Brisbane International

[matt_897]

Thought I would make a thread about this, love the Hopman Cup but I always find this more interesting considering it actually a proper ATP/WTA tournament. Qualifying has started and main draw actions tarts tomorrow but Seven's coverage doesn't start till Monday. Hopefully they don't have that camera view from 10km above the arena again.

Anyway, first to the men's with 4 Aussies in the main draw (plus at least 1 qualifier at the moment) but it is headlined by Roddick and defending champion Stepanek. Here's the main draw:

[1] RODDICK, Andy (USA) vs LUCZAK, Peter (AUS)
BALL, Carsten (AUS) vs ZVEREV, Mischa (GER)
GASQUET, Richard (FRA) vs NIEMINEN, Jarkko (FIN)
QUALIFIER vs [6] MELZER, Jurgen (AUT)

[4] BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE) vs QUALIFIER
FISH, Mardy (USA) vs BAGHDATIS, Marcos (CYP)
LLODRA, Michael (FRA) vs LEVY, Harel (ISR)
CHELA, Juan Ignacio (ARG) vs [8] BELLUCCI, Thomaz (BRA)

[5] QUERREY, Sam (USA) vs BLAKE, James (USA)
GICQUEL, Marc (FRA) vs PETZSCHNER, Philipp (GER)
SERRA, Florent (FRA) vs QUALIFIER
DENT, Taylor (USA) vs [3] MONFILS, Gael (FRA)

[7] CHARDY, Jeremy (FRA) vs FALLA, Alejandro (COL)
CLEMENT, Arnaud (FRA) vs ODESNIK, Wayne (USA)
(WC) TOMIC, Bernard (AUS) vs QUALIFIER
(WC) MILLMAN, John (AUS) vs [2] STEPANEK, Radek (CZE)

Very interesting draw. Looking outside of the aussies and you still have some interesting matches, sadly we'll miss a lot of them but Querrey/Blake, Fish/Baghdatis, Gasquet/Nieminen and even Dent/Monfils are all interesting matchups.

Bad draw for the aussies, espically for Peter Luczak who really does not deserve that kind of draw considering he was able to get with his own ranking. Big servers are always a bad matchup for Pete in the first place, hopefully he will do alright/ Pity for Millman too, it was always going to be just about expreience for him but hard pressed to get Stepanek, hoping for a respectful scoreline. Ball got ok draw with Zverev , battle of the lefties there, but have no idea how he'll go considering he's been out for a couple months with back problems, apart from a round win at the US Open and that final at LA he really didn't do much else last year, that's why his ranking is so high. Tomic has a shot with the qualifier but it will depend on who it is, condsidering how weak the qualie draw is could easily be another australian.

Who wins? Tough to predict probably will be someone out of the blue but I will go with Stepanek defending his title, not a lot of confidence in that though.

Women's draw next.

 

[matt_897]

[1] Clijsters vs. Garbin
Molik vs. Makarova
Safarova vs. Groenefeld
Q vs. [6] Wozniak

[4] Hantuchova vs. Q
Peng vs. Szavay
Bammer vs. King
Petkovic vs. [8] Benesova

[5] Kleybanova vs. Pavlyuchenkova
Errani vs. Vinci
Bacsinszky vs. Q
Dokic vs. [3] Ivanovic

[7] Czink vs. Hradecka
Govortsova vs. Zahalvova Strycova
Dellacqua vs. Q
Henin vs. [2] Petrova

The Belgians highlights this draw with Clijsters and Henin. I expect Henin to do pretty well actually, she can play to the standard we know then she will rise again pretty quickly.

