Jankovic Crashes out of AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Jelena Jankovic, the world No 1 went crashing out of the Australian Open in as Marion Bartoli of France defeated her 6-1 6-4 in the fourth round.

Bartoli the 16^th seed played out of her skin and completely dominated the match from the word go. Jankovic had no answers to what she encountered against Bartoli. Jankovic looked out of sorts as she could not find a sense of consistency or tempo.

The world no 1 has still not got a Grand Slam to her name half way into her fourth round match, she would have realized that she may have to wait till the French Open at least to realize that dream. Jankovic game was studded by a lot of unforced errors which only made it easier for her French opponent. Bartoli now will play against Russian Vera Zvonareva in the quarter final, she defeated Nadia Petrova.

Jankovic’s defeat today is being compared to steffi Graf’s defeat in the Australian Open when she too was the top seed. Graf also lost in the fourth round of the tournament.

On the other courts, Dinara Safina was forced to come back from 5-2 down in the third set of her match against Alize Cornet before winning 6-2 2-6 7-5.

Jankovic blamed her shock exit on her lack of practice. Jankovic hasn’t payed for a while now, she has not played competitively for the last two months. This is the first time a top seed has been conquered in the fourth round for more than a decade now. This was the first time Jankovic has been the top seed in a Grand Slam but after this defeat her ranking may be in question.

Meanwhile, this is Bartoli’s best performance in the Australian Open, in all her previous attemopts she failed to make it past the second round.

Bartoli who lost the 2007 Wimbledon final to Venus Williams scored 34 winners; double that of her opponent as she finished off the match in just 82-minutes.

Previous Post : ANDY MURRAY IN FOURTH ROUND OF Australian Open

ANDY MURRAY IN FOURTH ROUND OF Australian Open

Andy Murray, the British tennis sensation has moved into the second half of the Australian Open after defeating Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the third round 7-5, 6-0, 6-3. This is the first time the Brit has progressed so far in the first Grand Slam of the season.

Murray’s play commanded respect from his opponent and the kind of form Murray was in seemed to terrorise his Austrian Opponent.

Murray goes into the fourth round having lost just 19 games in three matches and he hasn’t lost a set yet. Murray along with his other title contenders has not been troubled so far in the tournament.

Melzer was in a very aggressive mood, it seemed as if he had a planned strategy- go for all or nothing. The strategy might come back to haunt the Austrian as he made a lot of unforced errors, eventually letting Murray overpower him.

In their three previous meetings Murray had come out on top and since the ball started rolling, it only looked like it’s going to be 4-0 to the man from England. Murray broke Melzer at a very crucial point in the first set to take the set 7-5. The second set was a piece of cake for Murray as he took the set 6-0. in the third Melzer managed to get on the score sheet but the writing was on the wall in the initial moments of the third set itself. Melzer’s fate was sealed. The match had victory for Murray written all over.

Both Murray and Melzer used a lot of variations in the match, beguiling each other to approach the net recurrently. None of them had an upper hand from their net play.

Murray now comes up against Spaniard FernandoVerdasco ranked 15 in the world. Murray might have found his first tough match in the Tournament so far in the form of Verdasco. Verdasco so far has seemed solid in his first three round matches and has the possibilities of toppling one of the top four seeds.But this will also be the firt time that Verdasco will be playing a fourth round match at Melbourne Park.

Related Post : Serena Williams win Australian open

Nadal crushes Haas, into the last 16

It seemed as if Rafael Nadal had stored up his best to showcase in the business end of the Australian open. After winning the first two rounds comfortably, Nadal produce his best performance so far at the third round of the Australian Open where he defeated Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-2,6-2.

Haas who has recovered from his injury and has just returned to the tour was completely outplayed big the World No 1. Nadal wasted no time to book his ticket in the last 16 of the men’s draw as if finished the match off in just a little over two hours.

En route to his victory Nadal played 53 winners and hardly committed any unforced errors. Nadal put his wide array of shots and tricks on display for the world to watch as Haas could only look at balls whizzing past him.

Nadal’s seems to have gained a mixture of momentum and form as he has progressed in grand slam Down Under. This surely rings alarm bells amongst his rivals, who would be hoping the Spaniard would slip up or it might well be a third grand slam victory for Nadal.

The second half of the Australian Open beckons and going into it Nadal knows that he hasn’t won a grand on hard court. But if his form against Haas is anything to go by, it might not be that long before he has one.

Nadal’s fourth round opponent will be the 2007 Australian open finalist Fernando Gonzalez. It was Gonzalez who defeated the current No l in the quarter-finals in 2007.

The Chilean Gonzalez would go into the match with Nadal after coming of a very tiring five setter against Richard Gasquet.

Previous Post : Federer wins clash of former world no 1

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Federer wins clash of former world no 1

Former world no.1 Roger Federer defeated 26 seed Marat Safin 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) at the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne Park today. Safin who had earlier announced that 2009 would be his last year on the ATP Tennis World Tour, might well have played his last Australian Open.

Federer looked in sublime form as he was lightning quick moving around the court and served with pin point accuracy to demolish the former No1 Safin in straight sets. The Swiss completely dominated his Russian Opponent and he raced to win the first set 6-3. The second set too was smooth sailing for Federer as he wrapped it up in now time taking it 6-2.

If there was ever any doubt of him being in the top two of the world, they were squashed by some of the shots that the No 2 seed played in the third set. Safin had put in a good fight in the third set and it looked as if the match would go into the fourth set but the set went to Federer who served up the best in the ties breakers. Safin’s brilliancy was disrupted with a lot of unforced errors than the consistent Swiss, preventing him from intimidating to win the match.

Federer has got the better of Safin so far; their most memorable match coming right here in Melbourne in 2005, when the Russian defeated Federer in five sets in a semifinal.the match is still touted as one of the best of the decade. Safin went on to win the title that year.

Federer, who is looking for a record-equaling 14th Grand Slam title will face 20^th seed Tomas Berdych in the fourth round on Sunday. Berdych rallied back to topple 15th-seed Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

All of the top four seeds seem to be in fine touch and look on course to have a super semi final showdown.

Previous Post : Dokic the success story

Dokic the success story

Jelena Dokic is back on the women’s tennis circuit and is already creating ripples among the top ranked players. This is the same Jelena Dokic who had been on the circuit a few years ago and then disappeared. Yes the same Dokic who was touted at one time as a future world beater but ended up being known as a drama queen. But now she is making news for all the right reasons.

Dokic defeated an opponent, Caroline Wozniacki who is ranked 175 places above her 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the third round of the Australian Open. The victory is even more special when you look at how little preparation time Dokic has had. She was given a wildcard entry into the Australian Open as her ranking did not merit a direct entry into the tournament.

Dokic was on the mat after the first set where her opponent had taken the sting off her. Many in the audience believed that the quicker, fitter and better ranked Wozniacki would win the match comfortably. But Dokic came back strongly as she revealed her strong temperament and wide array of shots. As the match went ahead the crowd was feasted to some high class tennis and many were reminded of Dokic’s golden days in tennis when she defeated the likes of Martina Hingis, the reigning World No1 at that stage.

Dokic believes that the layoff from the game may have actually helped her to get the focus back into the game. Her game so far in the Australian Open, sure confirms that. This is the first time Dokic has made it past the third round of a grand slam after the Wimbledon of 2002.

Dokic has Tennis Australia to thank for the attention she is getting now, if not for them she would not have been playing the grand slam after all. And she obliged them by she her gratitude.

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