flipfanatic
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Men's and Women's Singles Draw - Round 1 previews
Men's Singles Draw
Women's Singles Draw
I can't help feeling that Wayne Arthurs benefited from Mark's withdrawal in being granted the WC that everyone expected for Mark. I'll be keeping a close eye on that side of the draw, wishing that Mark was there.
Anyone going next week?
It's going to be a stinker - 39c predicted most of the week.
Australian Open First-Round Matches To Watch
01/12/2007
James Blake doesn’t need to consult the draw for a personal preview of the Australian Open — he can see it staring across the net at him in the former of 1997 Oz Open finalist Carlos Moya.
Defending Sydney champion Blake faces Moya in Saturday’s Sydney final that will serve as a prelude to the pair’s first-round meeting in next week’s Australian Open.
The Blake-Moya match is a battle between two of the biggest forehands in tennis, but Blake’s speed and comfort level stepping inside the baseline should give him the edge against the former French Open champion.
Here’s a look at some other intriguing first-round Australian Open matches:
Xavier Malisse vs. Arnaud Clement: Clement won their lone hard-court meeting, 7-6(3), 6-2 in Metz last October and plays a consistent counter-punching style that can cause on-court madness in Malisse, who has not exactly been a model of mental toughness throughout his career. However, the 29th-ranked Malisse is a gifted player who showed his skills in sweeping singles and doubles titles in Chennai last week, scoring a straight-sets win over second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the process. Since Clement’s surprising trip to the 2001 Australian Open final, he has won just one match in his last four appearances. Clement is a fighter who will make Malisse earn the win, but the X-Man has a bigger game and more weapons and should prevail comfortably.
Nicolas Massu (CHI) vs. (14) Novak Djokovic (SRB): Though Massu registered monumental victories in striking Olympic gold in singles and doubles on the hard courts of Athens in 2004, he is at his best on clay and has looked out of his element in Australia in posting a 1-5 career record. Massu’s favored court positioning comes straight out of the chorus to Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” as he constantly looks to move to his left to run around his backhand and fire his forehand repeatedly. He won’t be able to give up that much ground against the Djokovic, who is well-balanced off both forehand and backhand and surrendered just one set in winning his third career title in Adelaide last week. If Djokovic hadn’t had the misfortune of landing in Roger Federer’s quarter of the draw, he’d have a shot at reaching the semifinals.
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) (4) vs. Mardy Fish (USA): The 2006 Australian Open marked a major breakthrough for Ljubicic, who reached the quarterfinals after falling in the first or second round in 22 of his prior 25 Grand Slam tournament appearances. Ljubicic went on to reach the Roland Garros final four, but reverted back to underachieving form in falling in the first round of the U.S. Open last August. Fish has had some of his best results against power players who are not particularly fast. Neither man is a speed merchant, but both can dictate play with their serves and both possess penetrating backhands that they favor more than their forehands. The 45th-ranked Fish was slowed by a pair of wrist surgeries that caused his ranking to plummet to No. 341 just 11 months ago. Since then, Fish has worked on his fitness and continues to try to refine his forehand. Fish has rebuilt his ranking to No. 45 and knocked off another towering Croatian, ninth-ranked Mario Ancic, in Auckland earlier this week. Ljubicic looked extremely sharp in dismissing Andy Murray to win the Doha title last week and handled Fish easily in their only prior meeting. If Fish gets off to a fast start, he has a shot to craft an upset. If Ljubicic wins the first set, he could roll in straight sets.
Rafael Nadal (ESP) (2) vs. Robert Kendrick (USA): Remember when Kendrick commanded a two-set lead over Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon and came within two points of completing one of the most shocking upsets in recent Wimbledon history? Nadal does too and you’ve got a better chance of supplanting Uncle Toni in the coach’s chair than Kendrick has of pulling off an upset here. The higher bounce and slower speed of the Rebound Ace court benefit Nadal greatly and though Kendrick can serve big it won’t be enough for the affable American to shock the two-time Roland Garros champion.
Val
Last edited by flipfanatic, 13/Jan/07, 11:37
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"Nothing in life is easy. You have to fight. It is just another set back... One thing I know is that I’m going to take care of it and go again. It’s the only thing that I can do. It’s the only thing I want to do. " - Mark
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12/Jan/07, 10:18
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Clair21
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Re: Men's and Women's Singles Draw
I'm going on Wed and Thurs....I've neva been to Melbourne before, staying a week. Hoping to see a few good matches. I'm looking forward to it but am sad at the same time....oh well!
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"It's a long way to talk about something like that but, in my heart, for myself, I do believe." - Mark
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12/Jan/07, 18:17
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flipfanatic
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Re: Men's and Women's Singles Draw
Wednesday is going to be a stinker (40c) but Thursday will see a change.
The first time at the Australian Open where Mark had withdrawn was an absolute bummer the first day, it was really depressing. However, by the next day, I was happy to be watching some good tennis.
Hope you get to see loads of good matches. The best ones are usually on the outside courts and the show courts. I find center court matches in general very boring the first week, unless Mark is there!
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"Nothing in life is easy. You have to fight. It is just another set back... One thing I know is that I’m going to take care of it and go again. It’s the only thing that I can do. It’s the only thing I want to do. " - Mark
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13/Jan/07, 11:34
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swedesrule
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Re: Men's and Women's Singles Draw
I wish I was going... Even without mark it would be nice to see some live tennis. There's always the TV i suppose! 
I hope you girls have a great time!!!
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13/Jan/07, 14:01
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