All the aussies were knocked out in 2nd round of qualies today (I was hoping for better Olivia) so left with the 3 in the main draw. Dokic got in with her own ranking, would obivously like to do well here, she needs the points, Ivanovic is an interesting and tough matchup, hopefully Ana has been spending too much time with Adam because if Ana plays the way she been lately, Jelena is a shot. I think we all hope that injuries/illness can stay away from Jelena in 2010, she was robbed of a better year in 2009. Seven have to show that match. The two comeback girls, Molik and Dellacqua are going to find it hard to match up to expectations this summer. Molik has Makarova and while this isn't a terrible first round, she is still a solid player, very solid hitter of the ball, a step above Molik has been playing in ITF's and honestly I think she'll struggle. Dellacqua has a qualifier, she did well at the AO Playoff but again whoever it is, it will be another level above (espically looking at the results from today). Hopefully she will hit the ball well, getting matchplay is the main thing.

I'm going for a Clijsters/Henin final with Kim getting the win, that would be a nice matchup. I wonder how well Daniela is playing because there aren't too many danger names in this draw.

 

[Drummond]

Great stuff matt.

Yep really looking forward to this tournament, hopefully as you said the camera angle is a little bit more viewer friendly this time around, it was a disaster last year. I couldn’t even view it on widescreen because I had to be as close as I could!

For the men, quite a solid field with some excellent first round matches. My favourite is probably Querrey vs Blake; Sam’s first match for a few months after breaking his arm. He’ll probably be rusty but I guess everyone is in the same boat. Monfils/Dent should be a treat, two very contrasting styles of play. Fish/Baghdatis will be another interesting match which should be close. Bad luck for Luczak to draw the top seed in Roddick, can’t see him getting too close in that one. Who has Tomic been drawn? Hopefully it’s winnable, well it should given his opponent is a qualifier but they would’ve played a couple of matches which gives them an advantage.

I’m taking a punt and I’ll go with Berdych to win.

As for the women, a pretty decent draw made more interesting due to the return of Henin and the continued comeback by Clijsters (I guess it’s still a comeback). Shattered with the match-up of Ivanovic and Dokic, couldn’t have asked for anything worse. I want both to win for different reasons. Both players rely a lot on confidence so someone will be on a high after the win while the other will be left feeling disappointed. Going to be a tough one for the crowd too I’d imagine. Looking at the draw a few things stand out, such as how are Czink and Benesova seeded!? I actually think Molik will win but we’ll see. Henin/Petrova is a good match-up, can’t stand either player but like Henin a tad more. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on her form prior to the Australian Open. The first quarter is the toughest, Safarova and Groenefeld are both dangerous opponents and it’s a similar scenario to the Ana/Jelena match. Big win for one of them. Pick of the first round matches is perhaps Kleybanova vs Pavlyuchenkova. She’s talented but I’m still far from sold on Pavlyuchenkova.

I’ll tip Clijsters to defeat Kleybanova in the final.

 

[andrepetz]

Final round of qualifying is

Mallisse v Lindahl
Dolgopolov Jnr v Hensel
Reister v M.Reid
Matosevic v Klein/Ebden

As for the main draw, I would predict the semis would be Roddick-Berdych, and Monfils-Stepanek, but there are so many players in the draw capable of matching it with them on their given day. I could see any of Gasquet, Niemenen, Bagdhatis or Blake making it to the final.

Hopefully one of Lindahl, Hensel and Reid are able to get into the main draw, and with TA still to give out a wildcard for the Australian Open, these players could be playing for a spot in Melbourne, especially since Guccione is going to be injured until March.

 

[SBI]

Molik comes back from a horror second set to beat Makarova 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

 

[matt_897]

You were right Drummond, I'm glad you were, didn't think Alicia would be up to that but it seems that she was to pick her game up a level. I know it's one match but that's a good sign. Hope she enjoys her match with Kim

 

[roostersgal4eva]

its going to be a great test for Alicia - showed some good signs even though its her first game

http://www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/ has online scores and radio coverage

personally its been so fustrating not to see some development in Berdych yet - i thought he would of steped up a gear by now

 

[matt_897]

Coverage starts at 11.30am tomorrow on Seven with Gasquet/Nieminen, then the two interesting women's matches with Dokic/Ivanovic and then Henin/Petrova.

