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

On court:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=hantuchova
Search Getty Images for "hantuchova"

Off court:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?F58062F7C

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Second round (Wednesday)
------------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [17] d. Akgul Amanmuradova [WC], 6-4 6-1

The final scoreline looks easy, but Daniela struggled quite a bit
early on, going 1-3* down to the huge, powerful serve-volleyer (as
the commentators on BBCi described Amanmuradova whilst showing
Sharapova v Harkleroad - the only women's match of their Australian
Open 2006 coverage so far).

Having decided to sleep through the day-sessions in order to watch
BBCi's coverage of Melbourne's evening-sessions, I caught up with
the scores from the following threads:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=214101&page=18


First Set
---------
HANTUCHOVÁ _*__@*@* * 6
AMANMURADO * *@____*_ 4

The match started at 14:25 EST on the Margaret Court Arena.

Amanmuradova serving 1-1: 0/30 -> 30/30, held.
Daniela serving 1-2: 30/0 -> 30/30, broken.

Typical of Daniela to waste her opportunities. :-(

Amanmuradova serving 3-1: 15/30, 15/40 (2 BPs), Daniela error,
30/40, 40/40, ad D (BP #3), Deuce #2, ad D (BP #4), broken.

Daniela serving 2-3: Held to 15.
Amanmuradova serving 3-3: 15/15, 30/30, Daniela winner, 30/40 (BP),
Daniela breaks with another winner!

Daniela serving 4-3: 15/15, 40/15, 40/30, held.
Amanmuradova serving 3-5: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.
Daniela serving for the set at 5-4: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (2 BPs) ->
40/40, ad D (SP #1), Daniela won the first set 6-4 at 15:16 (51m).


Second Set
----------
HANTUCHOVÁ @* *@*@ 6
AMANMURADO __*____ 1

Amanmuradova serving 0-0: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 30/30, 30/40 (BP),
broken.
Daniela serving 1-0: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, held.
Amanmuradova serving 0-2: 15/15, 40/15, held.
Daniela serving 2-1: 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.
Amanmuradova serving 1-3: 0/40 (3 BPs), broken.

Just a very clean set by Daniela judging by the scores - no more
wasted opportunities. :-)

Daniela serving 4-1: Ace, 30/0 -> 30/30, 40/30, held.
Amanmuradova serving to stay in the match at 1-5: 0/15, 15/15,
15/30, 30/30, 40/30, 40/40. Daniela winner. Ad D (MP #1), Daniela
won 6-4 6-1 at 15:46 (1h21m).


Statistics
----------

Daniela had a W:UE ratio of 16:21, while Amanmuradova was much more
erratic with 17:30.

Amanmuradova won 9 of 17 points at the net, while Daniela was more
selective, winning 7 of 10 points at the net.

Daniela got 68% of first serves in, winning 67% of the points when
she did so, and 59% on second serve (Amanmuradova 51%, 53% and 45%).
Perhaps she could have got a better pay-off by going for bigger
first serves.

Daniela hit first serves with an average of 160 km/h (fastest 173
km/h), but only 133 km/h for second serves. Amanmuradova served
huge, with first serves of 175 km/h on average (fastest 186 km/h),
second serves 143 km/h.

Daniela broke 5 times from 8 break-points (perfect 3 out of 3 in the
second set), which is a terrific conversion-rate for her, and is the
reason for the one-sided scoreline as Amanmuradova broke only once
from 4 BPs.


----------------
Third-round draw
----------------

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [17] v SERENA WILLIAMS [13]

The moment of truth that I've been looking forward to since the
first-round draw: can Daniela take advantage of an out-of-shape
Williams and upset the defending champion, or is it just going to be
another loss to a Williams sister like the 11 previous Hantuchová v
Williams matches?

Why Daniela might win:
* In a photo from the Hong Kong exhibition-tournament earlier this
month, I saw Serena looking shockingly overweight and out of shape.
* I can't imagine Serena being able to move as in 2002 or early
2005, the way she looked in that photo.
* Serena was thrashed 6-1 6-3 by Elena Dementieva in the
forementioned exhibition.
* Serena lost to Jill Craybas at Wimbledon 2005 (albeit on a
fractured ankle), and to Sun,Tiantian in September.
* Daniela has the ability to exploit Serena's assumed lack of
mobility with spreading rallies and those delectable backhand drop-
volleys.
* Daniela is stronger both mentally and physically than she was a
year or two ago.
* Daniela is one of the fittest players on the tour now, which could
give her the advantage if it goes to a third set (Daniela has won
all five of her third sets so far in 2006).
* Serena has the pressure of being defending champion and is already
outside the top ten - her ranking will drop like a stone if she
loses in the third round.

Why Daniela might lose:
* Too many people are saying this is her big chance to finally beat
a Williams sister.
* I'm not sure Daniela believes in the possibility of a win, never
even having taken a set off Serena in their three prior meetings.
It's hard to believe you're going to beat someone who's dominated
you so heavily in the past, no matter how heavily handicapped they
seem to be.
* Daniela didn't play all that well at Auckland.
* Daniela had to retire from Sydney with gastrointestinal illness,
and has suffered from a tooth-infection this week.
* Serena already looks slimmer in photos from the Australian Open
2006 than she did in the one from Hong Kong.
* Serena knows how to peak for a Grand Slam. Hong Kong was only an
exhibition.
* Serena struggled past Li,Na 6-3 6-7 6-2 in the first round, but
then cruised to an easy 6-3 6-1 victory over Camille Pin.
* Serena is well aware of Daniela's talent, so she's not going to be
caught off-guard.
* Daniela has lost in the third round of every single Grand Slam
since Wimbledon 2004.


Here are Serena's words ahead of the match:

Q. You play Daniela Hantuchová next round. So far it's 3-0 head-to-
head. She didn't win a set. How do you look forward for this match?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Uhm, she's been playing really well lately. She's
no pushover. So I definitely have to be ready for that. Last match
was pretty tough.

Yeah, I have to look forward to that.

Q. She has been No. 5 in the world but she dropped. Do you think
she's on the way back? She can be again in the top 5?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think she's definitely on the way back. I think
she's been on the way back for quite some time. She's made a lot of
improvements on her game and on everything. So, like I said, she's
definitely no pushover.

Q. Could be a threat to you?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Everyone's a threat. But I'm real serious and I'm
here to be a threat as well.


----------------------------
Women's Doubles: First round
----------------------------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ/AI SUGIYAMA [6] d.
Nicole Vaidišová/Barbora Strýcová, 7-5 6-3

----------------------------------
Women's Doubles: Second-round draw
----------------------------------

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ/AI SUGIYAMA [6] v Li,Na/Peng,Shuai


------------------------
Order of play for Friday
------------------------

Rod Laver Arena (start 11:00 EST = 00:00 GMT)
WS 3r: MARIA SHARAPOVA [4] v Jelena Kostanic
MS 3r: Julien Benneteau v ANDY RODDICK [2]
WS 3r: LINDSAY DAVENPORT [1] v MARIA KIRILENKO [25]
|
Evening session (not before 19:30 EST = 08:30 GMT)
WS 3r: DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [17] v SERENA WILLIAMS [13]
MS 3r: TOMMY ROBREDO [16] v JAMES BLAKE [20]

Daniela's match will be televised on BBCi at 8:30am GMT! :-)

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

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