Dubai and Doha the
next weeks so I will drop out again. I don't really care that much
about my ranking anyway. I just want to improve my game, win matches
and then my ranking will take care of itself."

Petrova came off a title run in Paris last week, where she beat red-
hot Czech Lucie Šafárová in the final. Chakvetadze lost in the French
capital against Amélie Mauresmo in the quarters, but will have a
chance to get her revenge on Saturday, when the two square off for a
final berth.

The '07 Hobart champion looks forward to face Mauresmo in a neutral
ambiance. "In Paris, the atmosphere was not nice," Chakvetadze
said. "You know that the crowd will support Amélie, but they were not
fair to both players. Here in Antwerp everyone is supporting Kim, but
they show respect for the others as well."

Chakvetadze is not your average up-and-comer. Where most talented
youngsters bring a flat-out power game to the court, Anna C. plays a
little more with her head.

"First of all, I'm not as tall as [Nicole] Vaidišová or [Ana]
Ivanovic," she says. "I can't hit as hard, so I need to find other
ways to win. I try to look for weaknesses in my opponent's game and
play accordingly."

The inventive and quick Russian, so reminiscent of Martina Hingis,
had her breakthrough year in 2006, starting the season just inside
the Top 40, but finishing strong with a career first title at the
Tier III in Guangzhou and a Tier I win in Moscow. Her impressive year
end run put the 19-year-old among the world's best 15 players.

"I never thought I would win a Tier I last year. When I won my first
tournament in Guangzhou, that gave me a lot of confidence. This
helped me to do well in Moscow."

In her early days on tour, Chakvetadze frequently lost control of her
emotions on court, breaking into tears when a match didn't go her
way. She starts laughing and says, "You haven't seen me play in the
Under-14s."

On the Sony Ericsson Tour website, Chakvetadze has said she wants to
break the Top 5 within three years. "No, no, that's not true," she
said. "The WTA wanted to know my goals so I just said 'Top 5 would be
nice,' but it's not something I'm really aiming for."

In order to settle in amongst the elite, Chakvetadze knows she still
has work to do. She's 14-2 in 2007, and has won 24 out of her last 27
matches. "I need to further improve my confidence so I can play well
on the important moments. And my serve and fitness need to get
better, too."

At the Australian Open, Chakvetadze faced top-seeded compatriot Maria
Sharapova in her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. She served for
the first set at 5-4, but eventually went down in straight sets. She
moved the ball around nicely, but couldn't hit her spots when it
counted.

"People said I played well that match, but I didn't win the important
points. Maria played better than I did that day, but it was good I
made the quarters."

One might think that Chakvetadze would have Parisian dreams, but
likes the bright big Apple better.

"I would love to win the US Open. It was the first Grand Slam I
played in 2004 and I beat [the then No. 3 Anastasia] Myskina when I
was just coming up. I just love the whole atmosphere in New York.
I also have a lot of friends there."

Š TennisReporters.net 2007
<<<

----------
Semi-final (Saturday 17th February)
----------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] lt. AMÉLIE MAURESMO [1], 3-6 6-3 2-6

Anna is now 0-3 against the muscular Mauresmo (including Paris the
week before), but at least she's doing better against Mauresmo every
time: 4-6 2-6; 6-7 5-7; 3-6 6-3 2-6.

Anna hasn't lost to anyone besides Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova so
far this year - or for the loss of fewer than 11 games. This time
last year, she only had one win against three heavy losses to players
ranked outside the top 15.


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Mauresmo, the No.1 seed, fought hard to defeat the No.7-seeded
Chakvetadze, capitalizing on a quick start in the third set to clinch
her third win in three career-meetings with the Russian, 6-3 3-6 6-2.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2yfqgc (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Chakvetadze was not a bad match at all, but still was way too light
at decisive moments: 6-3 3-6 6-2.
<<<

BBC Sport:
>>>
World number three Mauresmo is looking to find some form after a slow
start to the year.

She broke Chakvetadze's serve in game seven on her way to securing
the first set, but the 19-year-old Russian fought back to take the
second set after an early break.

Mauresmo then moved up a gear in the decider to claim her second win
over Chakvetadze in a week, following their quarter-final in Paris
last week.

But there were worrying signs for the Wimbledon-champion, who seemed
to be carrying a leg-injury in the final set.
<<<

Darren Ennis/Emma Davis (Reuters):
>>>
Following a litany of unforced errors by her 19 year-old opponent,
Mauresmo broke serve for the first time in the seventh game, and went
on to take the opening set.

Chakvetadze hit back in the second set, breaking Mauresmo's serve in
the fourth game, and holding off two break-points of her own in the
next to level the match.

Despite suffering some pain in her upper legs, Mauresmo moved up a
gear in the final set, and took control of the tie.
<<<

http://www.tennisreporters.net/mauresmo_antwerp_021707.html
>>>
Chakvetadze and Mauresmo met at last week's Paris quarterfinal, when
Mauresmo advanced in straight sets. One week later, just 200 miles
north from the French capital, "Momo" again claimed the win:
6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Chakvetadze played well until she lost her rhythm and dropped serve
at 3-4. The Russian hit two double faults and a couple of backhand
unforced errors, providing Mauresmo with a 5-3 lead.

The top-seeded Frenchwoman benefited from more Chakvetadze errors to
produce a love game and claim the first set.

Chakvetadze kept hitting unforced errrors from both sides at the
start of the second set. Mauresmo held break points in the 19-year-
old's first two service games, but wasn't clinical in her finishing.
Chakvetadze survived and got back into the match after she broke
serve in Mauresmo's next service game. The seventh seed hit a
screaming forehand down the line on break point for a 3-1 lead. She
served for the set at 5-3 and convincingly put herself back on even
terms.

Chakvetadze had the momentum heading into the third set but missed a
crucial forehand on a weak Mauresmo second serve at 15-30 in the
opening game. She couldn't break and followed up with an erratic
game, hitting two double faults and backhand unforced errors to put
Mauresmo in the driving seat.

The former No.1 raced out to 4-0 when the Russian was broken again.
At 4-2, she could have put the match back on serve, but hit three
consecutive forehand errors from 15-30. Mauresmo ended the match with
another break to secure her third straight final appearance in
Antwerp.

Š TennisReporters.net 2007
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10078352 and
http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10087381>:
>>>
Anna couldn't sustain the level she had in the second set and went
down 0-4 in the the third set. She looked very frustrated with
herself. Amelie played reasonably well but was smart. She came into
the net at the right points and piled the pressure on Anna to come up
with good passing shots forcing the error.

Anna has not served as well recently as she did in Moscow,
particularly against Dinara in the first round. I think her shoulder
has hindered her to an extent.

Anna has acknowledged that her serve needs work. However, I do think
it's a little deceptive. I've seen players have trouble with it.
Yesterday Anna was serving to the ad court some very short second
serves up the T to Amelie's backhand and Momo wasn't getting on to
them at all.
<<<

Mauresmo quotes
---------------

"Winning without playing well is pretty fun too. I didn't feel that
confident today, couldn't find my right rhythm, and did not return
the balls well. There simply were too many ups and downs in my game.

"I simply didn't get into the right rhythm. I was really going
forward to take control of the match. I found my concentration again."


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

"I lost concentration for three or four games in the third set, and
that's why I lost the match.

"But it has definitely been a good tournament for me, despite losing
today.

"I just have to gain more confidence when I play more important
players. To win, you have to play all important balls with a bit more
aggression.

"Before, I had said I wanted to be in the top 10. For me, it's more
important now to improve my game, and to win some matches and
tournaments.

"The first thing is my fitness. I'm working on it. I have some parts
of my game which I know I have to work on too. My serve and a couple
of things I don't want to tell you about. We will see."

[Re. winning a Grand Slam]
"A lot of players will talk about it. It's a dream for everyone. Of
course I would like to win a Grand Slam, but I don't know when, and
I don't want to talk about it.

"For me, I'm getting tired if I play too many matches. I need some
rest afterwards, so I think I will play three tournaments on clay
this year. Hopefully I will be ready for three in a row."


=========================================== {2006}
HASTINGS DIRECT INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Eastbourne, England; grass; WTA Tier II)
===========================================
http://eastbourne.lta.org.uk/

I have uploaded all my photos for Monday 19th June 2006, in one big
zip-file, to:
http://www.divshare.com/download/142364-4bf

If anyone is unable to download from DivShare, please let me know
(I chose DivShare because it promises never to delete my files).

The players I photographed on Monday:

Anna Chakvetadze (17 photos)
Daniela Hantuchová (14)
Shahar Pe'er (7)
Martina Suchá (6)
Elena Likhovtseva (4)
Katarina Srebotnik (3)
Vera Dushevina (3)
Aiko Nakamura (2)
Akiko Morigami (2)
Nathalie Dechy (2)
Monica Seles (1)
Tsvetana Pironkova (1)
Virginia Wade (1)
Chris Evert (1)
Ai Sugiyama (1)
Jarmila Gajdošová (1)
Anastassia Rodionova (1)
Shenay Perry (1)
Yuan,Meng (1)

Permission to copy my Eastbourne photos is granted provided that:
(a) no money is exchanged;
(b) they are labelled as "Copyright 2006 Andrew Broad".
Please let me know if you do use them on another website.


