[senia]

As there is only one week left untill the first Grand Slam of the year I thought I should start a thread about this years Australian Open.

Let's get some information first:


Where?
Melbourne, Australia

When?
January 14-27, 2008

Yes, and is there more I should know?

Grand Slam
Prize Money: $20,600,000
Draw: 128M/96Q/64D
Surface: Hardcourts/Outdoors
Tournament Director: Craig Tiley

Official Web Site:
http://www.australianopen.com

2006 Women's Singles Final
Serena Williams (USA) d. (1) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 61 62



MARIA LAST YEAR
R128 PIN, CAMILLE FRA W 6-3 4-6 9-7
R64 RODIONOVA, ANASTASSIA RUS W 6-0 6-3
R32 GARBIN, TATHIANA ITA W 6-3 6-1
R16 ZVONAREVA, VERA RUS W 7-5 6-4
Q CHAKVETADZE, ANNA RUS W 7-6(5) 7-5
S CLIJSTERS, KIM BEL W 6-4 6-2
F WILLIAMS, SERENA USA L 6-1 6-2



Ok, so what are your thought about Maria and the Australian open 2008? Will she win?

[heelsrule1988]

This is her shot to show everyone that Madrid was just the start of the comeback. If we see the Maria wee saw in November, I love her chances.

[sharapovarulz1]

I really believe Maria can win it this year her form is great, her confidence is high and she is ready to take on the big 3 and win! Good luck Maria we know you can do it!

[SharapovaSte]

Also Maria needs to be carefull she has a lot of ranking points to defend and failing to do tht could see her ranking dip

Hopefully she will beat venus in 1/4 final
serena in 1/2 final
henin in final

tht would be a dream come true lol

[sharapovarulz1]

Originally Posted by SharapovaSte

Also Maria needs to be carefull she has a lot of ranking points to defend and failing to do tht could see her ranking dip

Hopefully she will beat venus in 1/4 final
serena in 1/2 final
henin in final

tht would be a dream come true lol

That would be awesome!

[senia]

yeah that would be

although i am a little worried about the possible draw, since she will be the 5th seed, she might face henin in the quarters right?

[Sharapower8]

Good luck Masha ! Do your best

[Jovana.]

I am usually a huge pesimyst about things but I'm hoping Masha can do well here,and prove to us and herself that she is really back ...I'm just really afraid of the draw

[Andy.]

Im a bit nervous about the draw as well. drawing Henin in the quarters would be prety bad. Any of the other top 4 would be OK just not Henin. I wonder if she is there yet? I havent seen any pix.

[@Sweet Cleopatra]

I hope she'll win over Serena , but the AO always on times when we're sleeping , that's so annoying , and while we're freezing from cold , the sun is always there and very high temp , it makes me confused ,

[Mikey B]

people shouldnt worry about the draw, if she's good enough to win then she's gona be able to beat anyone in the draw... im hoping she can extract some revenge on her 07 foes, would love to see her beat the sisters and henin!!! but im just really hopeful that we see maria from madrid, no pressure, hitting freely and just enjoying the game! if i see that then im goin to be really happy!

[Jovana.]

Originally Posted by @Sweet Cleopatra

I hope she'll win over Serena , but the AO always on times when we're sleeping , that's so annoying , and while we're freezing from cold , the sun is always there and very high temp , it makes me confused ,

I agree,you really have to be an extreme fan to get up at 4am to watch tennis not me though...

[Dan23]

I will be there once again

I hope Maria has another great tournament

[heytennis]

R16: Vaidisova
QF: Henin
SF: Serena
F: Ivanovic

That would be amazing. Maybe swap Serena for Venus, I don't really care.

[Maria Croft]

I hope this year will be better then last year