2007 Tennis Season

[Thuggishh_E]

Guys the Tennis Season began & the first Grand Slam is 4 days away.
Here is the first news of the 2007 Australian Open:



Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova topped the lists of seeded players at the Australian Open, with organizers sticking to world rankings.

Federer, the defending champion, is aiming for his 10th Grand Slam singles title and has been atop the men's rankings since February 2004.

Sharapova moved to the top of the women's seedings list at Melbourne Park after No. 1-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons.

Sharapova has only been seeded No. 1 once, when she won last year's U.S. Open.

"I don't see it as putting any extra pressure on me," Sharapova said. "Whatever you are seeded you've just got to go out and play your matches."

Defending Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was seeded second.

On the men's side, French Open champion Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 2 and is expected to recover from a groin strain that forced him out of a warmup tournament in Sydney this week.

Nadal, who missed the last Australian Open because of a foot injury, beat Federer in four finals last year. Federer was 90-1 against all other rivals.

Every man in the top 20 has entered the tournament, while 18 of the top 20 women are expected to be in the draw.

The draw will be held on Friday.

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Roddick beats Federer to retain Kooyong title



Andy Roddick snapped his losing streak against Roger Federer.

Unfortunately for him, the result of the exhibition match doesn't count on their official records.

The defending champion picked up a confidence-boosting 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win Saturday over top-ranked Federer in the final of the invitational Kooyong Classic.

But he remains 1-12 officially in his career against Federer, who looked good in patches in the second set on the weekend before he begins his Australian Open title defense.

Beating Federer was encouraging, Roddick said. But, "I think it needs to be done on a big stage before you put too much emphasis on it.

"That being said, it's nice to get some good preparation and feel like you're playing well going into the Aussie Open," he said.

Federer is a favorite to win the Australian Open, which would be his 10th Grand Slam title.

He compiled a 92-5 season in 2006, losing only to No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal -- in four finals -- and Andy Murray.

Murray placed third in the Kooyong event, beating 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Despite the loss, Federer said he was happy with his preparation for the first Grand Slam of the year.

"I'm feeling good -- I feel like I'm ready," he said. "It's a shame I couldn't win ... but it was good preparation."

The Australian Open starts Monday. Roddick, seeded sixth, opens against French wild-card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Federer opens against Bjorn Phau.

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Day 1:
The world's No. 1 player and winner of three majors last season dropped serve three times in the first set against Germany's Bjorn Phau before rallying for a 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 victory Monday to begin defense of his Australian Open title.

Fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic didn't make it, falling 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 to American Mardy Fish, who has returned to the top 50 after plummeting to No. 341 and undergoing two wrist operations in 2005.

In the day's last match, 2005 champion Marat Safin beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 5-7, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, a 3 1/2 -hour contest that ended at 12:30 a.m. in the late-night chill.

Federer's finals opponent last year, Marcos Baghdatis, also advanced, backed again by a vocal crowd from Melbourne's large Greek community. Baghdatis, seeded 11th, defeated Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, riding a powerful serve in only his sixth match in a top level ATP event, took the first set in a marathon tiebreaker against Roddick and served for the second set. Roddick wasted four set points in the but came through with a 6-7 (18), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Serena Williams, seeking her eighth Grand Slam title but unseeded after a rash of injuries, started slowly, but she picked up her game to oust 27th-seeded Mara Santangelo 6-2, 6-1 in an error-plagued night match. Santangelo had only six winners to 23 unforced errors while Williams ripped 10 aces in an otherwise lackluster service effort.

Croatia's Mario Ancic was among the seeded players advancing on the men's side, along with No. 18 Richard Gasquet and former No. 1-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero, who played only three games before his first-round rival retired.



Among the women, The second-seeded Mauresmo dropped serve early with three errors against American Shenay Perry, then righted herself and took control to advance 6-3, 6-4.

Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Australian Jessica Moore 6-2, 6-0 while fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, seeded seventh, advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Stephanie Foretz of France.