Other highlights include Dellacqua drawing Karatantcheva, playing on court 3 and the two unlucky Australians, Millman and Luczak playing Stepanek and Roddick respectively in the night session.

 

[CHBench]

I'd be taking Jelena tommorow.
Ana has a notoriously bad record against flat, hard hitters like Dokic irrespective of their ranking. Ana at all oportuninties likes to run around her much weaker backhand to unleash the big gun forehand. Couple Jelena's hard hitting and Ana's dodgy movement and out goes Ana's so called bread and butter.
Add the fact she hasn't played a match in 4 months, only racked up 3 wins (King, Rybarikova and Oudin) since Wimbledon and her only potential upper hand in this match, her serve, is still marred by a shaky ball toss.
Unless the Jelena unforced error machine Dokic turns up and sprays balls all over PRA, I doubt Ana will be progressing here. It's just a bad bad match up for her, and not one she needed after a long lay off. Which is unfortunate, as im a big fan of both and its Ana who needs the wins more. But you could just as easily make a case for Jelena too, probably they're the 2 most in need of a win out of the whole field.
I guess the good thing to come out of this is the winner has a pretty nice path to the semis. Would be a much needed and well timed confidence boost for both of them to start the season.

Keeping it short, Im thinking Kim/Hantuchova, Dokic/Henin and Roddick/Bagdahtis, Blake/Stepanek semis. Think Marcos is due for a bit of a run, and Blake too since he did jack shit last year.

Nice to see Molik get up today, after often going down 0/15-40 at crucial times in the match.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

when is Alicia and kim taking to the court and is anyone covering the night games

 

[Drummond]

Coverage starts at 11.30am tomorrow on Seven with Gasquet/Nieminen, then the two interesting women's matches with Dokic/Ivanovic and then Henin/Petrova.

Other highlights include Dellacqua drawing Karatantcheva, playing on court 3 and the two unlucky Australians, Millman and Luczak playing Stepanek and Roddick respectively in the night session.

Gee, some ripper tennis tomorrow! Russia v Germany in the Hopman Cup; Dementieva vs Lisicki should be a great match. And then on 7 there's the 'real stuff', I'll be doing a lot of channel flicking tomorrow. I could perhaps watch one and IQ the other but I'm working tomorrow night and the night sessions at the HC start tomorrow so I don't want to fall behind.

when is Alicia and kim taking to the court and is anyone covering the night games

I believe Channel 7 start their night coverage from Tuesday, not sure what the process is. Think it's just one match but maybe if it's short they might show both but likely just replay a match from the day (maybe one that was cut short due to news).

 

[Pettas]

Yeah! Lindahl!

 

[Drummond]

Lindahl's off to a gerat start to the year, hope he can keep it up.

Gasquet/Nieminen was a great match, nice way to kick off the coverage. Some extremely high quality rallies and in the end Gasquet had a tad too much fire power. Really should've taken it in straights but tightened up a bit but eventually got there.

Ivanovic/Dokic off to a good start.

Improvements on last year: the camera and the crowd.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Dokic is hitting the ball nice and clean. Impressive.

 

[Warsaw]

Dokic just monstered Ana in the second.

 

[CHBench]

Ana proved me wrong. Thank god.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Dokic would have to be pleased with that warm-up. Hit the ball nice & clean, slight concern was her decision making/shot selection but that's no biggy. Hitting it nicely and serve looks strong, despite a few annoying doubles. Hopefully she can get a nice draw in the Oz Open, will be in with a shot with a bit of luck.

For the record I don't just praise Aussies. Sam Stosur I don't think is good enough to trouble the good players, and Molik will certainly get knocked out early in the Oz Open. Hewitt does not have enough firepower to trouble the big boys, and needs a nice draw to make finals. Dokic however I'm more optimistic about, has the big shots & serve at times and really looks determined. If it's one Aussie I hope gets a good draw in the Oz Open, it'd be Dokic.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Henin beats Petrova and sends a warning to the Williams sisters. She isn't coming to the Oz Open to make up the numbers, she's in with a huge chance.

