Unseeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2010 Australian Open when compatriot, Dinara Safina suddenly retired with an injury during the 1st set of their 4th round match. No. 2 Safina was facing set point, trailing 4-5 and serving at 30-40, when she limped to her changeover chair for a few
Nadia Petrova is looking like the real deal after eliminating No. 3 seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in an all Russian match at the 2010 Australian Open. It took three sets, but Petrova got the job done, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Petrova picked up where she left off in her last match when she blasted past Kim Clijsters.
Day 6 saw the top men in a game of one-ups-manship. Anything you can do, I can do better. Roger Federer played 31st seed Albert Montanes. Montanes is a veteran of the tour having played for a little over 10 years. Perhaps like Ivo Karlovic, Montanes is playing some of his best tennis ever. Sure,
The much anticipated Quarterfinal between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin will not be happening, thanks to the aggressive play of Nadia Petrova, and a rather poor performance on the part of Clijsters. Petrova, seeded No. 19 beat the No. 15 seeded Clijsters in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1 in their third round match. Clijsters had 26
Looking through the draw of any Slam, you're likely to notice a lot of Spaniards. And a lot of Frenchman. Who knew the Pyrenees would divide two prolific tennis playing countries? You wouldn't see a lot of Americans, certainly, not many top 50 Americans, and it might lead you to ask "What happened to all
John Isner. Gael Monfils. The average tennis fan has probably heard of one, but not the other, and possibly neither. Monfils, the talented and athletic Frenchman, would seem like the shoo-in favorite to beat John Isner. Yet, if you looked at their head-to-head, it's Isner who leads 2-1, and all 3 meetings have been closer.
Alona Bondarenko had too much for Jelena Jankovic to handle in their 3rd round match up today. Bondarenko, seeded 31, pulled a huge upset over the 8th seeded Jankovic, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. It was the first time Bondarenko has beaten Jankovic in 10 meetings between the two. Bondarenko had managed to take
Justine Henin had her toughest match yet in the first Grand Slam since coming out of retirement, surviving a scare in a close 3-set match against No. 27 ranked Alisa Kleybanova. In the 3rd round match, Kleybanova won the first set 6-3. She then broke Henin to go up 3-1 in the 2nd set before
Perhaps it's because he lacks the youthful appearance of Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Or the moody dysfunction of Marat Safin. Or that he's never reached the finals of any Slam. Nikolay Davydenko doesn't get much respect. Like Kafelnikov, he's a player that doesn't mind playing a few more tournaments to make up for the lack of big
Novak Djokovic, sporting his new Sergio Tacchini clothing (once worn by John McEnroe), had a weird match against Marco Chiudinelli, the 3rd best Swiss player and a friend and comtemporary of Roger Federer. Djokovic looked pretty lackluster, missing easy shots and seemingly distracted losing the first set. Fortunately, Djokovic woke up taking the next two