French Open semifinalist Nicole Vaidisova, seeded 10th, beat American Jill Craybas 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 and 11th-seeded Jelena Jankovic scored a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak.







Day 2:
With temperatures hitting 104 and soaring to 116 on court, Mariah Sharapova escaped with a 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory over France's Camille Pin.

8th-seeded David Nalbandian grew stronger in the heat as Janko Tipsarevic wilted, but was critical that some matches continued while others were delayed. Tipsarevic faltered while serving for the match, then retired because of heat exhaustion with Nalbandian leading 6-7 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0, 2-1.

France's Sebastien Grosjean, a quarterfinalist or better at four of the last six Australian Opens, led Christophe Rochus 6-2, 4-1 when the Belgian retired because of breathing difficulties.

Playing indoors, second-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2; No. 4 Kim Clijsters, retiring at the end of the year to start a family, routed Vasilisa Bardina 6-0, 6-0 in 44 minutes; and No. 6 Martina Hingis, a three-time Australian winner, beat Nathalie Dechy of France 6-0, 6-2.

Fifth-seeded James Blake ousted Spain's Carlos Moya 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-4, beating the former world No. 1 for the second time since Saturday, when they met in the final of the Sydney International.

Another former No. 1 had better luck. No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion whose coach quit two weeks ago and had played only two singles matches since September because of injuries, showed his fighting spirit as he rallied to beat American qualifier Michael Russell 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Britain's Andy Murray, seeded 15th, won 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 over Spain's Alberto Martin, who avoided the embarrassment of a shutout by holding his last service game at 0-5 in the third. There never has been a triple bagel in Melbourne in the Open era.

Third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, on court once the heat policy was lifted after nearly eight hours, beat Argentina's Sergio Roitman 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.

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Day 3:

The top seed and defending champion, Federer cruised past Bjorkman, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, on Wednesday to advance to the third round at the Australian Open.

Federer next will face No. 25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei.

Also moving on was sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick, who bested Frenchman Marc Gicquel, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Roddick, who beat Federer in the final of an exhibition event last week, could meet 26th seed and 2005 champion Marat Safin in the third round.

Other winners were No. 14 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 16 David Ferrer of Spain, 18th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, No. 20 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and 22nd-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty.

An upset victim was No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who fell to Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in four sets. Udomchoke next will play Djokovic.

Perhaps the most intriguing second-round match Wednesday is between No. 11 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Gael Monfils of France, a pair of rising stars.

A surprise finalist here last year who has strong support from Melbourne's large Greek community, Baghdatis beat Monfils in three sets in their lone previous matchup, at Cincinnati last year.

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Day 3:
Second Round
Amelie Mauresmo (2) def. Olga Poutchkova, 6-2, 6-2
Svetlana Kuznetsova (3) def. Monique Adamczak, 6-2, 6-1
Nadia Petrova (5) def. Gisela Dulko, 6-1, 6-2
Elena Dementieva (7) def. Martina Muller, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0
Nicole Vaidisova (10) def. Milagros Sequera, 6-2, 6-1

Jelena Jankovic (11) def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2, 6-2
Lucie Safarova def. Francesca Schiavone (14), 6-3, 6-3
Shahar Peer (16) def. Meilen Tu, 6-3, 6-0
Victoria Azarenka def. Marion Bartoli (18), 6-0, 7-5
Tatiana Golovin (20) def. Zuzana Ondraskova, 6-2, 6-0

Iveta Benesova def. Katarina Srebotnik (21), 6-1
Anastasiya Yakimova def. Ai Sugiyama (23), 6-2, 2-6, 10-8
Maria Kirilenko (26) def. Julia Vakulenko, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Eva Birnerova def. Julia Schruff, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Maria Camerin def. Elena Vesnina, 4-6, 6-3, 8-6

Serena Williams def. Anne Kremer, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2

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Sampras and Sanchez-Vicario elected to Hall of Fame


Pete Sampras, winner of a record 14 grand slam singles titles, and three-times French Open singles champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario were elected on Wednesday to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

American seven-times Wimbledon champion Sampras was ranked number one in the world for a record 286 weeks, including a streak of 102 weeks between April 15, 1996 and March 30, 1998.

