January 23, 2011
Blame German beer for this open Open, writes Mark Hodgkinson in Melbourne.
In this age of uncertainty in women's tennis, with the absence of the injured Serena Williams, you cannot even be sure at this Australian Open that the ball will bounce.
It was just before Maria Sharapova, now the only former champion left at Melbourne Park, started her third-round match against the frisky German player, Julia Goerges, that a dead patch was found on their court. Only after a handyman intervened could play begin.
Blame all this confusion on a bottle of German beer. Five times in the past eight years, including last season, Williams won the Daphne Akhurst trophy, but she is missing this year because she is still recovering from stepping on broken glass in a Munich restaurant last year.
This is the most open grand slam in years. Without Williams it feels as if the hierarchy of old is missing. Maybe that was why Justine Henin's loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova did not shock, even if it was the Belgian's earliest departure from a major for six years. Serena's sister Venus will also play no further part in the tournament after withdrawing injured.
Serena's evening in Munich has changed the whole feel of the opening grand slam. Caroline Wozniacki, a Dane playing her first tournament as the world No.1, beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3 to reach the last 16 without dropping a set, yet she has still not won a major.
On the other side of the draw is Vera Zvonareva, the Russian world No.2, who, though she was a finalist at last season's Wimbledon and US Open, is still trying to become a grand-slam champion.
Kim Clijsters could be seen as the favourite, yet it is difficult to forget how the Belgian, who beat Frenchwoman Alice Cornet 7-6 6-3 yesterday, bombed here last year when she won just one game against Russian Nadia Petrova.
The locals would like to believe Sam Stosur could win.
When Sharapova dropped the first set against Goerges, it looked as though we could say there would be a new women's champion as early as the first Friday afternoon.
Sharapova, who has not won a slam since her victory here three years ago, came through in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Tonight she will play Germany's Andrea Petkovic, who had played just seven points against Venus when the Californian retired due to injury. For Petkovic, who beat Britain's Anne Keothavong on Wednesday, this was a walkover into the last 16.
So there will be no more pretty backhands from Henin, whose elbow problem is apparently still bothering her. After she finished as runner-up to Serena here last January, her first grand slam since she came out of retirement, it was widely supposed that the Belgian would continue to challenge for majors. Unfortunately for Henin, it has not worked out that way.
With all the ranking points that will come off Henin's account after this tournament, she is expected to drop out of the top 20. If Henin does not achieve the results she wants in the coming months, she could soon decide to retire again.
It would not have been so surprising if Henin had ended up posing with the trophy and the cuddly toys. Still, there was also nothing too shocking about her 6-4, 7-6 defeat to Kuznetsova, a former US Open champion.
Kuznetsova took the scenic route to this straight-sets victory. Twice she failed to serve out the match. And the tie-breaker was not simple either, as she had to stave off Henin's point for the set before taking it 10-8 on her fourth match point.
''I decided to play not being 100 per cent,'' Henin said. ''It's been difficult in the last three days on my elbow and I just did everything that I could to make it OK, but it wasn't enough.''
Telegraph, London
Resources : http://www.smh.com.au/
|
Subscribe
