2009 Australian Open – Another day and another top seed gone
Yesterday it was Venus Williams and today it’s Ana Ivanovic. The fifth-seeded Serbian lost to Russian Alisa Kleybanova 5-7, 7-6(5), 2-6 in the third round. Ivanovic was the runner-up here in 2008, but through the first two round in 2009 she hasn’t looked like the same player. Maybe some of that has to do with the questions surrounding her coach, Sven Groeneveld, and whether or not he is going to continue coaching her or maybe it is because of all of the off-court distractions she has had since winning the French Open. All I can say is that her strokes are excellent, the serve will come around, and she is excellent at the net. I would even suggest that she spends more time at the net, which would put more pressure on her opponent’s.
I have to congratulate Kleybanova for a great win. I remember when she was at the Academy, her mother was a drill seargent in the Russian Army and used to walk the courts like she was a palace guard in London! Kleybanova plays a very aggressive style, can cover the court better then most people think, and really takes it to her opponents. The one thing she needs to work on is her passing shots when her opponent approaches the net. Overall, she played really well and I am very happy for her.
Also pulling off a big upset was the resurgent Jelena Dokic. After beating Anna Chakvetadze in the second round, she got another huge win over #11 Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the fourth round. What has helped Dokic so much is the tremendous fan support she is getting. She has always had the talent, but the question was could she come back and compete at a high level like she is doing now. Well, we can’t question her anymore!
The other winners on the women’s side were all expected as #1 Jelena Jankovic, #3 Dinara Safina, #7 Vera Zvonareva #10 Nadia Petrova, #15 Alize Cornet, and #16 Marion Bartoli all won. With Ivanovic out on the top half, it really opens up the draw on that side. It makes both Jankovic and Safina’s paths to the finals much easier as well. I want briefly comment on Daniela Hantuchova. She lost to Cornet, and she might have the most beautiful techniques in the world, but she doesn’t have the ability to generate power and hurt her opponents like some of the other young players do.
On the men’s side the biggest upset (and the only seed to lose to an unseeded player) was of #23 American Mardy Fish. He fell to former finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Since reaching the finals back in 2006, Baghdatis has fallen all the way down to #97 in the world and has only been past the fourth round in two of his last 10 Grand Slam appearances. Baghdatis will get Novak Djokovic next, after Djokovic struggled to get by American Amer Delic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
Both Roger Federer and Andy Roddick got through their third round matches without losing a set. Federer beat former champion Marat Safin 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(5) while Roddick took down Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Federer played excellent tennis against Safin, converting on three of four break chances and winning 85% of the points on his first serve. Safin never got into a rhythm, and was making too many errors from the forehand side to keep this match close. Federer seems to have really turned it up and is moving around the court brilliantly.
Roddick is also playing at a very high level, and had 50 winners to only 19 unforced errors in his win over Santoro. It was also interesting to see Roddick come to the net so much (31/44) and was able to convert. To me, it just showed how Roddick can do a little bit of everything and when he had his chances he jumped on them and that is a very good sign.
I want to end by talking about Del Potro. Everyone is always commenting on his serve, but I want to mention his backhand. To be able to move like he does, at his height, and catch the ball as high and as early as he can, it is incredible. He is able to take the ball six inches to a foot higher than most other players from the backhand side, which puts his opponents at an immediate disadvantage.
Can’t wait for tomorrow and stay tuned for the picks!
Daniela certainly has the ability to generate power and hurt her opponents: she does it through immaculate timing – what I call “flairsome power” – rather than big muscles. She was certainly generating a lot of power when she reached the semi-finals of last year’s Australian Open!
But Daniela has not been the same force since she was sidelined for ten weeks with a stress-fracture in her right heel from April to June 2008. She lost a lot of fitness then, so her first priority is to get that back – then she can concentrate on getting her game back on track.
Right now I feel Daniela cannot hurt her opponents the way she could a year ago because of the injury.