I have also uploaded my comments (such as they are) on Anna's
first-round doubles-match - of which I was an eye-witness - to:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/reports.html

I have also updated my Wimbledon 2006 report to add quotes from The
Daily Telegraph.

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

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

==================
OPEN GAZ DE FRANCE
(Paris, France; indoor hard (Greenset), WTA Tier II)
==================

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8]:
1r + Olga Poutchkova, 6-2 6-0
2r + Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4-6 6-4 6-4
qf - AMÉLIE MAURESMO [2], 6-7 (5/7) 5-7

After being stuck at #13 in the rankings since 23rd October 2006,
Anna moves up to a career-high #12 this week! :-)

------
Photos
------

On court:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=6 (and p.5)
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=284300&page=4 (pp.4-5)
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1127
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Anna's left calf is strapped in what I presume is her second-round
match, and certainly in her quarter-final.

Off court:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=paris
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2xhapz (www.opengazdefrance.com)

It's nice to see Anna be the subject of such a photoshoot! A little
too much makeup for my liking, but the cuteness is certainly there.

------
Videos
------

First-round highlights ("Résumé du 7 février"):
Second-round highlights ("Résumé du 8 février");
Quarter-final highlights ("Résumé du 9 février"):
http://www.opengazdefrance.com/multimedia/videos.html

The quarter-final video contains two separate points from Anna's
match against Mauresmo. Firstly, Anna wins the point of the day
(a crosscourt forehand pass-winner from an unlikely position);
secondly, there's the match-point.

-----------
First round (Wednesday 7th February)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8] d. Olga Poutchkova, 6-2 6-0

Anna won the last 10 games of the match, which she completed after
just 52 minutes.

Olga won only 40% of the points on her own serve.

Anna has now beaten Olga three times in a row, but the previous two
times were much tougher (7-6 3-6 6-1 at Guangzhou 2006, 7-6 7-5 at
Hobart 2007 - Anna went on to win both those tournaments).

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Chakvetadze blew past fellow 19-year-old Russian Olga Poutchkova,
6-2 6-0, in just 52 minutes. She held her serve with ease and broke
her compatriot in five of her seven service-games, eventually
clinching her 20th win in her last 22 matches.
<<<

PA SportsTicker:
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze clearly has carried some momentum from her brilliant
performance in the Australian Open.

The eighth-seeded Chakvetadze cruised to a 6-2 6-0 victory over
Russian countrywoman Olga Poutchkova on Wednesday in the first round
of the Open Gaz de France.

The world's 13th-ranked player, Chakvetadze made a spirited run at
Melbourne two weeks ago, advancing to the quarter-finals before
losing a battle with top seed Maria Sharapova.

Playing for the first time since her match with Sharapova, the 19-
year-old Chakvetadze had little trouble with Poutchkova, firing three
aces and converting five break-points to improve to 10-1 this season.
<<<

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

"My opponent did not play very well today. I guess she had troubles
with the surface here, which she had not had the opportunity to
practise on yet. At times, she was almost not there, but I know that
is not her usual level, because I have had much tougher matches
against her in the past.

"I lost my first matches here two years in a row, so I am definitely
not going to complain after this win!

"If I reach the quarter-finals, I will have to face a French player
[Mauresmo was due to play Nathalie Dechy in the second round], and I
know the fans will not be cheering for me - far from it! But that is
sport, and I am the one helped by the fans when I play in Moscow. I
will try to remain focused, and [not] to pay too much attention to
how spectators cheer for my opponent."

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

------------
Second round (Thursday 8th February)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8] d. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4-6 6-4 6-4

When I first checked the live scoreboard, Anna was serving for the
third set at 5-2 (30/40). For a while there, I feared
that "Chokevetadze" would rear her pretty head again! ;-)

Anna is now 5-0 head-to-head against Medina Garrigues, but their
previous four matches were much easier for Anna (most recently
6-1 6-4 in the Guangzhou 2006 final).

Reuters:
>>>
Medina converted one of her two break-points to edge the
first set, but Chakvetadze's efficient groundstrokes eventually
saw the Russian through after two hours and nine minutes.
<<<

PA SportsTicker:
>>>
The world's 13th-ranked player, Chakvetadze converted a pair of
breaks in the second set, and two more in the third set, to improve
to 11-1 this season.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10004383>:
>>>
Looks like Anna lost her concentration a bit when serving for the
match at 5-2 and she played a few careless shots but AMG was also
trying to be aggressive.

Good to see Anna finishing off some approach shots using drive
volleys with apparent ease, something she seemed unable to do against
Sharapova in Melbourne.
<<<

Anna's chat-session
-------------------

[I have inserted my own comments in square brackets.]

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2xhapz (www.opengazdefrance.com):
>>>
Here are the highlights of Thursday afternoon's chat-session with
Anna Chakvetadze.

Tom: People often compare you to Martina Hingis because of your game-
analysis, what do you think about this comparison?
ANNA: Martina is an incredible player, but I don't like being
compared to others. Each player is unique. We all have different
personalities and styles.
[Anna = Hingis + good serve + flairsome power!]

titi: What are your goals this season?
ANNA: To make it in the top 10, then we'll see...

henry: Who is your best friend on the WTA Tour?
ANNA: I get along well with all Russian players, but my best friend
is probably Elena Vesnina, my former doubles-partner.

Olivier: Given the number of excellent Russian players, maybe
throughout your career you won't have the opportunity to make it to
the Olympic Games or the Fed Cup... Don't you feel like taking on
Norwegian or Bahamian citizenship?
ANNA: It's true that several of us have the opportunity to play in
Russian teams. For the Fed Cup, you have to keep in mind that the
coach decides. As for the Olympics, I still have enough time to
improve my ranking.

anna: Who is the player you dread most on the circuit?
ANNA: Nobody. The top 10 players are obviously very hard to play, but
I'm not scared.

mymycoucou: Even if you play against a Frenchwoman, either Amélie or
Nathalie, I hope that you will have a good match and that the public
won't be too much against you, because you're a sweet player.
ANNA: Thanks, it's true that it's going to be very difficult for me
in these conditions, but I also think it will be a very interesting
game.

vic: Who were your idols when you were younger?
ANNA: Mary Pierce.
[So that's where she gets that hairstyle from!]

rafa: Apart from Federer, whom do you enjoy watching on the men's
circuit?
ANNA: I really like to watch Marat Safin, but only when he wins
because, when he looses, he gets angry and sometimes it's not pretty
to watch...

Tennis: Why do so many Russians play so well at the moment? Do you
have a secret?
ANNA: Of course we have a secret, but I won't tell you! <laughs>
[It's all in the mental attitude. They are hardened by their tough
childhoods in Russia.]

jearmy: If you have to pick a tournament, which one would you like to
win?
ANNA: One of the Grand Slams, any one...

Coach: If you could steal a shot from your opponents, whose serve
would you take? Whose forehand? Whose backhand? Whose volley?
ANNA: I'd like to take Roddick's serve, González's forehand... As
well as Federer's backhand and mental. Then I'd be world number 1,
easy! No one could beat me! <laughs>
[I would never have inducted Anna into my Eternal Fanship if she
didn't have a two-handed backhand - that's an absolute requirement
for me.]

go anna: How do you deal with the stress before a crucial match?
ANNA: I listen to music, I isolate myself, I think about my game-plan
and the way I have to play.

momo: What is your favourite city in the world?
ANNA: My native town, Moscow.

MariaKirilenko: Anna, do you have a boyfriend?
ANNA: No I don't, but if you would like to introduce me to someone...
No problem! <laughs>
[Now I rue being too shy to talk to her at Birmingham and Eastbourne
even more! ;-)]

Tony K: What are your hobbies?
ANNA: Unfortunately I don't have much time for a hobby. I know it
sounds boring, but really, it's not...
[Good grief! There's dedication.]

Lator: According to you, who is the sexiest player?
ANNA: Errr... Fernando González!
[He's with Gisela Dulko. Actually, González is now my favourite
player in men's tennis, though I don't appreciate him on as many
levels as Anna does!]

paulo: Apart from tennis, who are your favourite athletes, or who is
your favourite team?
ANNA: I love football, especially Chelsea and Milan AC. I also like
wrestling, because a lot of my friends practise this sport.
[So much for Anna having no hobbies. Of course, it's traditional to
wrestle naked. In custard.]

Dudu: Who is your favourite actor?
ANNA: I have no favourite actress, but among the actors, it's Johnny
Depp.

bob: What kind of music do you like?
ANNA: Depends on my mood, but when I go out I like R&B better...
Before a match I like to listen to Prodigy to wake up!!!
<<<

Medina Garrigues quotes
-----------------------

{before the match}

"With Chakvetadze we know each other well; we've played against each
other four times, and I've always lost. She's a strong player. We'll
see what happens tomorrow, but I am already really happy to have won
a match because indoor is not my favourite surface. It gives me
confidence for tomorrow."

