Dubai 2008

Don't know what to think about Nicole's game since the AO... Then we'll see it in Dubai.
Can't wait to see her draw :cool:

it will be very tough, she can get every opponent in first round except TOP 4 :sad: but I think she can breakthrough ;)

I'm waiting this tournament, it's time to see her improvement :cool:

Glad she will be back in action...

Glad she will be back in action...

Me too. I hope Nicole can have a good result at this tournament.

I know that they're working on what she will play instead of Fed Cup. I hope it's Charleston ;) she can gain a lot of points here :)

Yes, it's nice to see her back on the court.

I know that they're working on what she will play instead of Fed Cup. I hope it's Charleston ;) she can gain a lot of points here :)

At what about Estoril? I know this is a small tounament but it's on red clay and there were some nice players last year.Well, she could play at Charleston but the surface doesn't suit her game at all so I don't expect her to go far :lol:

Yes, it's nice to see her back on the court.



At what about Estoril? I know this is a small tounament but it's on red clay and there were some nice players last year.Well, she could play at Charleston but the surface doesn't suit her game at all so I don't expect her to go far :lol:

I can't agree.. she made the quarterfinal on green clay two times and she beat Myskina in Charleston.. I think it was just shame last year and choking in 2006 against Castano :)

I can't agree.. she made the quarterfinal on green clay two times and she beat Myskina in Charleston.. I think it was just shame last year and choking in 2006 against Castano :)

I think there will always be better players than her on green clay.This surface means nothing for the rest of the year while she could have some training on red clay at Estoril (and win it) before playing at Berlin.But anyway, this is not me who choose for her and her team :p ;)

Good to hear Nicole is planning on playing another clay tournament since she won't play Fed Cup. She can gain pts before Roland Garros...

I've been dreaming a match between Sharapova and Vaidisova for a while.:p
Maria is no 5 seed that means they may draw with each other in the first round.:help:
Good luch,Nicole...

I hope she gets a draw that she can do something with and isn't rusty. :o

Good luck Nicole! :)

what're seeded players? :confused:

what're seeded players? :confused:

2008 Dubai Women's Line Up
as of 14th Jan. 2008

Player Name Nat. Rank
Justine Henin BEL 1
Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 2
Ana Ivanovic SRB 3
Jelena Jankovic SRB 4
Maria Sharapova RUS 5
Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6
Marion Bartoli FRA 10
Elena Dementieva RUS 11
Nicole Vaidisova CZE 12
Nadia Petrova RUS 14
Patty Schnyder SUI 15
Dinara Safina RUS 16
Amelie Mauresmo FRA 18
Na Li CHN 18
Agnes Szavay HUN 19
Sybille Bammer AUT 20
Alona Bondarenko UKR 21
Francesca Schiavone ITA 23

Nicole will play qualifier in the first round and if she wins then she will play No.3 seeded Ana Ivanovic!! there's a time for revange!!! :armed::armed::armed:

good luck in dubai nicole :D hopfuly a good result :D

Hopefully Ivanovic plays, I smell blood.

Her draw isn't too bad... Would be an interesting match if she plays Ana.

The draw is do-able.
Revenge on Ivanovic for Wimbledon would be nice. ;)

Good luck Nicole! :)

Nikki`s draw isn`t bad looking. I think the fact that she`ll be playing a qualifier in the first round will give her a chance to see where her game is at and to knock off the rust. If she can win that match, then the next match against Ana will be very interesting, especially with Ana`s recent ankle injury. I really feel that this is a chance for Nikki to go on a nice run in a big tournament like Dubai. She just needs to knock off the rust from the layoff and show some mental toughness for a change.

Decent section of the draw considering it's a packed draw. If Nicole plays Ana it would be interesting considering Ana's recent injury.

Good luck, Nicole :hug:

it's time to make some noise Nicole ........ good luck Nikki;)

WHAT they said at the Dubai Open draw:

Nicole Vaidisova (a debutant for the 2008 Dubai edition): The high level of competitive tennis and the atmosphere compares with the best anywhere on the Tour. This is what my friends on the Tour have always said about it being one of the best. I am eager to perform to the best of my abilities to make it memorable debut.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=sports&xfile=data/sports/2008/february/sports_february958.xml

The draw is lousy. Unseeded, in Henin's half, facing a Q in the 1R. When one's rusty, playing a Q, who is coming off 3 matches won in a row, is just about the worse you can get, and to add to that among those Q she can end up facing The Polish Wall, AMG, Sugiyama - all pesky opponents who can force her to hit not one but many extra shots. Not to mention Akgul. At last year's RG, I was absolutely terrified that Nicole might be the first noteworthy player to lose to that circus attraction.

Jeesh. I sound even more defeatist than the usual. :o

So it seems Ivanovic is already in Dubai according to a troll in GM, hopefully she's playing. Since Hantuchova withdrew Ivanovic vs. Vaidisova is the match I am waiting for.
If Nicole draws Radwanska in 1st round, well at least it will be interesting. I still believe Nicole would win somehow, although she might be rusty. AMG or Sugiyama I ain't afraid of.

