Things are finally starting to get crazy at the Australian Open. Almost all Open’s have their fair share of incredible matches and big surprises (especially in men’s singles), and the 2009 version is starting to assume such qualities. If you were in Rod Laver Arena on Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, you were in for [...]
Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez will square off in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2009 on Monday afternoon, but the action on Rod Laver Arena will be kicked off Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils. It will be the first career head-to-head meeting on between the two Frenchman, and count on this showdown being [...]
Rafael Nadal put on his third straight dazzling performance in Melbourne with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Tommy Haas on Saturday night at the Australian Open. He needed just two hours and four minutes to book his place in the fourth round. Nadal dominated both Christophe Rochus and Roko Karanusic in his first two [...]
Day Five of the 2009 Australian Open was going along as planned until two stirring late-day performances by longshots rocked the grounds in Melbourne. 29th seed Russian Alisa Kleybanova muscled her way to the biggest upset of her career with a hard fought three set win over Serbia’s 5th seed and 2008 Australian Runnerup, Ana [...]
The Men’s Draw at the Australian Open has gone vertical. Everyone is getting taller, the serves are getting bigger and the ground strokes even more authoritative. The play at Melbourne has been marked by impressive shotmaking, thunderous serves and leaving little doubt that the game is changing yet again. Could it be that Roger Federer [...]
It will be the fourth career head-to-head meeting between Nadal and Haas when the two players square off in Rod Laver Arena on Saturday. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 3-0, but Haas has played him close, especially in Cincinnati last summer. The German had plenty of chances in each set before succumbing 6-4, 7-6(0). After [...]
A once-stoic Jelena Dokic is showing an emotional side of her this week at the Australian Open 2009. And for good reason. The fallen star has now, improbably, won two matches in Melbourne Park after upsetting Anna Chakvetadze in an emotional 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 on Wednesday night in an emotional thriller on Rod Laver Arena. [...]
Rafael Nadal’s 2009 Australian Open campaign got off to an ideal start on Tuesday night in Rod Laver Arena, as the Spaniard needed just one hour and 17 minutes to destroy Christophe Rochus. The 75th-ranked Belgian was no match for the world No. 1 and that became apparent in a devastating 19-minute first set. Rochus [...]
In one sense, it was a huge surprise that tenth-seeded David Nalbandian crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round. Then again, one of the tennis world’s most puzzling players can never proceed through a tournament without serving up a surprise. On paper, the Argentine had no business ducking out of the year’s [...]
The International Tennis Federation, which supervises Grand Slam tournaments, might think that there’s nothing wrong with maintaining the current system for the year’s four major championships. Have a draw, just like always. Create some suspense. Generate excitement and buzz. After all, it’s the way things are done around here, right? That line of argumentation has [...]