-------------
Quarter-final (Friday 9th February)
-------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8] lt. AMÉLIE MAURESMO [2], 6-7 (5/7) 5-7

Well, at least it was close this time! :-o

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Mauresmo battled for two hours to get past No.8 seed Anna
Chakvetadze, 7-6(5) 7-5.

It was a struggle from start to finish; Mauresmo broke for a 5-3
first set lead, but watched as the in-form teenager, who had won 20
of 22 matches going in, broke back and took that set to a tiebreak.

The players were also neck-and-neck in the second set, with the
Frenchwoman finally securing a break in the penultimate game before
serving it out.

She is now 2-0 lifetime against the Russian.
<<<

Julien Pretot (Reuters):
>>>
The Russian world number 13, who won the Hobart tournament last
month, saved two set-points on her serve before breaking back to stay
in contention and force Mauresmo into a tiebreak that the Wimbledon
champion won 7/5 after 67 minutes.

Both players held serve until the 11th game of the second set, when
Mauresmo decisively broke her opponent to serve for the match as
Chakvetadze burst into tears.

Mauresmo wrapped up the victory on her fourth match-point after
battling for just over two hours when Chakvetadze sent a backhand
wide.
<<<

I saw Anna burst into tears myself at Eastbourne 2006 (she was crying
as she came out to serve at 2-5 in the third set against Vera
Zvonarëva, and burst into tears when she lost that game and the
match).

http://preview.tinyurl.com/29ubc8 (www.opengazdefrance.com):
>>>
Pressured, Amélie Mauresmo ended up defeating Anna Chakvetadze after
a very close match 7-6 7-5 that lasted 2h01m.

Anna Chakvetadze showed wonderful resilience to Amélie Mauresmo, who
was forced to resort to her greater experience to join Lucie
Šafá&#345;ová, Justine Henin and Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals.

Brave, outstanding in her returns and always keeping her eyes on the
ball, the young Russian aged 19 gave the n°1 French player a rough
time. Mauresmo knew that she had to be extremely wary of this player
on the rise already ranked n°13 in the world. Defeated with the
honours, Chakvetadze, who was in tears at the end of the match,
defended her ranking with bravado, and can certainly leave with the
feeling of a job well done after threatening the former n°1 world
player.

Under the eyes of George Govan and Aravane Rezaď who came to cheer
for her, Amélie was warmly greeted by the Paris public when she
entered on the court around 19:33. She started the match tense. She
certainly won her serves, but with difficulty and without any
brilliance. Yet the French broke first at 3-2 thanks to a forehand
winner.

With her big lifts [topspin] and decisive attacks, Mauresmo dug the
gap 5-2. Three set-points then logically came to reinforce her
superiority (0/40, Chakvetadze serving). But the Muscovite came back
with surprising power. Mauresmo missed a fourth opportunity before
being caught up 5-5 by the audacious Russian who took advantage of
her faults and wood shots[?].

The outcome was revealed after a close tiebreak which reflected the
set. Chakvetadze was the first to break free, thanks to the
Frenchwoman's faults and by winning her serve (4/2). At that point,
the Russian made youthful mistakes, first missing an easy forehand
and then an ordinary backhand (4/4). In the meantime, Mauresmo
reinforced her game. At 5/5 the Russian continued on her 'suicidal'
run by making a terrible double fault. But in the same stride,
Mauresmo seized her chance and made a backhand dropshot volley (7/5).

The second set was similar, but without the breaks. Chakvetadze kept
giving Mauresmo a hard time. Just like in the first set, the Russian
gave way by making another double fault at the most crucial moment of
the match, when she had to save two set-points at 5-5.

On Mauresmo's serve, the Russian brushed away the threat once. After
missing her first three match-points, the French easily won the
fourth one, and jumped in the air as she finished the match.
<<<

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

{before the match}

"It is going to be hard for me, in front of the French crowd. But I
do not fear anyone, and I think it is going to be great tennis."


Mauresmo quotes
---------------

{before the match}

"It will be an interesting match against Chakvetadze. She is a
dangerous player, and knows how to mix the game well; not only can
she hit the ball very hard, but she can also slice and do different
things. She had a great season last year, and has started very well
so far this year. I just need to focus on the things that I did well
today, like my serve.

"Tomorrow my quarter-final match will probably be tough. Chakvetadze
has been playing since the beginning of the year. She has a very
interesting game, and does many things with the ball. She is capable
to hit powerful shots from the baseline, to rush up to the net, and
to do slices. She's a dangerous player."

[Interesting analysis. I've only seen Anna hit sliced backhands when
stretched, and only come to the net for easy putaways, but her slice
does keep low enough to be an effective approach-shot if she wants to
add this dimension to her game.]


{after the match}

"I'm happy to have got through these two matches - especially today's
against a solid opponent. It was good to be pushed to the end of both
sets, and now I just need to recover for tomorrow.

"I feel mostly satisfied with how I dealt well with those two
matches, especially the one I played today against an opponent that
played a very strong game.

"I just could not afford to relax and stop focusing, because lowering
my attention, even for a minute, could have been very dangerous. She
really pushed me far on both sets, so I'm glad I ended up passing the
test. Now, I'll have to make sure I recover physically.

"She does not let anything go. I wish I had pushed harder when I was
leading 5-2 in the first set.

"It has been a great test, physically and mentally."

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/ (+2 external links)

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

=========== {2006}
DFS CLASSIC (Edgbaston, Birmingham, England; grass; WTA Tier III)
=========== http://birmingham.lta.org.uk/

I have just uploaded my extended report of Anna's third-round match
against Vera Zvonarëva - of which I was an eye-witness - to:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/reports.html

I have also uploaded all my photos for that day (Thursday 15th June
2006), in one big zip-file, to:
http://www.divshare.com/download/104606-bae

If anyone is unable to download from DivShare, please let me know
(I chose DivShare because it promises never to delete my files).

Thursday's players:

Vera Zvonarëva (21 photos)
Anna Chakvetadze (17)
Maria Sharapova (15)
Ayumi Morita (15)
Marion Bartoli (6)
Viktoriya Kutuzova (4)
Li,Na (3)
Sania Mirza (2)
Tsvetana Pironkova (2)
Alyona Bondarenko (2)
Jamea Jackson (1)
Jelena Jankovic (1)

Permission to copy my Birmingham photos is granted provided that:
(a) no money is exchanged;
(b) they are labelled as "Copyright 2006 Andrew Broad".
Please let me know if you do use them on another website.

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

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

=============================
MOORILLA HOBART INTERNATIONAL
(Hobart, Australia; outdoor hard (Rebound Ace); WTA Tier IV)
============================= http://www.hobartinternational.com.au/

After my very tight pre-AO schedule, a very hectic AO, and a long
post-AO backlog, I am finally ready to post my Hobart report!

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF]:
1r + Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 6-0 6-4
2r + Olga Poutchkova, 7-6 (8/6) 7-5
qf + ZHENG,JIE [7], 4-6 6-1 6-1
sf + Sania Mirza [WC], 6-4 6-1
_f + Vasilisa Bardina [Q], 6-3 7-6 (7/3)

No other player has ever won a WTA singles-title so soon after I
inducted her into my Eternal Fanship! :worship:

With nothing but a second round at the Australian Open to defend
until March, Anna has a great chance to make an assault on the top
ten by then (she remains #13 after this week). The intriguing thing
is that #11 Nicole Vaidišová and #12 Jelena Jankovic also have strong
claims to be in the top ten - as well as the players who are already
there - and the top ten isn't big enough to hold them all!

[Edit: Nicole moved up to #9 after the Australian Open, while Anna
remains #13 - but now she's only 88 points away from #10]

------
Photos
------

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dtzf2 (www.tennisaustralia.com.au)
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=hobart

The best Anna-photos from Hobart are the ones on Getty Images (search
for "chakvetadze"). Except the ones from the final, where she looked
better than she did in the prior rounds. ;-)

Those photos of Anna where she's running and stretching low & wide
for a forehand are always nice. Was she in tears in her quarter-final?

--------------------
Pretournament quotes
--------------------

Anna: "I am extremely excited to begin the 2007 season playing the
Moorilla Hobart International. I have heard many great things about
the event from my friends, and I am looking forward to competing in
Hobart for the first time.


Tournament-director Michael Roberts: "To have a player of Anna's
talent and ranking commit to the tournament (well in advance of the
player-entry deadline) is a coup for the tournament.

"She will be the highest-ranked player to have competed at Hobart,
and is one of the fastest-rising stars in women's tennis. Anna has
represented Russia in Fed Cup, recently won a Tier I event in Moscow,
and has a string of victories over top-ten players - all at just 19
years of age."

