Another Australian Open another Hingis/Clijsters clash. Martina was able to get passed Li Na in 3 sets but it wasn't easy. In the first set it was all Li who was dominating and dictating play, not surprisingly with her first serve at 100%.
Well that and the Chinese killer backhand, which I must admit is really great. She broke Hingis in the first game and jumped to a 0/2 lead. Hingis finally held serve in the third game for 1/2. But so did Li and she jumped to a 1/3 lead before Hingis held serve again for 2/3. Li held again for 2-4. Before Hingis held and broke her to even at 4/all, but again could not hold serve and Li went up to 4/5 and won the first set 4/6.
In the second set same scenario but with Hingis in front and a 2/0 lead. In the 3rd game Hingis was broken again and Li evened things out at 2/2. Then Hingis held for 3/2 and broke Li for a 4/2 lead. She held again for 5/2.
Li won her service game 3/5, but Hingis served the set out at 6/3. In the 3rd set it was Hingis who seemed to be in full control largely due to Li's enormous number of unforced errors (69 total) that started creeping in the 2nd and 3rd sets.
Hingis won the 3rd set 6/0. That's not to say that Martina didn't work hard for the win she certainly hang in there, played some terrific defence and forced Li Na into some long rallies. Which obviously took their toll on her as evidenced by the result of the last set. She had 10 dueces on her serve in total.
Also in the second set Hingis stopped directing the balls to Li's backhand and instead went for her forehand, which was her weaker side. That allowed Hingis to win the 2nd set. Before that it was Li who was running Hingis all over the court.
All in all it was not a bad match but it could have been better. To have even the slightest chance of winning with Clijsters, Hingis will have to be a lot more aggressive and get all of her first serves in. Basically she'll have to be near perfect. And certainly hit a lot more winners then in this match where she only had 8 to Li Na's 30. But she kept her unforced errors to a minimum she had 18 to Li's 69 as I mentioned earlier.
I think Hingis will just have to hope and pray Clijsters has a lapse in concentration and that she makes some errors like she did against Hantoukova in the second set. And as I've said Hingis will have to be completely on top of her game, the other thing Hingis can hope for is that Clijsters crumbles under the pressure (of being the favourite and the one expected to win) and take her opportunities from that.
I know it's going to be quite a long shot, but I really hope she can do it. If for no other reason then to shut up all the nay sayers, like Pam Shriver and so I don't have to keep hearing about the reemergence of Serena Williams *shudder* anymore. She has come so close to beating Clijsters in their previous 3 set matches (last year) 3rd time has to be the charm.
Gooo Hingis make them all eat their words!:D.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Rain delay puts a stop to another day at the Aussie Open
All this rain is starting to feel like Wimbledon lol, (of course Australia needs this due to the drought and wild fires caused by the heat). But it still really screws with the tennis schedule. One of the biggest surprising developments today was Kuznetsova, Mauresmo and Safina being knocked out of the open.
Mauresmo got knocked out by a virtual unknown named Lucie Safarova, Kuznetsova's exit came courtesy of Shahar Peer and Safina was defeated by Na Li. Who will now face Hingis in the fourth round.
Very interesting and unexpected results, too bad we're left hanging waiting for the conclusion of the Williams/Jankovic match. So far Williams is leading 3/2 hope Jankovic can pull herself together and take Serena down.
Now the draw has really opened up, if someone could just kick Sharapova out of the running Hingis would be a shoe in for the title, well once she got passed Kim Clijsters that is. Which I have a good feeling about, I think she's gonna do just that at this Aussie Open.
Mauresmo got knocked out by a virtual unknown named Lucie Safarova, Kuznetsova's exit came courtesy of Shahar Peer and Safina was defeated by Na Li. Who will now face Hingis in the fourth round.
Very interesting and unexpected results, too bad we're left hanging waiting for the conclusion of the Williams/Jankovic match. So far Williams is leading 3/2 hope Jankovic can pull herself together and take Serena down.
Now the draw has really opened up, if someone could just kick Sharapova out of the running Hingis would be a shoe in for the title, well once she got passed Kim Clijsters that is. Which I have a good feeling about, I think she's gonna do just that at this Aussie Open.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Sick of the waiting game
I have been waiting all day for the Hingis/Nakamura match but it doesn't look like ESPN is going to show it at this point. So rather then wait I'll just post some pics from the match. It was an easy win for Martina anyway the Japanese player didn't have anything to threaten Hingis with she won in 2 quick sets 6/2 6/1.
She's now awaiting the results of the Li Na/Dinara Safina match. But no one knows when that will start since the rain in Australia has been relentless, and no one has played on the outside courts. The only courts available are the 2 main ones with retractable roofs (Rod Laver and Vodafone Arenas).
My money is on Safina though, I think it's going to be her and Hingis in the 4th round. Hopefully with Martina as the victor. And then of course there would be another quarterfinal re-match with Hingis and Clijsters but gotta wait and see how she deals with Safina first.