Nicole vs. Aiko Nakamura(Q) in the first round :drool:

COURT 3 start 2:00pm
L.Safarova (CZE) vs N.Li (CHN)
N.Petrova (RUS) vs [Q] K.Srebotnik (SLO)
[Q] A.Nakamura (JPN) vs N.Vaidisova (CZE)

at least she didn't get Radwanska, GL nikki ;)

Good luck

Nicole won 6-3 6-0

Fine bagel, Corswandt will like it.

well done nicole great way to start your first tournament since the australian open 63 60 :D good luck in the next round

:woohoo:

what a play in the second set! :bounce::bounce::bounce:

good luck against Ana.. TIME FOR REVANGE!!! :armed:

Nicole:bounce:, now it's time to make noise:cool:

I like the bagel.Great start.Now Ivanovic.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008

CENTRE COURT start 2:00pm
L Safarova (CZE) vs [2] S Kuznetsova (RUS)
[WC] S Mirza (IND) or [Q] V Dushevina (RUS) vs [4] J Jankovic (SRB)
Not Before 7:00pm
[1] J Henin (BEL) vs [Q] K Srebotnik (SLO)
[3] A Ivanovic (SRB) vs N Vaidisova (CZE)

Very good win for Nikki. :clap2: She obviously must have looked very sharp today. In fact i think she played better than expected. This is a great start for her. Now the real test is tomorrow against Ana.

Great job, Nicole! :D
I didn't expect such a convincing scoreline.

Hopefully more of the same tomorrow.

Good luck Nicole! :)

Nice score darling!

Come on Good luck next round

Nicole got crushed 4-6 0-6

omg.. 14 winners and 34 Ue's.. absolutely horrible match.. Ana wasn't unbeatable.. WAKE UP NICOLE FOR IW & MIAMI! :rolleyes:

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Vaidisova Rules. :wavey:

And don't comeback acting as if you're a fan again if she does something great. :rolleyes:
...
6-4 6-0

Nicole:fiery:, one of the worst match I've ever seen of her:o..... Vaidisova Rules get a life:rolleyes:

Not looking good for Nicole to defend QF points at Indian Wells and Miami. She could be (almost) out of the top 20 soon... Don't see anything changing/getting better since she seems to be stubborn by not wanting help from others.

While i`m happy for Ana, i`m very disappointed with Nikki`s lackluster play. :( I really hope that she can get it together before Indian Wells and Miami.

I give credit to Ivanovic for playing with good depth throughout the whole match, Nicole's footwork wasn't good enough to cope with it today, quite often she found herself off balance and out of position. That was a good job by the Serb. Add abysmal serving and you'll get 6-4 6-0.

Agree with Lunaris but Vaidisova didn't move at all during the match which is quite pathetic at this level.Some balls that she can hit in 2007 she can't hit them anymore (passing shot, volley, smash, run to the net...).I'm starting to worry as well as her coach about her fitness.At the fed cup, she looks quite fit (more than at the Ao) and today, she looks like she gained weight again.Maybe this is just me...but it doesn't look good. :shrug: Someone like Ivanovic really tries hard to do her best.Not Vaidisova at this moment for sure.
We will have more info about her form at IW.

What a joke. :o

Oh, Nicole. :sad:

I hope this is a wake-up call for Nicole and her team.
She just got bitch-slapped by someone she bitch-slapped a year ago.

Get it together. :help:

I hope this is a wake-up call for Nicoel and her team.
She just got bitch-slapped by someone she bitch-slapped a year ago.

Get it together. :help:

Nicole and her team must be aware of the problems, and I'm certain they're doing their best to solve them. But maybe their best won't do, and maybe this is as good as it gets.

This can't be as good as it gets because she was definitely playing better last year so she can at least be that.

She's a level below her form last year, IMO.

Off topic, but I want Nicole to drop Yonex really badly. :o
I think a different brand like Wilson or Prince could help.

This can't be as good as it gets because she was definitely playing better last year so she can at least be that.

She's a level below her form last year, IMO.

She hasn't lost to Krajicek this year yet though.

I'm trying to sound optimistic, and this is all I can come up with. :tape:

I think Nicole lost her confidence. She needs to move better on the court, get her great ground strokes back and be strong mentally. I really hope this is a wake-up for Nicole and her team. The really question is her fitness. In my opinion Nicole gained some weight since i saw her in Linz last year. Is her fitness coach really the one she needs? Iquestion also the staff around her. Hey i'm sorry, but i think if she really wants to climb higher in the ranking, she has to chance her hole coaching staff. I think a other coach than her stepfather Alex Kodat would be better for her. Sometimes a new coach brings along new ideas and can chance the game in the right way.
But let's see if Nicole does better in IW and Miami. :)

well that has to be one of the worst results iv seen for nicole if not the worst i think nicole is really struggling now as i think everyone can see and im really not expecting much at all from her now this year but theres still a long way 2 go so hopfully she can get bak to good form and start winning tournaments again or at least doing well in them and not losing in the early rounds but anyway good luck in the next tournament nicole :D

I'd like to see Nicole's 2006 back :sad:

Nicole quit Fed Cup in order to focus on her solo career. I think it's nonsense but at least it shows us she and her coaching team realize that not everything is as they want it to be. Last year at the beginning of the season I was excited because it seemed that czech tennis found two good players who could be a consistent threat to the top players and perhaps could walk in the steps of our former greats like Mandlikova, Sukova and Novotna (oh how I miss Jana :sad:). Then came injuries, personal issues and now it seems both Vaidisova and Safarova are on the course to end as overrated one-dimensional players. That tells you how quickly everything can change in tennis and in sport in general. Nobody said the helm wouldn't turn back in the right direction but both must stay healthy and work hard if they want to get back where they were this time last year. Luckily the time is on their side, especially on Nicole's.

Safarova never came to my mind as a future great player.She has no physic and I'm not even sure it will be good for her body to develop her muscles in her arms and her legs.She will be destroyed too soon.She has no point of balance in her game.It is just about hit, hit and hit the ball again and again.And I don't think Vaidisova is in this category.
She has a level plancher, she knows how to delay her game and construct a point.She isn't bad at her net for her age, she has a good mix of power and efficiency. Vaidisova's game (and her level) is (and will always be) about fitness.She needs to be in movement all the time to hit the ball properly and don't make any extra errors.Until she will not be fit, she will not progress in her tennis.That's the way I see it.