-----------
First round (Sunday 7th January)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF] d. Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 6-0 6-4

With steady showers suspending and postponing matches left, right and
centre, this was the only match completed on Day 1 of the main draw.

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze, currently ranked No.13 in the world, kicked off her
career Hobart debut nicely, moving past 52nd-ranked Spaniard Lourdes
Domínguez Lino, 6-0 6-4. The first set was a complete blow-out, with
Chakvetadze winning nearly three quarters of the points, but the
second set was much tighter, with the Russian claiming an early break
of serve [*2-1] then holding on and winning on the strength of it.
<<<


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

"I am happy to win my first match of the year, but it was pretty
tough - especially the second set. The score was easy, but it was
tough to play because it was very windy. But I am happy I got
through, and now we will see what will happen second round."

------------
Second round (Tuesday 9th January)
------------

Very nice winner, nice loser:
+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF] d. Olga Poutchkova, 7-6 (8/6) 7-5

Anna was 1/4 down in the tiebreak, and saved two set-points at 4/6!

I have since seen Olga play at the Australian Open. She's a good-
looking girl who occasionally plays brilliantly, and I am pleased
that we'll have a repeat of this mouthwatering match at Paris! :-)

-------------
Quarter-final (Wednesday 10th January)
-------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF] d. ZHENG,JIE [7], 4-6 6-1 6-1

Anna led the first set *2-1, but ended up losing it with a double
fault on set-point! :-(

Anna now leads Zheng 3-0 head-to-head, but every match has been tough
(6-4 6-4 at New Haven 2005, 5-7 6-2 6-4 at the Australian Open 2006).

----------
Semi-final (Thursday 11th January)
----------

Mouthwatering match:
+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF] d. Sania Mirza [WC,DF], 6-4 6-1

Anna and Sania are both prime examples of players who hit their
groundstrokes with flairsome power, so in tennis-terms (as well as
superficial attractiveness), this match must have been an absolute
joy to watch! :D

Alicia Molik, who lost to Sania in the quarter-finals, described her
as follows: "I was very impressed by Sania today. There's no reason
she can't be there [in the final] on Friday. She played exceptionally
well. She probably has one of the biggest forehands in the game. She
definitely hurt me with that shot of hers."

Anna was 6-4 5-1 up when she was struck by a nasty stomach-injury
that would have forced her to retire if she hadn't been so close to
the end of the match. Once again, I admire her ability to overcome
adversity.


http://www.hobartinternational.com.au/
>>>
Two Russian teenagers will meet in the final of the Moorilla Hobart
International after Anna Chakvetadze and Vasilisa Bardina posted wins
in day-five action at the Domain Tennis Centre today.

In a dramatic second semi-final, top seed Chakvetadze was just one
game from victory when a stomach-injury almost forced her to retire.

The 19-year-old claimed the first set over Indian Sania Mirza 6-4,
and led 5-1 in the second when she took a long injury-timeout and was
worked on by the trainer.

Chakvetadze returned to the court in an attempt to serve out the
match out, but was barely able to serve. The determined world No.13
fought on, producing a couple of good winners, and was also assisted
by some unforced Mirza errors in claiming the match 6-4 6-1.

Despite the injury, Chakvetadze said post-match treatment had made a
significant difference.
<<<

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

"I pulled my stomach-muscle - it was actually because of my back.

"It was hurting a lot, but I was 5-0 up so I wanted to finish the
match. If it be any other score, I think I would have pulled out. I
couldn't serve, and I couldn't run at all.

"But now it's okay: trainers worked very good, and now I feel good. I
can even run, so I will be ready for final tomorrow."

-----
Final (Friday 12th January)
-----

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [1,EF] d. Vasilisa Bardina [Q], 6-3 7-6 (7/3)

My thoughts before the match: a fully fit Anna should win this match
easily. Bardina is a qualifier ranked #70 (#48 after this week), who
will be playing her eighth match of the tournament, and admitted to
exhaustion after her semi-final.

But Anna's injury yesterday puts a large question-mark in my mind.
It's very stressful to play a match not knowing if you'll be able to
finish it.

Anna did show signs of the injury, but she was just too strong for
Bardina, whom she would have beaten much more comprehensively if she
had been fully fit.

Anna is now 3-0 in WTA singles-finals, and past the $1-million mark
in career-prizemoney!


Articles
--------

Associated Press (AP):
>>>
The 19-year-old Chakvetadze came into the final with a pulled stomach-
muscle, but was able to complete the match despite showing some signs
of discomfort in the first set.
<<<

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze continued to show why she is one of the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour's quickest-rising stars this past week in Hobart,
winning her third career-title at the Moorilla Hobart International.
She clinched the title with a 6-3 7-6(3) win on Friday over Russian
compatriot Vasilisa Bardina.

Chakvetadze, the top seed at the Tier IV event, grabbed two early
breaks en route to a commanding first set victory, but the contest
heated up in the second as the two 19-year-olds went to a tiebreak;
it was then that Chakvetadze truly came out shining, reeling off four
points in a row to start, and then closing out the first all-Russian
final of the year in one hour, 44 minutes.
<<<

http://www.hobartinternational.com.au/
>>>
The 19-year-old sped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but started
to show signs of discomfort while serving in the fourth game,
prompting fears the painful stomach-injury Chakvetadze suffered in
the previous night's semi-final had resurfaced.

Chakvetadze soldiered on, and overcame a brief Bardina fightback to
take the set 6-3.
<<<>>>
Russian top seed Anna Chakvetadze has claimed her third career-title
after straight-sets win in the final of the Moorilla Hobart
International at the Domain Tennis Centre tonight.

Chakvetadze won a straightforward first set over compatriot Vasilisa
Bardina, but was stretched in the second before producing a
6-3 7-6(3) win in 1hr 44mins.

The world No.13 broke in the first game and again in the third game
to take control of the opener. Both players traded early breaks in
the second, but it was Chakvetadze who again got the lead - thanks to
a Bardina double fault.

But the underdog fought her way back into the match, serving for the
second at 5-4, but came unstuck with unforced errors. The set went to
a tiebreak, where Chakvetadze opened up a 4/0 lead, and proceeded to
claim the match with a big forehand winner down the line.

Chakvetadze said she wasn't too pleased with the way she played, but
thrilled to secure another WTA Tour title.
<<<

Sportal:
>>>
Both players struggled with the blustery conditions in the opening
set, with neither player able to hold their serve regularly.

Although Bardina managed to break Chakvetadze's serve once in the
opening set, the World #13 was more powerful from the back of the
court, and took the opening set with ease.

Bardina broke her countrywoman in the opening game of the second set,
but Chakvetadze hit back to take a 2-1 lead before both players
traded breaks to send the set to a tiebreak.

Chakvetadze was more composed during the tiebreak, racing away to her
third career-title in 104 minutes.
<<<

My match-report
---------------

The match started at 19:12 AEST. I followed live scores on the
Internet, and used the following scores-thread:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280369


First set
---------
CHAKVET @*@__*_*@ 6
BARDINA ___@* *__ 3

Bardina serving 0-0: 0/40 (3 BPs), 30/40, broken.
Anna serving 1-0: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 40/30, held.
Bardina serving 0-2: 0/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad B, Deuce #2, ad A,
broken.

A massive blow against Bardina, not being able to hold from 40/15 and
one other game-point. She must be worrying about a double bagel now...

Anna serving 3-0: 0/40 (3 BPs), 15/40, broken.

Just a lapse in concentration because she's winning so easily, or
something more serious?

cosmoose: "Looks like Anna is still bothered by her stomach problem.
3 dfs already. :sad:"

Bardina serving 1-3: 0/30 -> 40/30, 40/40, ad B, held.

This is getting worrying, in the light of Anna's injury.

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

Yes! C'mon Anna!

Bardina serving 2-4: 0/15, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs) -> 40/40, ad B,
Deuce #2, ad B, held.

That could prove to be a very important game, with Anna's missed
opportunities for *5-2.

cosmoose: "Chaky's first serves [in] are only at 42%. She usually
serves in the mid 60s."

Anna serving 4-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad B (BP),
Deuce #2, ad A, held.

Now Bardina will be ruing a missed opportunity for 4-4*.

Bardina serving 3-5: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (2 SPs), Anna won the first
set 6-3 at 19:52 (40 minutes).

It's a big relief for Anna to get that one under her belt! I guess
only her injury could stop her now, with Bardina being exhausted
after all those matches in qualifying and the main draw.


Second set
----------
CHAKVET _@*@__*__@*_ 7(7)
BARDINA @___@* *@__* 6(3)

The second set didn't start until 19:58 (six minutes after the end of
the first). Apparently Bardina took a bathroom-break.

Anna serving 0-0: 0/40 (3 BPs), broken.

Bardina serving 1-0: 30/0 -> 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad A (BP #2),
Deuce #2, ad A (BP #3), held.

Well pegged back by Anna! And it adds to Bardina's exhaustion!

Anna serving 1-1: held to love.
Bardina serving 1-2: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken.
Anna serving 3-1: 0/40 (3 BPs), 15/40, broken.