I'm also looking forward to the Serena/Jankovic match, I wanna see Jankovic kick Serena's butt, something tells me that she will. In fact I will be really surprised if Serena scrapes through.
She's now awaiting the results of the Li Na/Dinara Safina match. But no one knows when that will start since the rain in Australia has been relentless, and no one has played on the outside courts. The only courts available are the 2 main ones with retractable roofs (Rod Laver and Vodafone Arenas).
My money is on Safina though, I think it's going to be her and Hingis in the 4th round. Hopefully with Martina as the victor. And then of course there would be another quarterfinal re-match with Hingis and Clijsters but gotta wait and see how she deals with Safina first.
I'm also looking forward to the Serena/Jankovic match, I wanna see Jankovic kick Serena's butt, something tells me that she will. In fact I will be really surprised if Serena scrapes through.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Hingis moves to 3rd round at Australian Open
Well TSN or should I say ESPN actually showed the whole match this afternoon surprisingly. Hingis was playing Russian Alla Kudryavtseva ranked 134. Interesting match, could have gone either way Kudryavtseva had some good shots and generated some power at times but it's the unforced errors that sealed her fate.
She actually managed to break Hingis 3 times. The first set started out with Hingis winning the opening game and breaking her opponent for a 2 love lead. Then the Russian held serve and broke Hingis for 2 all. From then Hingis went on the win the first set 6/2.
Her opponent provided Hingis with a lot of gifts courtesy of her unforced errors as I mentioned. In the second set Hingis got a 4-0 lead. And again her opponent held serve and got on the board then broke Hingis again at 5/1 to go up 5/2. But Hingis proceeded to close it out easily at 6/2.
It wasn't her best match, but it definitely wasn't bad. I think it was just the fact that she's never played this person before so she couldn't really figure out what game plan to employ. As the match went on she opted for putting her opponent on the defensive and forcing unforced errors. Which is something she did a lot back in the 90's.
Hingis's serve was definitely better in her first round match, but she really didn't have to worry it was still a fairly easy match. I've said this in the past but I'll mention it again.
I honestly think that Hingis only raises her game against tougher opponents and I think she's a lot more confident playing someone she's played countless times before, because she knows their game and can figure out and adjust her game plan as she goes.
At one point during the match Hingis kept swatting at something with her rocket which later turned out to be a fly. It definitely got everyone's attention because Hingis is usually so focused between points she doesn't make any unnecessary movements.
The fans found it amusing too, one guy yelled out "get it Hingis" referring to the fly lol. With Hingis's reflexes the fly didn't stand a chance lol and Martina received some applause.
It's interesting to note that Hingis's opponent was happy to play her because she's her idol. I always find that so amazing that you have someone like the 19 year-old Kudryavtseva idolizing Martina who's only 26 herself. The idolization is well deserved of course but I'm always amused by that fact. Next Hingis will face Japan's Aiko Nakamura.
She actually managed to break Hingis 3 times. The first set started out with Hingis winning the opening game and breaking her opponent for a 2 love lead. Then the Russian held serve and broke Hingis for 2 all. From then Hingis went on the win the first set 6/2.
Her opponent provided Hingis with a lot of gifts courtesy of her unforced errors as I mentioned. In the second set Hingis got a 4-0 lead. And again her opponent held serve and got on the board then broke Hingis again at 5/1 to go up 5/2. But Hingis proceeded to close it out easily at 6/2.
It wasn't her best match, but it definitely wasn't bad. I think it was just the fact that she's never played this person before so she couldn't really figure out what game plan to employ. As the match went on she opted for putting her opponent on the defensive and forcing unforced errors. Which is something she did a lot back in the 90's.
Hingis's serve was definitely better in her first round match, but she really didn't have to worry it was still a fairly easy match. I've said this in the past but I'll mention it again.
I honestly think that Hingis only raises her game against tougher opponents and I think she's a lot more confident playing someone she's played countless times before, because she knows their game and can figure out and adjust her game plan as she goes.
At one point during the match Hingis kept swatting at something with her rocket which later turned out to be a fly. It definitely got everyone's attention because Hingis is usually so focused between points she doesn't make any unnecessary movements.
The fans found it amusing too, one guy yelled out "get it Hingis" referring to the fly lol. With Hingis's reflexes the fly didn't stand a chance lol and Martina received some applause.
It's interesting to note that Hingis's opponent was happy to play her because she's her idol. I always find that so amazing that you have someone like the 19 year-old Kudryavtseva idolizing Martina who's only 26 herself. The idolization is well deserved of course but I'm always amused by that fact. Next Hingis will face Japan's Aiko Nakamura.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Martina Hingis Aussie Open first round pics
hingis.orgI love this new outfit, it's much better looking then her previous black one. More stylish. Hope she wears it in her doubles match with Kuznetsova today.
Highly unlikely ESPN will actually show it since it's happening on court 18. I wish her lots of luck in that I think it'll be great practice for her singles matches, keep her sharp.
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