 

[matt_897]

A couple of close losses by the Aussies today. Jelena's match always seemed to going to come down a few points here and there, very scrappy match by both players, flashes of brilliance followed by awful patches of play. It was serve that let Jelena down in the end really, disappointing because it would of been a good win. Ana is still fairly shaky but she would be very happy with the win.

Not expecting much from Dellacqua this summer, disappointing that it was so close but not surprising.

The other two matches were good quality, got to be impressed with Henin's comeback, she is a huge danger this summer, no question about that.

Ton of Australians playing tomorrow, Ebden and Lindhal were able to qualify, plus Tomic and Ball playing. I would give Ball and Tomic a chance tomorrow but I would be surprised if any of them win. Good Luck to Alicia too.

Luczak just wasted a chance in the first set TB, had a 5-4 lead with two serves to serve it out, of course he lost the next 3 points. Very surprised he's keeping it this close though.

 

[Drummond]

Coming into the Ana/Jelena game I wasn't sure who needed the win most but during the match I realised who needed it more, Ivanovic. Dokic's had plenty of setbacks and tough losses throughout her career so all she really needed was a solid hitout and a chance to prove to herself that she can match it with the best. She certainly ticked those boxes. For Ana it was a huge match. She loses first up to a player outside the top 50 and there would've been even more doubts creeping into her mind. She needed it, and hopefully it'll give her some confidence to win a few more matches here.

I actually thought Dokic was the superior player for the majority of the match. The first set should have been hers but she blew the break lead. She completely dominated the second and then the third she basically threw away due to poor serving. Those double faults continue to haunt her; she's just got no slice at all, it's virtually a second first serve.

Henin was extremely impressive, she'll be a huge threat at the Aussie Open. Might even chuck a few dollars on her to win, but I think she's under $10, rightfully so.

Tomorrow will be interesting, looking forward to it. First up Fish/Baghdatis, then Sam the Man Querrey then Clijsters/Molik. Alicia will likely be destroyed so just hoping she can keep it competitive. The first match of the night session doesn't really interest me so hopefully 7 will show Ana first when they commence coverage at night. BTW, well done to Channel 7 for staying with the tennis today, it went almost an hour over the scheduled finishing time.

 

[Redline]

I have been really impressed with the Brisbane field this year in men's and womens. Looking at the Daily schedules there have been some great games and plenty that can't make centre court. Sydney really needs to do something to get some top 10 players away from Kooyong.

 

[CHBench]

..and the big paying Asian exhos.

Is Federer even playing Kooyong anymore?

 

[hirdy_is_champ]

Dokic quite easily could've won that game yesterday. From what I saw it was just a matter of losing wrong points at the wrong time, as well as the dreaded double faults. I thought she went for a bit buch on the second serve on occasions. I know Ivanovic would kill a bad second serve but at least you give yourself a fighting chance. Dokic fell away the second half of the last set as well. Still not a bad result by any means.

I can't see Stosur getting that far. I think she's just one of these smashing types, who goes off the boil with her serve (even though her serve wasn't the main problem in her Hopman loss). Unfortunately it seems she still has her mental collapses/concentration losses as well.

Molik I'm not expecting anything from either, her winning any matches at the AO will be a bonus, will be interesting to see if she can get back to any form that resembles her early 05 form just before she got injured. I still believe if she hadn't have got injured she would've won a GS in that form. She will probably go not bad against Kim but I wouldn't expect her to take a set from her.

Dellacqua I wouldn't bother worrying about either, way too inconsistent, probably overrated by the media at the time when we had no one doing anything anywhere.

 

[Chris_2593]

Anyone know if there is a live stream for Tomic?

 

[matt_897]

Bernard went down 6-4, 6-4 disappointingly, was a chance to win a match.

Lindhal went down to Berdych 6-2, 6-4, nothing surprising about that.

Ball was able to get a win over Zverev 7-5, 6-1. Might of come out this summer with a bit of form hopefully. Faces Roddick next, there won't be a rally in that one.