Anna has served 5 double faults now, and she didn't get her first
serve in on the last point.

Bardina serving 2-3: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad B,
Deuce #2, ad B, held.

Again, Anna sends the message that it's not easy for Bardina to close
out her service-games, and further adds to Bardina's exhaustion.

Anna serving 3-3: 0/30 -> 40/30, held.

Phew! Could have been 3-4* down! :)

smokovec: "Anna plays incostantly, but in the long rallies is better
than Bardina."

Bardina serving 3-4: 30/0 -> 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad B, held.

Once again, Bardina has to work very hard to hold serve, but how much
are all these wasted break-points preying on Anna's mind?

Anna serving 4-4: 0/40 (3 BPs) -> 40/40, ad B (BP #4), broken.

I wouldn't have predicted Bardina serving for the set!

Bardina serving 5-4: 15/0, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

Yes! Anna is a very gritty fighter.

Anna serving 5-5: 15/0, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40,
ad B (BP #2), Deuce #2, ad A, held.

Opportunities wasted by Bardina to be serving for the set a second
time at *6-5, and now Anna is one game away from her third WTA
singles-title.

Bardina serving 5-6: 0/15, 15/15, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad B, held.

Tiebreak 6-6: Anna *0/0, 1/0*, 2/0*, *3/0, *4/0, 4/1*, 4/2*, *5/2,
*5/3, 6/3* (3 CPs), Anna won 6-3 7-6 (7/3) at 20:56 (second set
1h04m - including the 6-minute delay before the start of the second
set - match 1h44m).

Phew! *4-0 -> 4/2* had me a bit worried that /Chokevetadze/ would
rear her pretty head again! ;)

Anna! :D :hearts: :worship: :banana: :aparty: :clap2: :bounce:


Statistics
----------

Anna didn't serve well, with 6 double faults and no aces. She got 49%
of her first serves in, winning 56% of the points when she did so,
and 49% on second serve.

Bardina served one ace and 4 DFs, and her corresponding serve-
percentages were 59%, 48% and 43%.

In the second set, Anna's first-serve winning-percentage dropped from
69% to 48% - even her second serve was better at 52%! Bardina upped
her first-serve percentages (both "in" and "points won") from the
first set to the second.

Anna broke 6 times from 13 BPs (first set 3/7, second set 3/6),
Bardina 4 times from 12 (first set 1/3, second set 3/9). It might
have been a different story if Bardina had converted for 4-4* in the
first set or *6-5 in the second.

In points, Anna won 85-75 (first set 36-30, second set 49-45).


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

"I'm happy that I've won my first title of the year. When you win a
tournament it's a pleasure. It's Tier IV, but it's a win and it feels
good.

"She is a great fighter. She'll keep running and fighting. I'm so
happy and proud of myself, and I'm proud of Vasilisa, because she's
improved a lot. The crowd was awesome: they were cheering 50-50 for
Vasilisa and for me as well."

[Re. her stomach-injury]
"I feel good; I feel okay - almost 100% now. It didn't bother me at
all.

"I actually had some troubles with my serve and forehand today, but I
hope I will get better by Monday.

"I have a flight [to Melbourne] at six in the morning tomorrow, so
probably I'll sleep all day, and then have a practice on Sunday."

[Re. the trophy]
"It was so big and heavy!"


Bardina quotes
--------------

{before the match}

"We played juniors, but it was a long time ago, so I don't actually
remember. It will be interesting match because we're both the same
age.

"She's played much better now than last year. I hope I will play
better, and I hope I will stay healthy."


{after the match}

"I think it was a good match. It's amazing. I'm glad that it's my
best result, and I hope not the last one [final] for the future. I
played before, and everybody know that I can play good, but I didn't
show my game to everybody. And now I think most people will know who
I am.

"I tried to play well, but I am so tired. Like the first set, second
set I'm so heavy. You need good recovery for any match to be on the
top.

[Re. to beat Kim Clijsters in the first round of the Australian Open]
"Yeah, why not? I'm glad that I play against her, and I think it will
an interesting match."

^[Clijsters beat Bardina 6-0 6-0]

-------
Doubles
-------

Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Mara Santangelo:
1r - (ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES/VIRGINIA RUANO PASCUAL)[1], 0-6 1-6

=========================
Anna's WTA singles-titles
=========================

1. Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou), WTA Tier III,
1st October 2006
2. Kremlin Cup (Moscow), WTA Tier I, 15th October 2006
3. Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart), WTA Tier IV, 12th January
2007

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

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

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

This is an Anna-filtered subset of my Day 10 round-up...

1. Photos & video
3. Quarter-final report: Sharapova v Chakvetadze

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

3. Wooden-Spoon List
7. Jon Wertheim's parting-shots
8. WTA Singles Rankings

The new Section 3 has been renumbered Section 4.

-----------------
1. Photos & video (Anna-filtered)
-----------------
1.1 Photos
----------

Anna Chakvetadze:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=2 (pp.2-4)
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/players/wtaq416.html

Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6293219.stm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yt5zrx (wtatour.com)
http://www.tennis.info/AusOpen7.html (Quarterfinals - day 2)

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"


1.2 Video
---------

BBC Sport's round-up of Wednesday's quarter-finals:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6293197.stm

Anna Chakvetadze interview after 3r:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2nlrrc (Eurosport.co.uk)

------------------------------------------------
3. Quarter-final report: Sharapova v Chakvetadze (Wednesday
------------------------------------------------ 24th January)

Very nice winner, very nice loser:
+ MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF], 7-6 (7/5) 7-5

A very similar match to the one against Vera Zvonarëva, but even
tougher than that. Straight sets, but it took 2h15m!

Statistically it wasn't a very high-quality match: Maria with a W:UE
ratio of 32:41, Anna 14:28. It sounds like Anna had to rely on her
retrieval-skills - which are very good because she anticipates so
well, and knows how to make her defensive shots awkward for her
opponent. And Maria struggles the most against opponents who get a
lot of balls back.

And the media don't describe it as a high-quality match either,
describing Maria's performance as "lacklustre", "unconvincing",
"failed to find any rhythm" and "a slew of errors", while Anna
looked "painfully nervous on some easy putaways" [Miles Evans for
Reuters].

But, as www.wtatour.com puts it, Maria "played clutch-tennis at the
most critical junctures," as she so often does.

There were a lot of breaks in this match, and while Anna broke Maria
twice in each set, those lucky enough to watch the match said that
Anna's serve was weak, as though that was a /general/ weakness. But I
know that Anna's serve is usually very good - not a huge serve like
Maria's, but she does place it very well and set up a lot of one-two
punches. In this match, Anna had a right-shoulder injury.

Anna had her chances: she served for the first set at 5-3, had Maria
serving to stay in it again at 5-6, and had two separate mini-break
leads in the tiebreak.

In the second set, it was Maria who failed to serve it out at 5-3,
and she also had to recover from 5-5 (0/30) before sealing victory.

Anna may have been nervous in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, but
to come away with 11 games against the pending world number one,
despite a shoulder-injury, is something to be proud of, along with
winning her first nine matches of the year!

Wintermute:
>>>
Yeah, not a great match. Anna served a lot better in Moscow than here
but I think maybe that was her shoulder. But all those short balls
that she didn't put away - I think it was nerves, otherwise she
really needs to work on that. For the whole first set she just pushed
the ball straight back to Maria instead of taking it in the air into
the open court. Smashes weren't good either.

Maria made lots of errors and while she didn't get a lot of rhythm I
think this is because Anna was not letting her have any.
<<<

Derek (re. Anna):
>>>
Nerves may have gotten to her, because she definitely was not
agressive enough.

She couldn't put away short balls, especially off the forehand side.
<<<

Miles Evans (Reuters):
>>>
Both parents started the match with anxious, uneasy faces as if their
daughters were preparing for the opening night of an ambitious school-
play.

Chakvetadze's silver-haired father Djambuli grimaced and winced with
every error, roared with approval at every winner, and pulled his
baseball-cap over his eyes when an easy put-away for his 19-year-old
daughter went begging.

Yuri Sharapov, the 19-year-old Maria's combustible father, was even
more emotive, punching his fist with delight at each advantage eked
out, and shaking his fist in frustration every time the top seed
failed to meet expectation.
<<<

The match started at 11:14 AEST, and with no day-session coverage on
BBCi, I followed live scores at www.australianopen.com:


First set
---------
SHARAPOVA _* *__@ @* * 7(7)
CHAKVETAD * * *@ @__*_ 6(5)

Anna serving 0-0: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40,
ad Anna, held.

Well recovered by Anna. Important to get that first game on the
board, especially as Maria is such a good frontrunner (although
she /has/ been known to squander 5-0 leads in third sets!).

Maria serving 0-1: 0/40 (3 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Maria, held.

And what a start by Anna! But Maria so good at saving break-points,
and generally pegging her opponent back to deuce so that she can win
the games in which she was behind.

