Daniela pushed 6th seed Elena Dementieva to a three-set marathon
that lasted nearly three hours, before finally succumbing 7-5 5-7
6-4. Daniela made 78 unforced errors, but showed commendable
fighting spirit, particularly from 1-4 down with two breaks in the
final set.

I am pleased that Daniela didn't lose too many of the games which
she had points to win - in fact it was Dementieva who struggled more
to take her opportunities today, and Daniela was unlucky not to win.

So Daniela's wait for another Grand Slam fourth round widens beyond
the two-year mark, but I feel that she is moving in the right
direction again.

I didn't see the match myself, for the BBC ended their coverage
after the Henman v Davydenko match. So I just followed live score-
updates at www.australianopen.com. The match started at 16:30 AEST
(05:30 GMT).

---------
FIRST SET
---------

Hantuchová 0-0: 15/0, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Han,
Deuce #2, ad Han, held

Good girl. Daniela needs to convert her game-points if she's going
to have any chance today, and losing that game - after three points
to hold serve - would have dented her chances severely. Now attack
that weak-serve!

Dementieva 0-1: 0/15, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Dem, held

This is why I'm not optimistic of Daniela winning today. Letting her
opponent off the hook from 15/40 has been an all-too-familiar
pattern for Daniela throughout this tournament.

Hantuchová 1-1: 0/40 (3 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Han, held

Excellent recovery! The trick is to win the first of the three break-
points.

Dementieva 1-2: 0/15, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held
Hantuchová 2-2: 0/30 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Han, held

Now it's Dementieva who is failing to convert her opportunities -
this could be very good news for Daniela! :-)

Dementieva 2-3: broke to love

YAY!! Now I believe in the possibility of a win! :-)

Hantuchová 4-2: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Dem
(BP #2), Deuce #2, ad Dem (BP #3), broken
Dementieva 3-4: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held
Hantuchová 4-4: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15, held

That was a very important hold for Daniela. Now attack that weak
serve!

Dementieva 4-5: 0/15, 15/15, 40/15, held
Hantuchová 5-5: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Dem
(BP #2), Deuce #2, ad Han, Deuce #3, ad Han, Deuce #4, ad Dem (BP
#3), broken for 5-6.

Possibly the key game of the whole match, and sadly it went against
Daniela.

Vera Zvonareva has just won her first-round mixed-doubles match with
Bob Bryan after recovering from 2/8 in the Super Tiebreak! :-)

This changeover is going on for ages - I wonder if there's an injury
time-out? [I later learned that Daniela had a right knee-injury.]

Dementieva 6-5: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15 (2 SPs) -> 40/40, ad Dem (SP #3),
Dementieva won first set 7-5 at 17:31.

I'm very pleased with the way Daniela fought in that set - she was
just unlucky at the end. However, she has a poor winner:unforced-
error ratio of 14:36 so far (Dementieva 7:13). If she could just cut
down on her UEs without becoming tentative, she might still have a
chance.

----------
SECOND SET
----------

Hantuchová 0-0: 40/0, 40/15, held
Dementieva 0-1: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15, held
Hantuchová 1-1: 15/0, 15/15, 15/40, 30/40, broken

All I ask now is that Daniela keeps fighting and hopes for the best.
Just one more game and she's done as well as I predicted.

Dementieva 2-1: 0/30, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Han (BP #2)

Now Daniela's chances are back up to 25%! (because she's managed to
keep it this close so far, I give her a 50% chance of winning the
second set and a 50% chance of winning a third set).

Hantuchová 2-2: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held
Dementieva 2-3: 0/15, 15/15, 40/15, held
Hantuchová 3-3: 30/0 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Dem (BP #2),
broken

What a pity. That game may well have made the difference between a
win and a loss. However, Dementieva's serve is hardly unbreakable...

Dementieva 4-3: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (2 BPs), 30/40, broken

I'm very pleased with the way Daniela hasn't wasted opportunity
after opportunity so far today.

