Australian Open 2008: Andrew's TV-reports (3r + 4r)

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN (Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Plexicushion); Major)
=============== http://2008.australianopen.com/
1. First-round result (Tuesday 15th January)
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+ MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] d. Meilen Tu, 6-4 4-6 6-3

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2. Second-round result (Thursday 17th January)
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+ MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] d. Akiko Morigami [s], 6-1 6-1

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3. Third-round TV-report (Saturday 19th January)
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Nice winner, nice loser:
+ MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF] d. ANNA CHAKVETADZE [6,EF], 6-7 (6/8) 6-1 6-2

I have uploaded to my website my new TV-report of this match, which I recently acquired on DVD from Tennis Videos International (http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/).

It was a mouthwatering match - not just because Maria and Anna are the two cutest players in the world, but in tennis-terms! The first set was very high quality: Anna had the upper hand as her early, flat, deceptive groundstrokes were difficult for Maria to read and gave Maria little time to react.

But it was Anna who got tired after the first set, while Maria played a brilliant second set: her down-the-line groundstrokes began to find their mark, she mixed up the pace with high looping balls and sliced backhands, and retrieved really well, while unforced errors crept into Anna's game.

My full TV-report is at:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/australian_open2008.html

--
Dr. Andrew Broad

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN (Melbourne, Australia; outdoor hard (Plexicushion); Major)
=============== http://2008.australianopen.com/
Fourth round (Monday 21st January)
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Nice winner, nice loser:
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [9,EF] d. MARIA KIRILENKO [27,DF], 1-6 6-4 6-4

I have uploaded to my website my new TV-report of this match, which I recently acquired on DVD from Tennis Videos International (http://www.users.bigpond.com/tennisvideos1/).

It was a mouthwatering match - not just because Daniela and Maria are two of the most attractive players in the world, but in tennis-terms! They played some great spreading rallies; most of the points ended on forced errors; the serving was fast and extremely accurate, but without too many short points as a result; Daniela hit some outstanding second serves as she fought back from 1-3* to 5-3* in the second set, while Maria hit some amazing returns off good first serves.

Something seemed to click in Daniela when she was 1-6 1-3* (0/30*) down. She hit an off-forehand winner, then got the bit between her teeth, and never looked back - at least until *5-2 (40/15) in the third!

Maria seemed to be the more nervous of the two, and was also hampered by a right-thigh injury towards the end of the third set, which she had the trainer evaluate at *3-5 and took a medical time-out at 4-5*.

I'm impressed by the improvement of Maria's game compared to the times I watched her play in 2004-2007. She does have a lot more firepower than she did in 2005, and she retrieves very well too, and can mix up the pace with high, looping shots and sliced backhands. I do wish she would flatten out her groundstrokes rather than hitting them with so much topspin, though - it would make them more attractive, more effective as approach-shots, and more effective on grass.

My full TV-report is at:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/hantu/australian_open2008.html

--
Dr. Andrew Broad