Anna serving 1-1: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, 40/30, held.
Maria serving 1-2: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.
Anna serving 2-2: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.

This is intriguingly similar to Maria's first set against Vera
Zvonarëva - just as Anna herself is intriguingly similar to Vera:
cute, flairsome power, very emotional, and a tremendous fighter.

But Anna is holding her service-games more easily than Vera was
doing...

Maria serving 2-3: 0/15, 30/15, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken.

First blood to Anna!

Anna serving 4-2: 0/30 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken.

But Maria, like all great champions, breaks back immediately. Maria
is renowned for her terrific serve, but she also has fearsome
returns, eating up first /and/ second serves.

Maria serving 3-4: 15/0, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

Well well! Maria and Anna are both reliable holders of serve, so I
wasn't expecting /this/ match to degenerate into a pattern of break-
and-counterbreak - although Maria will certainly be hoping that
pattern continues for one more game!

Anna serving 5-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

It was a lot to ask of Anna to come through that test against as
fierce a competitor as Maria.

My loyalty is to Maria at the moment: Anna has shown her that she
means business - which is great - but I don't want Maria to lose,
because with her proven track-record, she has a much better chance
than Anna of winning this title for my Eternal Fanship.

Maria serving 4-5: 30/0 -> 30/30, 40/30, held.

Anna giving Maria a taste of her own medicine there: pegging her back
on her service-game. Maria didn't pay for it there, but that can be
the kind of thing that gets into your head and makes you nervous in
later service-games.

Anna serving 5-5: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15, held.

Maria again serving to stay in the set, but this time the momentum is
more in Anna's favour, because this time she /won/ the game before.

Maria serving 5-6: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15, held.

And now we have what the Maria v Vera match lacked: the Russian
Roulette of a tiebreak... Mental strength will be important, but luck
plays a greater role as there's no time for Maria to dig in.

6-6 tiebreak: Maria *1/0, *1/1; Anna *2/1, *2/2; Maria *3/2, *3/3;
Anna *4/3, *4/4; Maria *5/4, *6/4 (2 SPs), 6/5* (SP #2). Anna netted
a shot. Maria won the first set 7-6 (7/5) at 12:14 (60 minutes).

What a curious pattern! Each player then the other getting a mini-
break, but unable to consolidate.

Wintermute: "Anna's forehand isn't working too well now. She gifted
Sharapova a couple of points by putting some tame forehands into the
net during the tiebreaker."

Who should I support in the second set?

* My Passion says Anna, because matches between members of my Eternal
Fanship should be three-set thrillers!

* My Reason says Maria, because I don't want her tired for her semi-
final tomorrow - nor do I want a tired Anna (she'd have to win in
three now) in the semi-finals instead of Maria.

Six-minute delay after the first set - that's about the time it takes
for a bathroom-break. But I later learned that Anna took a medical
time-out for her right shoulder (the trainer rubbed some anti-
inflammatory cream in - I wouldn't mind that job! ;-) ).


Second set
----------
SHARAPOVA *@__* *@__*@ 7
CHAKVETAD __@* *__@*__ 5

Maria serving 0-0: 40/0, 40/30, held.

A bit of pegging-back by Anna in that game, but Maria will be looking
to step it up after that tough first set.

I hope Anna doesn't have a lapse of concentration, as Vera did in the
fourth round after losing the first set. I want Maria to win in
straight sets so that she's not tired for the semis, but I want Anna
to give a good account of herself in the second set too.

Anna serving 0-1: 0/30 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken.

A blow across the bows for Anna, going a set and a break down. I can
imagine her in tears and chewing wasps at this moment, but she's such
a fighter - and on-form - that I wouldn't write her out of this match
yet.

Against Vera, there was an air of inevitability about Maria's victory
as soon as she went a break up in the second, but Anna has already
broken Maria's serve twice, while Vera at the same stage hadn't even
had a break-point.

Maria serving 2-0: 15/0, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

She's a fighter all right! :-) This match needed that break back, or
the atmosphere could have gone very flat, as Maria v Vera did in the
second set.

Wintermute: "Anna's making quite a few errors on her forehand and
keeps feeling her shoulder - it's really bothering her. But Maria's
making tons of errors herself and keeping Anna in this. Atmosphere is
a bit flat in the arena, not a pretty match."

cosmoose: "trainer out for Anna again, massaging her right shoulder.
This could be the reason for Anna's weak serving."

Anna serving 1-2: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.

cosmoose: "Lack of pace from Anna is driving Maria crazy. Maria has
no rhythm on her strokes = zillion UE"

Anna still has a 25% chance of winning this match if we assume that
each remaining set is 50/50 - which seems quite reasonable after the
first set went to a tiebreak, although Maria /is/ the mistress of the
decisive moments.

Maria serving 2-2: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40,
ad Maria, Deuce #2, ad Maria, Deuce #3, ad Anna (BP #2), Deuce #4,
ad Maria, held.

If I wasn't also an Anna-fan, I'd be breathing a huge sigh of relief
after Maria saved those break-points! Being broken twice in a row is
not what this doctor ordered.

As an Anna-fan, I'm so proud that she's giving the top seed such a
tough match. As a Maria-fan, I'm concerned about her rising fatigue-
levels because the last thing I want to see is Kim Clijsters in the
final.

Maria took a medical time-out for a blisters on her left foot.

Anna serving 2-3: 0/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Anna,
Deuce #2, ad Maria (BP), Deuce #3, ad Maria (BP #2), Deuce #4,
ad Anna, held.

Again, I'm so proud of Anna's resistance there - two break-points
saved!

Wintermute: "Anna is lucky to get out of that game. She has made
astonishing errors on short balls that she should have easily put
away."

A set and *4-2 would have been a very commanding lead for Maria, but
7-6 3-3 is the tightest possible scoreline for this many games
played - they're absolutely in the thick of battle!

Maria serving 3-3: 0/30 -> 40/30, held.

Well recovered by Maria! Of course, it's not just /her/ fatigue-
levels I have to worry about if this goes to a third set, but my own -
  half an hour more, and this will be the third night in a row I've
had less than five hours' sleep!

It was around this time that Yuri Sharapov got his daughter a code-
violation for coaching. The officials always watch him very closely
at Maria's matches these days - especially after the Sharapovs'
monkey-see monkey-do antics at the US Open 2006 (the media-reaction
to which, IMO, was blown out of all proportion).

Anna serving 3-4: 30/0 -> 30/40 (BP), broken.

You have to feel for Anna there. Looked like she was cruising to an
easy hold at 30/0, and suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Maria's
serving for the match!

Can she close out this match more smoothly than she did the one
against Vera, where from *5-2 she needed two tries at serving for it?
She won't have that luxury in this set.

Maria serving 5-3: 15/0, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

Well well! This failure of Maria to serve out matches is becoming
quite a worry! It happened from 5-0 in the third against Camille Pin
in the first round (Maria won 9-7!), again against Vera, and now this.

This is a major lifeline for Anna. Is she tough enough and good
enough to make Maria pay the ultimate price? I think she is - the
onus is on Maria to save herself, because I don't think Anna's going
to roll over for her.

Anna serving 4-5: 15/0, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (MP #1), 40/40, ad Anna,
Deuce #2, ad Anna, held.

There's a lot of baggage building up for Maria now: a failed attempt
at serving out the match, and now a missed match-point. Would be
amazing if Anna could turn this match around and win, and the greater
part of that amazement is already behind us!

My Passion is beginning to overtake my Reason now. I'm so excited for
Anna: if she wins this match - especially from a losing position - it
would be such a major landmark in her career, and would make her that
much more famous (not that Anna likes a lot of attention, but I as a
fan crave more media-coverage).

Maria serving 5-5: 0/30 -> 40/30, held.

Maria steadies the ship after tremendous danger at 0/30, and is once
again within one game of victory. She needs to win this in straight
sets to conserve her energy for the semi-finals - if it does go to a
third set, I might as well support Anna for all the good it would do
for Maria to reach the semi-finals with an empty tank.

Anna serving 5-6: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (MP #2), 30/40 (MP #3).
Anna netted a forehand. Maria won 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 at 13:29
(second set 1h15m, match 2h15m).

That was a very long two-setter! I'm concerned about Maria's fatigue
even now, without a day off to recover for the semi-finals. At least
it wasn't played in extreme heat - only 20°C in Melbourne right now.


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

"Overall I thought I was up and down - a bit scratchy. First set, I'm
down a break. The tiebreak was up and down. We broke each other quite
a few times. Then when I got a break in the second set, I gave it
back to her - let her back in it.

"It was very difficult; I didn't feel like we had a lot of easy
rallies. I felt I had to work on every point. When you're a set and a
break up, it's still tough - I'm glad I got through.

"But I was just very competitive. Against a girl like that, who gets
a lot of balls back, it's just a matter of who can be a little bit
smarter, who can get an extra ball back, who is a little tougher. I
thought I did the job really well today.