Hantuchová 4-4: 0/30 -> 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Dem (BP), Deuce #2,
ad Han, Deuce #3, ad Dem (BP #2), Deuce #4, ad Dem (BP #3), broken

But - as at 5-5 in the first set - it was Dementieva who took the
opportunity when it really mattered [courtesy of a lucky netcord, I
read later]. That's why she's the 6th seed and Daniela is the 26th.

Now let's see Daniela waste two break-points as Dementieva serves
for the match:

Dementieva 5-4: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (2 BPs), 30/40, 40/40, ad Daniela
(BP #3), broken

YAY! Today the pattern for Daniela is third-time lucky! :-)

Hantuchová 5-5: held to love

What a boost to Daniela's confidence!

Dementieva 5-6: 15/0, 15/15, 15/40 (2 SPs), 30/40, Daniela won
second set 7-5 at 18:23.

I'm so proud of Daniela's performance in a Grand Slam where none of
the top 8 seeds are out yet! :-)

---------
THIRD SET
---------

Hantuchová 0-0: 15/0, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken

Plenty of time left to break the weak Dementieva serve. Daniela must
focus on not dropping her own serve again in this match.

Dementieva 1-0: 30/0, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Dem, Deuce #2,
ad Han (BP), Deuce #3, ad Dem

One break-point wasted, but it's not too late for Daniela to make
amends.

Hantuchová 0-2: 0/15, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40,
ad Han, held

An extremely important hold for Daniela. She's played a great match,
but it's history if she goes two breaks down.

Dementieva 2-1: 40/0, 40/15, held
Hantuchová 1-3: 0/40 (3 BPs), 15/40, broken
Dementieva 4-1: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Han
(BP), broken

Daniela's still in the match, though I fear it's too little too late.

Hantuchová 2-4: held to love
Dementieva 4-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Dem, held

Terrific fightback from Daniela... but in the end, the same old
story.

Hantuchová 3-5: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Han,
Deuce #2, ad Han, held

I can't recall a single time that Daniela survived her opponent
serving for the match... except today when Dementieva served for it
at 5-4 in the second!

Dementieva 5-4: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15 (2 MPs), Dementieva won 7-5 5-7
6-4 at 19:14 (2 hours 43 minutes).


It was an error-strewn match, the final W:UE ratios 39:78 for
Daniela and 23:40 for Dementieva. Daniela hit 5 aces and 2 double
faults, Dementieva 1 ace and 5 DFs.

Daniela got 65% of first serves in (Dementieva 67%), winning 57% of
points when she did so (Dementieva 65%) and 50% of points when she
didn't (Dementieva 38%). This second-serve percentage is an
improvement on Daniela's first two matches, when I inferred from the
statistics that she was being too tentative.

Daniela broke 6 times from 16 BPs (38%), Dementieva 7 times from 21
(33%). Taking her opportunities has to be the top priority for
Daniela and her coach to work on.

In points the match was extremely close, Dementieva winning only
123-121.

Dementieva: "It was a tough match but I feel like I didn't play my
good game. But it's pretty much impossible to play your best tennis
for two weeks so it can't be that bad to go through this."


Daniela and Martina Navrátilová won their second-round women's
doubles match, beating Trudi Musgrave and Christina Wheeler 6-2 6-0.
They face 14th seeds Shinobu Asagoe and Katarina Srebotnik in the
third round.

Daniela's also in the mixed doubles, with Mark Knowles. They play
Scott Draper and Samantha Stosur in the first round.


Insight from two people who actually saw Daniela play at Melbourne:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danielahantuchova/message/7070
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danielahantuchova/message/7075
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danielahantuchova/message/7078

Photos:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/
> Files > Daniela Hantuchova 2005
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=147032&page=4
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=hantuchova
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/MS_GINS/source/home/home.aspx?pg=1

And I thought Vera Zvonareva had taken over the crying game in
tennis! ;-)

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

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