Sanchez-Vicario captured three singles title at Roland Garros (1989, 1994, 1998) and in 1994 became the first Spanish woman to win the U.S. Open singles title.

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Day 4:
Second Round
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Nikolay Davydenko (3) def. Gilles Muller, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3
James Blake (5) def. Alex Kuznetsov, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
David Nalbandian (8) def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Fernando Gonzalez (10) def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 4-0

Tommy Haas (12) def. Ilia Bozoljac, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-3
Tomas Berdych (13) def. Robert Smeets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Andrew Murray (15) def. Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-4
Juan Ignacio Chela def. Jarkko Nieminen (17), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt (19) def. Frank Dancevic, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov (21) def. Max Mirnyi, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Sebastien Grosjean (28) def. Olivier Rochus, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Stanislas Wawrinka (31) def. Paul Capdeville, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Robby Ginepri def. Mischa Zverev, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1
Florian Mayer def. Andreas Seppi, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2

Fabrice Santoro def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4








Second Round
Maria Sharapova (1) def. Anastassia Rodionova, 6-0, 6-3
Kim Clijsters (4) def. Akiko Morigami, 6-3, 6-0
Martina Hingis (6) def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-2, 6-2
Patty Schnyder (8) def. Shuai Peng, 7-5, 6-3
Dinara Safina (9) def. Youlia Fedossova, 6-3, 6-2

Anna Chakvetadze (12) def. Laura Granville, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Ana Ivanovic (13) def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Daniela Hantuchova (15) def. Emilie Loit, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ashley Harkleroad def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (17), 6-2, 6-2
Na Li (19) def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-0, 6-2

Vera Zvonareva (22) def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1, 6-3
Jelena Kostanic Tosic def. Samantha Stosur (24), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
Alona Bondarenko (29) def. Virginie Razzano, 6-3, 6-4
Tathiana Garbin (30) def. Renata Voracova, 6-1, 7-5
Aiko Nakamura def. Sania Mirza, 6-3, 6-2

Alicia Molik def. Kaia Kanepi, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

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Day 5:


Third Round:

Roger Federer (1) def. Mikhail Youzhny (25), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
Andy Roddick (6) def. Marat Safin (26), 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
Tommy Robredo (7) def. Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-1
Mario Ancic (9) def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Novak Djokovic (14) def. Danai Udomchoke, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1

David Ferrer (16) def. Radek Stepanek (20), 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3
Richard Gasquet (18) def. Gael Monfils, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Mardy Fish def. Wayne Arthurs, 3-0 retired






Third Round:
Amelie Mauresmo (2) def. Eva Birnerova, 6-3, 6-1
Svetlana Kuznetsova (3) def. Maria Kirilenko (26), 6-1, 6-4
Serena Williams def. Nadia Petrova (5), 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Elena Dementieva (7) def. Maria Camerin, 6-1, 6-3
Nicole Vaidisova (10) def. Katarina Srebotnik (21), 6-4, 6-4

Jelena Jankovic (11) def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-3, 6-4
Shahar Peer (16) def. Tatiana Golovin (20), 3-6, 7-7, 7-5
Lucie Safarova def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3 retired

[Tashnag]

Federer will win this one easily...
he and hewitt in the final is a dream one...
it would be great especially hewitt will have all his supporters backing him against federer

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Originally Posted by Tashnag

Federer will win this one easily...
he and hewitt in the final is a dream one...
it would be great especially hewitt will have all his supporters backing him against federer

hehe man 3al fade really!
Roger will smash him like always..
i think that Roddick will be in the final (if he won't meet Federer before)