===============
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Plexicushion); Major)
=============== http://www.australianopen.com/
Contents
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1. Women's Doubles
2. Girls' Singles

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1. Women's Doubles
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Selesian duo Hsieh,Su-Wei and Peng,Shuai scored a humungous upset in the third
round! Here are their full results:

(HSIEH,SU-WEI [S]/PENG,SHUAI [S])[16]:
1r + Maret Ani/Renata Voracová, 6-1 2-6 6-4
2r + Lucie Hradecka [S]/Andrea Hlavacková, 6-4 6-7 (1/7) 6-3
3r + (ANABEL MEDINA GARRIGUES/VIRGINIA RUANO PASCUAL)[2], 6-0 6-1
qf - (SERENA WILLIAMS/VENUS WILLIAMS)[10], 2-6 6-4 3-6

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2. Girls' Singles
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Noppawan Lertcheewakarn is the Junior World No.1, and as such, was the top seed
at the Australian Open Girls' Singles.

NOPPAWAN LERTCHEEWAKARN [1,S]:
1r + Fernanda Faria, 6-0 6-0
2r + Quirine Lemoine, 6-3 6-2
3r + Olivia Rogowska, 6-3 6-1
qf + Anna Orlik, 6-1 6-0
sf - LAURA ROBSON [5], 4-6 3-6


2.1 Semi-final: Lertcheewakarn v Robson (Friday 30th January 2009)
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Lertcheewakarn v Robson - a rematch of the Wimbledon 2008 Girls' Singles final -
was scheduled to start at 15:00 AEDT on Margaret Court Arena (which doesn't have
a roof), but was postponed until 17:00 due to the Extreme-Heat Policy as
temperatures peaked at 44°C. That favoured Robson, who had been struggling with
the heat, while Noppawan should be used to it because Thailand is very hot.

Robson: "I felt really out of energy throughout the match, so it was good to get
through it. The last few days, I've been getting more and more tired."

Noppawan led *3-0 and 4-2* in the first set.


2.1.1 Articles
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Robson reaches junior-final (Eurosport)
>>>
British fifth seed Laura Robson reached the final of the junior Australian Open,
dismissing top seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand 6-4 6-3.

The Wimbledon junior champion will now face 17-year-old third seed Ksenia Pervak
of Russia in Saturday's final.

Robson, who also beat Lertcheewakarn in the Wimbledon-final last July, dropped
her serve early to go 2-4 down before taking four games in a row to wrap up the
first set after 44 minutes.

The 15-year-old then broke in the second and fourth games of the second set to
race out to a 4-0 lead, before suffering a small wobble when serving for the
match at 5-2.

Lertcheewakarn managed to get one of the breaks back, but could not sustain her
comeback, and Robson booked her place in the final after one hour and 17
minutes.
<<<

Robson reaches Aussie Open final (BBC Sport)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7850391.stm
>>>
Britain's Laura Robson remains on track for her second junior Major title after
beating Noppawan Lertcheewakarn to reach the Australian Open final.

The 15-year-old came through a tight first set against the top seed before
wrapping up a 6-4 6-3 win.

The match - a repeat of the 2008 Wimbledon-final, which Robson also won - was
delayed by two hours to allow the temperature to drop from a peak of 44°C.

Robson will meet Russian third seed Ksenia Pervak in Saturday's final.

Should she win that match, Robson would become the junior world number-one.

"I probably won't get another week like this for a while in terms of weather,"
said Robson.

"It's been hard dealing with it, but I got through it, so that's good. I'm just
going to prepare as well as I can [for the final].
I went in the ice-bath again tonight.

"There's not really much I can do if I'm completely out of energy, but I'll just
try to prepare as best as I can."

And of the coverage back in the UK, the Londoner said: "I don't know how many
people are interested, really.

"But, well, from how many people watched the Wimbledon-final, there might be a
couple [of] people willing to stay up.

"Then I have a feeling that the Rod Laver Arena won't be completely jam-packed
like Court One [at Wimbledon] was."

For the third day in a row, temperatures in Melbourne peaked at 44°C, and
organisers took the decision to suspend matches on the outside courts.

When play eventually began at 5pm local time, Robson made a sluggish start,
going 0-3 down before rallying to take the first set.

She carried that momentum into the second, racing to a 4-0 lead.

Lertcheewakarn twice broke Robson's serve to hold up her opponent, but Robson
served out the win at the second attempt.

"I didn't start so well," said Robson. "I felt really out of energy throughout
the whole match, really, so it was good to get through it.

"I think throughout the last couple of days, I've just been getting more and
more tired.

"Then today, I was just waiting around for so long. So I think that was the
problem really."
<<<

Laura Robson books Australian Open junior-final spot
Mark Hodgkinson in Melbourne (The Daily Telegraph - UK)
>>>
Most of the matches that Laura Robson has played during her life have been on
courts with wire-fences on the sides, not seats, but the 15-year-old Londoner
was today due to have featured on the main stage at the Australian Open: the Rod
Laver Arena.

There are plenty of seats in the stadium: 15,000 of them. Robson and Russia's
Ksenia Pervak were scheduled to have had the lunchtime gig in the stadium for
what was Robson's second appearance in a girls' Major final at what is only her
second junior Major.

Whatever the result in the final, Robson is likely to afterwards go shopping in
the boutiques of Melbourne's Chapel Street, and she has already demonstrated
that the junior-title she won at last summer's Wimbledon was no fluke.

What has made it all the more impressive is that she has done it in an
Australian heatwave. This week has seen the warmest weather in Melbourne for
more than 100 years, and that has been quite a challenge for a girl who,
although she was born in Melbourne, lives just an overhit forehand or two from
the gates of the All-England Club in south-west London: a part of the world that
is not exactly known for its sunny weather and high temperatures. Robson has
been eating jelly-snakes and energy-gels as part of her nutritional plan to beat
the heat.

Fuelled by those, Robson beat the top seed and the world junior No.1. When
Robson and Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn met in the final of last summer's
junior tournament at Wimbledon, she required three sets for her victory.

But on this occasion, there was no need for a decider as she beat her Asian
opponent 6-4 6-3, so continuing her chances of becoming the first Briton to win
the Girls' Singles title in Australia for a quarter of a century - since Annabel
Croft in 1984.

Playing in the final hasn't been the only excitement for Robson at Melbourne
Park, as she turned 15 this month and received a birthday-card from Marat Safin:
her teenage crush. When Robson went to the champions' dinner for Wimbledon, she
joked that she had wanted to have the Russian as a guest at her table.

Robson's previous matches at the junior Australian Open had been on the outside
courts, but on Friday, she was on the Margaret Court Arena - the third-largest
setting at Melbourne Park - and her contest with the Thai attracted a decent
three-figure crowd.

The girls were meant to have started their semi-final at 3pm, but the extreme
heat pushed that back. When they eventually got on court a couple of hours
later, Robson had a slow start, but soon she was striking the ball with
impressive power and poise, and she won the opening set and took command of the
second.

Most of the crowd were supporting the British junior, and although those
spectators looked a little concerned after Robson failed to serve out the match
at 5-1, the Briton completed her win two games later when the Thai pushed a
groundstroke wide.
<<<

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