Sweet 16

So in the end it was another victory for Roger Federer. He now has won the Australian Open four times to go with his six Wimbledons, five US Opens and one French. It was a happy ending for him after the tears of last year.

He only dropped one set on his way to the quarter-finals. He dropped the first set against Nikolay Davydenko and then wouldn’t lose another one. Davydenko had the best chance of defeating him when he served at 5-3 up in the fourth set but then lost four straight games and that was that.

Andrew Murray had his chances in the final especially in the third set but Federer was just too good. Up until that point Murray was playing flawless winner and would have been a deserved champion. Still he isn’t that far away from winning his first Grand Slam title.

On the ladies’ side, it was Serena Williams and Justine Henin in the final. It was crazy that this was the first Grand Slam final between the two giving how they had been in 25 finals between them.

Henin did well to make the final on her return to tennis but in the end Williams had too much firepower. Williams only lost two sets on her way to her 12th Grand Slam singles title. It was her fifth Australian Open title and tennis betting already has her as favourite to pick up her second French Open title.

Henin only lost two sets on her way to the final. She now has to wait for another Australian Open title to go with the one she won in 2004.

The locals wouldn’t be so happy about how they fared. Lleyton Hewitt again had to carry the flag for the locals and he had no chance against Roger Federer. Even less so when it was revealed that he has a hip injury.

So now the tour heads into the regular season. Should be exciting between now and the next Grand Slam in Paris. How will Rafael Nadal fare? Will he be able to come back to his best? What about Kim Clijsters and Justin Henin? Will they able to maintain the lofty standards they set for themselves on their return. Both made the final in their first Grand Slam back.

As usual, should be very exciting.

David Wiseman writes for this blog. He also covers AFL betting.

Looking Towards Rod Laver Arena

One year is over and the new one begins. Just as quickly the build-up starts for the first Grand Slam event of the year. There are a lot of questions to ponder regarding this year’s Australian Open.

Defending champion, Rafael Nadal, isn’t heading into the tournament in the best of form and tennis betting isn’t sure what to make of him. It is quite crazy – 12 months ago he was just about invincible and how he is plagued by injury and self-doubt.

Similarly Roger Federer isn’t the same juggernaut he once was. Yes he played in all four Grand Slam finals last year but only won two of those most notably the US Open last time up to Juan Martin del Potro.

That leaves the question – how open is the men’s tournament? In previous years have sprung up surprise finalists be it Marcos Bagdhatis, Petr Korda or Thomas Johansson. Those last two actually won the tournament and never did anything else of note.

On the women’s side of things, the big question will be how Serena Williams fares. She came under huge scrutiny following her meltdown at the US Open.
Also there is the return of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. The two played in the 2004 decider which Henin won in three sets. You would think this places extra pressure on the likes of Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova.

The two Belgian players are really the only two who seems to not to crumple into a ball of nerves when playing one of the Williams sisters.
From a local perspective, again the best and probably only hope is Lleyton Hewitt. The problem for him is his age and injuries. He doesn’t look to have what it takes to make it deep into a Grand Slam. Also the draw doesn’t seem to do him any favors. There is Jelena Dokic but she doesn’t seem to be in the same groove as she was last year when she made it as far as the quarter-finals.

We shall see. As usual it will be a fantastic two weeks of tennis.

David Wiseman writes for this blog and the Australian Open.

Ana Ivanovic Crashed by 19-Year-Old Alisa Kleybanova in Australian Open

Russia's Alisa Kleybanova

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic’s hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes on Friday as Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova ousted her 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the third round.

With 19-year-old Kleybanova constantly aggressive, fifth-ranked Ivanovic lost her serve nine times and finished with 50 unforced errors to just 23 winners.

"It's just great to play a match like this. I'm so happy that I pulled through, because it was not just a normal win. I really felt that I played almost my best tennis today. It was so exciting to be out there," the 29th seed told the official Australian Open Web site.

Australian Open 2009 Update

Australian Open 2009 is under way down under. The tennis has been great with 10th seed David Nalbandian being the biggest casualty to date. He won last week in Sydney and would have been hoping to make a deeper run.

The third round has thrown up some interesting matches with the pick of them being Marat Safin against Roger Federer. This is a repeat of the 2005 semi-final which saw Safin inflict Federer's only loss in the tournament between 2004 and 2007. No other player in Australian Open 2009 is as mercurial as the Russian, so just about the only thing you can be sure of is that Federer will not be taking him lightly.

In the latest Australian Open betting, Roger Federer is at 3.50 with Andy Murray at 4.10 and Rafael Nadal at 4.90.

Over on the ladies' side, Serena Williams and her sister Venus are just about joint favorites. With both sisters on the same side of the draw, an all-Williams final can't happen this time round.

It's still early days in Australian Open 2009 and much is to take place between now and when they start handing out trophies.