Congrats to Mauresmo

The critics will say that the title was handed to her. There may be SOME validity in that. But Amelie was playing really top notch tennis despite winning the semis and the finals in the manner in which she did.

Mauresmo has always had the talent, athleticism and strength to win a major. It's been the nerves which have afflicted her in some big matches. She's got the monkey off her back now, and it'll be interesting to see if this springboards her into some more majors or if she will end up being a one hit wonder. I must say I'm fifty/fifty on which way it will go. The French Open is gonna' be FUN and interesting. Henin will perhaps be the favorite going in, but Mauresmo will be on the short list, Hingis will be a great story and the Williams sisters will be the big question mark. It's never been their favorite surface but Serena can do damage if fit.

Mad props to Hingis, who won a major title already (the mixed). Her partner, Mahesh Bhupathi, said in his postmatch interviews that he is confident that Hingis will be a top five player after Wimbledon. Quite a prediction...but with her quarterfinal finish in Melbourne, it's not going THAT far out on a limb.... stay tuned!

Lindsay bounced

The last American was bounced from the Australian Open yesterday as Lindsay Davenport lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne in three sets yesterday. It appears that Lindsay will lose her number one ranking, probably to Kim Clijsters, but possibly to Amelie Mauresmo.

Maria Sharapova took care of Nadia Petrova, as expected, in two close sets while wearing an outfit that looks like it is maternity wear.

The other quarters will be played later today. Kim takes on Martina Hingis and the other Swiss, Patty Schnyder, takes on Amelie Mauresmo. Hingis holds a 4-1 career edge on Clijsters, but the last match occurred in 2002 and went three sets.

Things are heatin' up

Some good stuff down unda'. Lindsay's playing well, Mauresmo's lookin' tough, and there's a great quarterfinal matchup comin' up.

First off, I think it's nice to see the Swiss girls doing well. I've never been a huge fam of the personalities of Hingis and Schnyder, but stylistically they're different from anyone out there, and quite frankly I think tennis needs something other than just baseline bashing all the time.

I watched some of the match between Schnyder and the one hit wonder from Russia, Miss Myskina, yesterday. I actually delighted in seeing the frustration on Myskina's face in the second set. I'm a bit of a moonballer myself, and I took perverse pleasure in Patty's pattycaking. :)

For similar reasons, I'm rooting for Hingis. I had no doubt she could come back and be a top 20 player, but I am surprised she's made the quarters in her first grand slam back. Quite honestly I'm expecting a drubbing at the hands of Kim Clijsters. It's really hard to root against Kim, as she's such a likeable person, but I'll be pulling hard for Martina in that one.

I must say I was shocked at the ease with which Mauresmo dispatched Vaidisova yesterday. I was expecting this to be Nicole's breakout season, and wouldn't have been surprised in the least if she had started it with a huge bang and an upset against Amelie, but Mauresmo can be a tricky player for some of the young bashers to handle, as she gives them some stuff (the slice, the net game) that they don't often see from a lot of other players. Of course, the jury will always be out on Amelie until she wins a big match against a heavyweight in the semis and/or finals. She just finds a way to falter when the going gets tough.

Another Sharapova-Petrova matchup, which figures to turn out the way they usually do. Their last grand slam matchup was a really good one, but again I'm not sure Petrova has enough mentally to pull out a match even if she IS playing as well as Maria.

Mary, Mary

Well, Mary Pierce's run at the Australian Open has come to an end. Mary has been an inspiration to the older set with her great season last year where, really, she was THE story on the WTA tour. The much anticipated matchup between Mary and Martina Hingis, who claims she has used Pierce's success as inspiration for her comeback, will now not come to pass.

Lots goin' on

The Australian Open is well underway. The biggest shock on the women's side is the first round exit of Venus Williams while her sister survived a tough first round battle. Elena Dementieva also was a first round casualty.

Martina Hingis was extremely impressive in her first round victory. A finalist here six straight times, Hingis breezed over Vera Zvonareva in her first trip back to the courts which brought her three grand slam titles. (I still can't believe she blew that match to Capriati, but that's another story).

Anyway, things are starting to heat up down under, both figuratively and literally, so stay tuned to the action.

Special K and Hingis

I won't even try to spell her name. Okay, I'll look it up. Sesil Karatantcheva has been banned for two years due to testing positive for nandrolone. She is, of course, appealing the ban and I'm sure will say it's in some supplement she's taking.

I have a friend who coaches on the tour...minor league stuff...the Circuits mostly. He's got a few girls ranked around five hundred or so. Anyway, he says it's an open secret that a great number of the Eastern Europeans and Russians have taken or take HGH. I'm not saying that Special K is guilty...but with all of this circumstancial evidence, it's hard to believe protests of innocence.

Hingis needs some HGH. Just kidding. Anyway, her last two matches, losses to Flavia Pennetta and Justine Henin-Hardenne have shown that she's got her work cut out for her if she wants to make the round of sixteen or better in Australia. It'll be an interesting story line.

Serena gets whooped

Serena Williams may have some more work to do. She was dispatched rather easily by Elena Dementieva today 6-3, 6-1.

No word on what Serena's fitness level was...but it certainly can not be encouraging for Serena fans to see her in this form before the Australian Open.

Take nothing away from Dementieva. I really think she may be the best player in the world after the point has started (i.e. not including the serve in the equation) her strokes may be a slight notch below people like Davenport, but her movement is so much better that it more than compensates. She really has to be soooo good to counteract that second serve...