Enjoy the story of Australian Open tennis tournament -2009 Day 10...
On her first visit to the Australian Open a decade ago, Elena Dementieva was devastated after her second round loss to Martina Hingis. “I remember crying,” says the No.4 seed. “I was dreaming about being top 10 and becoming No.1.”
Today she returns to Rod Laver Arena favoured to bypass opposing quarterfinalist Carla Suarez Navarro and, according to many, favourite to claim the whole shebang.
Dementieva’s No.1 dream is no longer beyond the bounds of reality. She hasn’t lost a match this season in a run of 14 triumphs that includes two titles and victories in Sydney over Dinara
Safina and Serena Williams, the only two players ranked higher remaining in the draw. If she takes the trophy on Saturday, she’ll also claim pole position in the women’s rankings.
The 27-year-old still has to face three human hurdles, including 20-year-old Spanish smoky Suarez Navarro, who’s been busy crushing seeds in the bottom half of the draw.
The world No.46 will be bidding for her career-best Slam performance when she and Dementieva thrash it out, first up, on Rod Laver Arena. The pair has never met and despite her giant-killing feats this fortnight, the French Open 2008 quarterfinalist retains a healthy respect for the Russian saying she is “a very good player and I think the match will be difficult”.
Having faced each other five times previously, No.2 seed Serena Williams and No.8 Svetlana Kuznetsova aren’t strangers on or off the court.
The unlikely friends share a love of rap music and African American culture.
“I tell Serena that I want her hair, she laughs at me. She teaches me some slang and shows me some dance moves,” says Kuznetsova.
Expect fancy footwork of another kind in the pair’s second match on Rod Laver Arena.
Williams holds a 4-1 head-to-head record against Kuznetsova, and was all business before today’s contest.
“I think we have a similar game,” says Williams, a three-time Australian Open champion.
“She’s extremely powerful; she can get a lot of things back. I think it will be a great match.”
Taking on each other for the first time, No.5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No.14 seed Fernando Verdasco contest the last singles match of today’s day session.
Having confounded No.4 seed Andy Murray on Hisense Arena on Monday, the Spaniard will like his chances of improving on his career-best Slam showing here when he plays Frenchman Tsonga.
Meanwhile, hampered by a back problem early in the tournament, Tsonga appears stronger with every match he’s played this fortnight. And who could blame him for already having half an eye on the potential 2008 semifinal rematch against Nadal that lies tantalizingly beyond today’s contest?
Tonight’s night session spotlights a repeat of last year’s third round between world No.1 Rafael Nadal and Gilles Simon.
When the pair last met, then-world No.2 Nadal inflicted a straight sets thrashing on the 24-year-old Frenchman. But, as No.6 seed Simon is quick to point out, the pair’s rankings aren’t the only thing that has changed since then.
“(Last time) I didn’t play to win the match. I was just enjoying being on the court, playing beautiful points,” Simon says.
“This time it’s gonna be different because I want to win.”
Source:www.australianopen.com
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