"I still feel like there's more room for improvement. But against
her, she's not a player that's going to make you feel great about
your game, either. I feel like she doesn't give you much rhythm.

"Coming out with a win against her - someone who's playing well,
someone who beat Schnyder 4 and 1, someone who's playing with a lot
of confidence - if you can beat them in straight sets, it definitely
gives you a lot of confidence."

[Re. the problems with holding serve]
"It was strange. I warmed up indoors. I came out. It's always pretty
gusty on that court. The wind just blows one way. I got broken most
of the time from that side because my serves were going long.

"On the other side, I didn't feel like I was getting enough pace on
the serve. I'm not sure if I just didn't adjust quickly. It just took
me a long time. Then when you start thinking, it's like a little
snowball.

"Yeah, uhm, you know, didn't serve as well as I did my previous
round. But it's tough to get a lot of easy points from her. She gets
a lot of balls back, and she makes you work even if you do hit a
pretty big first serve.

"I could have served a little bit better if I didn't give her too
many looks on my second serve. When you give your opponent those
chances - even when you break them - they feel they can break back,
because you're not completely confident in your service-games."

[Re. Anna]
"Sometimes I feel like I don't know if she knows what she's doing! I
feel like she tricks herself into her own game. She definitely has a
lot of variety. If she wants to step in, she has a lot of power
behind her strokes."

[Re. their fathers]
"I mean it's normal, I've been with my dad every single day. I'm sure
Anna has as well. They both want you to win; they're both very
excited over the opportunities you have."

[Re. the code-violation for coaching]
"I asked the umpire if it was in between those points. I didn't see
anything - I didn't even look at him [Yuri]."


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

"Maria won today; she played better than me. She is stronger. I guess
she played very well. She's a great fighter. I think she deserved
this win. I can just wish her good luck in semis.

"I think I need to improve to be more aggressive on important points
especially because, yes, she was a little bit more aggressive than
me. Definitely I will work on it. But, you know, it's tough to be
aggressive because Maria, she's hitting the ball so hard! Especially
in the warm-up, I thought, 'She will kill me!' <laughing>

"I couldn't put one ball on court, because she played one ball on me,
and the other ball like somewhere. I couldn't, you know, get where is
the ball going, she was hitting so hard.

"It's tough to play aggressively against these kinds of players
because /they/ play aggressive, and you should mix your game a little
bit more. But, on important balls, you should be more aggressive.

"My game-plan was to move her. If I would play all balls to her, it
will be very difficult. I was running well today. But my hands and my
arms was little bit sore and stiff. You know, especially those easy
shots, I couldn't put it where I wanted. That was the problem,
especially important points.

"I think she won all the important balls. I didn't use my
opportunities in the first as well as second set, because it was like
two or three games Love/30 on her serve. I just didn't use them.
That's why I lost.

"It was a close match, but Maria won. I think she played better than
me today and she deserves it, definitely.

"I wasn't nervous at all - not at all. Maybe on the tiebreak, because
I was up like 5-3 and I had so many opportunities. I just didn't use
it. That's, you know, a little bit strange because on the tiebreak,
so many points are lost so easy balls. I don't think it's because
nerves. I just need to be more aggressive on the important points."

[Re. her right-shoulder strain]
"It was tight in the morning. I had some treatment on it. During the
match I felt pain, strain from the backside. I definitely should call
the trainer earlier - not after first set. I think I should call it
before I'm serve on that game at 5-4. Maybe it would help me. I got
some anti-inflammatories, and pain gone in second set after few
games. But maybe Maria's hitting so hard, my shoulder was getting
tighter.

"It's amazing, because something is happening when I'm playing
important matches. Like against Hingis in Montréal I had injury,
again, my right hand. Here, as well. I should do something to myself.
Should stay healthy, you know, to beat these kind of players.

"I mean, it was my tenth match in a row. I felt tired. I just need to
stay healthy, and maybe not play tournament before a Grand Slam."

[Re. the first time she ever saw Maria]
"I just remember her dress, that's it. It was a pink dress. I just
remember the colour actually."

That would be the US Open 2003 then.


Anna quotes before the match
----------------------------

[Re. comparisons with Martina Hingis]
"Martina is a great player - a former number one - and it's a
compliment that they say that, but I think I hit the ball little
harder than Martina.

"My groundstrokes are okay, and when I feel my return, I'm really
okay. I'm trying to play smart, but I don't always do it.

"After I beat Petrova in San Diego, I started to believe I can beat
top players. Then I started playing better and better at every
tournament. I didn't play well against Golovin at the US Open, but
she played great. But I already believed by then that when I got on
court, that I could win. It's all confidence.

"I'm concentrating more now, not losing easy points.

"I am pretty hard on myself. That's how I'm thinking. I don't want to
talk like some of the players: they like to say, 'I will win a Grand
Slam.' All the players want to win a Grand Slam. I just play.

"I'm happy to play in second week. It's different, because the
pressure is on. I'm just trying to stay calm because when I don't -
when I'm excited - I can't play tennis. I'm still working on that. I
start to think more about the next point, how to beat my opponent and
not get frustrated after the point I lost. Now I have more
confidence, and I know how should I play. If I use my game-plan
right, then I can win."

[Re. Djambuli]
"He's not like my coach - he's just my dad. He helps a little, but
I'm trying to think by myself about my game."


Barbara Schett about Anna
-------------------------

"She's a little bit in the shadow of the others - Sharapova, Petrova,
Myskina, Kuznetsova - and that probably suits her. The attention is
not that big on her, and she can just quietly slip through the draw.

"When I played against her [US Open 2004], her serve was not good,
but now it's a lot better. She's a pretty consistent player out there
now."


Tracy Austin about Anna
-----------------------

"It's the way that she uses the court, the way she is always
balanced. She doesn't really look rushed.

"Some people seem to put a lot of effort into everything they do.
Someone like Jankovic, you feel like she is working so hard every
point, digging and grinding. Chakvetadze, she just seems to kind of
be there."


A telling snapshot
------------------

From The Age - full article at http://preview.tinyurl.com/yrmqr9
>>>
Chakvetadze reads the game beautifully, as if she's already watched
it on TV and knows every line in the script.

Schnyder jumped out to a 4-1 lead, at which point Chakvetadze said
she found some rhythm against the Swiss' heavily spun balls.

Schnyder had been to the last eight here in each of the previous
three years, but her body-language soon smacked of resignation, and
the realisation that she was up against a player who was already her
equal, perhaps better.

She won just one more game for the match, becoming visibly distressed
by the precision of Chakvetadze's anticipation, as if she were
tapping into her thoughts.

Schnyder turning to her entourage, arms outstretched and
asking, "What can I do?" was a telling snapshot.
<<<

It's so great to see that the media are really starting to analyse
Anna now, and confirming the observations that I have already seen
for myself. I'm so proud to have known her before she was really
famous.

--------------------
4. Wooden-Spoon List
--------------------

http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/wooden_spoon/

   1. Serena Williams
   2. MARIA SHARAPOVA (1)
   3. NICOLE VAIDISOVA (10)
   4. KIM CLIJSTERS (4)
   5. SHAHAR PEER (16)
   6. ANNA CHAKVETADZE (12) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
   7. Lucie Safarova
   8. MARTINA HINGIS (6)
   9. JELENA JANKOVIC (11)
  10. VERA ZVONAREVA (22)
  11. ELENA DEMENTIEVA (7)
  12. DANIELA HANTUCHOVA (15)
  13. SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (3)
  14. PATTY SCHNYDER (8)
  15. AMELIE MAURESMO (2)
  16. LI,NA (19)
  17. NADIA PETROVA (5)
  18. TATHIANA GARBIN (30)
  19. KATARINA SREBOTNIK (21)
  20. ALYONA BONDARENKO (29)
  21. TATIANA GOLOVIN (20)
  22. Jelena Kostanic Tosic
  23. Anastasiya Yakimova
  24. Aiko Nakamura
  25. Victoria Azarenka
  26. ANA IVANOVIC (13)
  27. Maria Elena Camerin
  28. Ashley Harkleroad
  29. MARIA KIRILENKO (26)
  30. Alicia Molik (WC)
  31. Eva Birnerova
  32. DINARA SAFINA (9)
  33. Anne Kremer (Q)
  34. Anastassia Rodionova
  35. Milagros Sequera
  36. Akiko Morigami
  37. Meilen Tu
  38. Laura Granville
  39. FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE (14)
  40. Alla Kudryavtseva (Q)
  41. Virginia Ruano Pascual
  42. Tamira Paszek (Q)
  43. Martina Muller
  44. Emilie Loit
  45. Monique Adamczak (WC)
  46. Peng,Shuai
  47. Olga Poutchkova
  48. Lourdes Dominguez Lino
  49. Gisela Dulko
  50. Renata Voracova (Q)
  51. Iveta Benesova
  52. Virginie Razzano
  53. Zuzana Ondraskova
  54. SAMANTHA STOSUR (24)
  55. AI SUGIYAMA (23)
  56. Sania Mirza
  57. MARION BARTOLI (18)
  58. Agnieszka Radwanska
  59. Elena Vesnina
  60. ANNA-LENA GROENEFELD (17)
  61. Julia Vakulenko (Q)
  62. Kaia Kanepi
  63. Julia Schruff
  64. Youlia Fedossova (WC)
  65. MARA SANTANGELO (27)
  66. Camille Pin
  67. Jill Craybas
  68. Vasilisa Bardina
  69. Romina Oprandi
  70. Sybille Bammer
  71. Alberta Brianti
  72. Nathalie Dechy
  73. Aleksandra Wozniak
  74. Tzipora Obziler
  75. Stephanie Foretz
  76. Alize Cornet (Q)
  77. Jessica Moore (WC)
  78. Madison Brengle (WC)
  79. Shenay Perry
  80. Elena Bovina
  81. Tamarine Tanasugarn
  82. Emmanuelle Gagliardi
  83. Casey Dellacqua (WC)
  84. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (Q)
  85. Anna Smashnova
  86. Sophie Ferguson (WC)
  87. Laura Pous Tio
  88. ELENI DANIILIDOU (32)
  89. Yuliana Fedak
  90. Vania King
  91. Kirsten Flipkens
  92. Yuan,Meng
  93. Karolina Sprem
  94. Chan,Yung-Jan
  95. Martina Sucha
  96. Ekaterina Bychkova
  97. Michaella Krajicek
  98. Roberta Vinci
  99. Jarmila Gajdosova
100. Tsvetana Pironkova
101. Edina Gallovits
102. Yulia Beygelzimer
103. Sandra Kloesel
104. Emma Laine
105. Melinda Czink
106. Severine Bremond
107. Jorgelina Cravero (Q)
108. Aravane Rezai
109. Iroda Tulyaganova (WC)
110. Andreja Klepac (Q)
111. Marta Domachowska
112. Ahsha Rolle (Q)
113. Sun,Tiantian
114. Meghann Shaughnessy
115. Galina Voskoboeva
116. Nicole Pratt
117. Clarisa Fernandez
118. Klara Zakopalova (Q)
119. Sofia Arvidsson
120. Olga Savchuk
121. Vera Dushevina
122. Varvara Lepchenko
123. ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES (25)
124. Sandra Zahlavova (Q)
125. Elena Likhovtseva
126. FLAVIA PENNETTA (28)
127. ZHENG,JIE (31)
128. Catalina Castano

-------------------------------
7. Jon Wertheim's parting-shots (Anna-filtered)
-------------------------------

Jon Wertheim <SI.com>:
>>>
47. Overheard in the press-room:
Reporter A: "Anna looked good the last time I saw her."
Reporter B: "Chakvetadze or Ivanovic?"
Reporter A: "Kournikova. I guess we need to use her last name now."
<<<

Full article at http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/

-----------------------
8. WTA Singles Rankings (as of 29th January 2007)
-----------------------

1. Maria Sharapova (3918)
2. Justine Henin-Hardenne (3311)
3. Amélie Mauresmo (2900)
4. Kim Clijsters (2577)
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova (2554)
6. Martina Hingis (2139)
7. Nadia Petrova (2057)
8. Elena Dementieva (2013)
9. Nicole Vaidišová (1782)
10. Jelena Jankovic (1558)
11. Patty Schnyder (1544)
12. Dinara Safina (1527)
13. Anna Chakvetadze (1470) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
14. Serena Williams (1269)
15. Shahar Peer (1209)
16. Ana Ivanovic (1160)
17. Li,Na (1106)
18. Daniela Hantuchová (988)
19. Tatiana Golovin (950)
20. Anna-Lena Grönefeld (944)
21. Vera Zvonarëva (932)

It's frustrating to see that Anna's still stuck at #13 despite
winning the Hobart title and reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-
final.

Only 88 points separate Anna from the top ten, and she has nothing to
defend until March! :-)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<snip>

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

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

<snip>

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is an Anna-filtered subset of my Day 7 round-up:

1. Photos
6. Third-round report
9. Fourth-round draw: Top half
10. Quarter-final draw: Bottom half
15. Order of Play for Monday

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

Anna Chakvetadze - ultracute and a little bit sexy:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=236270&page=12
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=2
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/players/wtaq416.html
(it wasn't a junior-match! :o)

Anna Chakvetadze and Daniela Hantuchová added:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=melbourne_r3

Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

--------------
6. Third round (Sunday 21st January)
--------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] d. Jelena Kostanic Tošic, 6-4 6-4

Kostanic was the more aggressive player, with a W:UE ratio of 20:37
to Anna's 19:21.

>>>
Chakvetadze powers on
by Bren O'Brien
Sunday, 21 January, 2007

No.12 women's seed Anna Chakvetadze has continued her strong progress
through the early rounds of the Australian Open 2007, winning her
delayed third-round match against Jelena Kostanic Tošic in straight
sets.

Chakvetadze, who won the Moorilla Hobart International in the lead-up
to this tournament, has now dropped just one set in her opening three
encounters, and will play Swiss No.8 seed Patty Schnyder in the
fourth round on Day Eight after her 6-4 6-4 win.

Kostanic Tošic had herself to blame for losing the first set after
squandering no fewer than 10 break-point opportunities. Chakvetadze
won just eight points on the Croatian's serve for the set, but got
them when they mattered, converting her only break-point chance and
wrapping up the set in 42 minutes.

Kostanic Tošic finally got the break she was looking for in the
second set, but Chakvetadze broke her twice, dominating the
Croatian's serve for much of the set. She wrapped up the match in an
hour and 19 minutes for her second appearance in the fourth round of
a Grand Slam tournament.
<<<

Jon Wertheim's pretournament-quote about Anna:
"Little-known Russian has been playing top-five tennis since the
fall. Looked sharp in tune-ups to boot. A player to watch."
<Source: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yp2y4f>

Anna's diary has been updated with several entries:
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/

She's very funny, too! :-)

------------------------------
9. Fourth-round draw: Top half (to be played on Monday)
------------------------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v VERA ZVONARËVA [22,EF] (mouthwatering
match!)
* ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] v PATTY SCHNYDER [8] (DAVAI ANNA!)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [15,EF] v KIM CLIJSTERS [4] (PODME DANIELA!)
* MARTINA HINGIS [6] v LI,NA [19] (hopp Martina!)

-----------------------------------
10. Quarter-final draw: Bottom half (to be played on Tuesday)
-----------------------------------

* SHAHAR PEER [16] v Serena Williams (kadima Shahar!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [10,EF] v Lucie Šafárová (both nice; my loyalty is
to Nicole)

----------------------------
15. Order of Play for Monday (Anna-filtered)
----------------------------

Vodafone Arena (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
MD 3r: (BOB BRYAN/MIKE BRYAN)[1] v (WESLEY MOODIE/TODD PERRY)[13]
WS 4r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] v PATTY SCHNYDER [8]
MS 4r: DAVID NALBANDIAN [8] v TOMMY HAAS [12]
WD 3r: (L.RAYMOND/S.STOSUR)[1] v F.Schiavone/P.Schnyder

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

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

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

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

Anna's third-round match didn't get on court on Saturday, so I
present Sunday's order of play as an Anna-filtered subset of my
Day 6 round-up:

5. Fourth-round draw
8. Order of Play for Sunday

--------------------
5. Fourth-round draw (Anna-filtered)
--------------------
5.1 Top half (to be played on Monday)
------------

* MARIA SHARAPOVA [1,EF] v VERA ZVONARËVA [22,EF] (mouthwatering
match!)
* (ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] v Jelena Kostanic Tošic)
v PATTY SCHNYDER [8]
* (DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [15,EF] v Ashley Harkleroad) v KIM CLIJSTERS [4]
* (DINARA SAFINA [9] v LI,NA [19]) v MARTINA HINGIS [6]


5.2 Bottom half (to be played on Sunday)
---------------

* JELENA JANKOVIC [11] v Serena Williams (ajde Jelena!)
* SHAHAR PEER [16] v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (kadima Shahar!)
* NICOLE VAIDIŠOVÁ [10,EF] v ELENA DEMENTIEVA [7] (POJDME NICOLE!)
* Lucie Šafárová v AMÉLIE MAURESMO [2] (pojdme Lucie!)

---------------------------
8. Order of Play for Sunday (Anna-filtered)
---------------------------

Court 6 (start 11:00 AEST = 00:00 GMT)
WS 3r: ANNA CHAKVETADZE [12,EF] v Jelena Kostanic Tošic
WD 3r: (V.ZVONARËVA [EF]/N.DECHY)[8] v Sun,S./Sun,T.
Legends' Doubles: M.Wilander/R.Fromberg v K.Warwick/G.Masters
XD 1r: V.Zvonarëva [EF]/A.Ram v C.Dell'Acqua/C.Guccione
WD 2r: (F.PENNETTA [DF]/E.DEMENTIEVA)[14] v T.Pironkova/M.Suchá

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

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

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