Shocks of Day 4 : Australian Open 2010

I was actually totally turned off when I saw this year's AO draws. Those who have been following TheChhotuBlog since it's birth few weeks ago, must have guessed it! Sania got Aravane Rezai in round one. Rezai's career had taken a great turn by fall of 2009. She started getting better results during the fall European Indoor hard-courts season. And she also ended the season perfectly, taking the Tier-II WTA year-end Champs Title in Bali, Indonesia. And the momentum continued into 2010. In Brisbane R2, Serena got a taste of the ferocious Iranian-turned-French Girl at Brisbane, just prior to AO. Don't know what round it was, but Serena barely managed to win, 7-5 in the third set. Serena is already in top shape for the start of the year, and this girl stretched her to the limit; this proved what Rezai is really capable of.

Sania's season was a complete contrast of this. She struggled to beat lowly ranked Stefanie Voegele in 3 sets in Auckland. And lost her next 2 singles matches, as well. Sania's struggles with her serve are still on, after 5 years of first full WTA season in '05. So, when I saw Sania got Rezai in AO R1, I knew what the result would be. Rezai in straights is what I had said to myself. And, so it happened. Rezai bt. Sania 6-4, 6-2. No surprise in that result. Sania still lacks the killer instinct, that champions posses. So I don't really see Sania even cracking top 30 once again, now even more coz she has announced she'll be retiring after her marriage. But I really wanna see her play Olympics 2012. She never really got a chance in her only Olympics singles match against Czeach Iveta Benesova (she retired with severe wrist pain, after losing first set 6-1 in that match). So I wanna see how she responds in "Olympic" situations, while she is fully fit. I know it's hard to predict as to what will happen after 2012, considering how fragile her body is. But as a die-hard Sania fan (perhaps the only one :-( ), I am hoping and praying for her stay well and mostly importantly not getting married (read:continue playing Tennis) till 2012 London Olympics. I am damn sure, she'll bring home Mixed Doubles Gold Medal, irrespective of her partner ( Bhupathi / Paes / Bopanna ).

Phew!! I came to write this post to write about shocks of the day 4 at Australian Open 2010. Never thought I would say so much about Sania!! But still, since you guys came in here to read seeing the title of the post, here I go:

Kohlmann / Nieminen bt. (4) Mahesh Bhupathi / Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4 : Probably, the most un-noticed upset of the day. It's an upset not coz Bhupathi / Mirnyi played first match of their re-union 2010 season (they've already won slams before), but also coz they are the 4th seeds in Men's Doubles draws. They made a huge mistake by not choosing to play any tune-up event for AO, and they paid dearly for it. But this is only their first match of the season, so I am wishing them All The Best for the rest of the season. It was bad to have to have this bad day at a Grand Slam.

Gisela Dulko bt. (20) Ana Ivanovic 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 : Yes, as you must have read about this on other sites as well. Dulko is known to be the most dangerous of all floaters on the Women's Tour. She asserted this, when she beat Sharapova  in 3 sets at Wimbledon last year. She had played tactically very smart in that match. But quality of her Tennis wasn't the same during today's win. And same was the case with Ivanovic. Serbain's erratic ball toss still remains her most major concern. Dulko herself wasn't any good. Erratic groundies by both were the highlight of this match. From Ana's side, I am hoping and praying for a turn-around in her results.

Alberta Brianti (ITA) bt. (21) Sabie Lisicki  2-6, 6-4, 6-4 : I am sure you guys musn't have noticed this upset. Lisicki's only problem (I believe) is variation in the speed of her serve. She lost a heart-breaking 3-setter to Safina at Wimbledon QFs last year. Safina stood behind the baseline to receive her serve in that match, that was tactically smart of her. But Lisicki didn't dare try taking any pace off of her serve. Instead she went ahead with heavy, hard-hitting serves, so hard that they started to hurt her calves and she needed treatment in the third set in that match  (not in this one). I am now more interested in seeing if Brianti can spring up any more surprises, in the course of the AO fortnight.

(10) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga bt. Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 : Again, this is just a surprise, not really a shock, I know. But Everyone had their eyes on this match, so did I. But never did I know that Tsonga really got such a steam to beat Dent in straight sets, esp. coz Dent has been on-the-boil ever since his comeback last season.

Marcos Baghdatis bt. (17) David Ferrer  4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-1 : I am actually really very happy to see Marcos coming back in such a great style. Maybe he can repeat his run to AO finals, as he did back in 2006. Way to go, Marcos!!

(10) Sania Mirza / Virginia Ruano-Pascual bt. Bazuki / Date-Krumm 6-4, 6-2 : NO, this is again is not a shock, neither is it a surprise. It's just a score update I wanted to give you guys. :D. They next play Bacsinszky / Garbin in next round. But have a though one in R3 : Winner of Czink / Grandin (experienced together!!) vs. Kleybanova / Schaivone. I want Kleybanova / Schiavone, coz Sania / Kelybanova won their first Junior Grand Slam as a Girls' Doubles title back in Wimbledon 2003. Kleybanova was only 13 back then. I am sure the sparks will fly on court when old friends take on each other as foes after 7 yrs. Another reason, this potential R3 match is mouth-watering is coz Francesca Schiavone is also a good friend of Sania.This makes it all the more interesting!!

Until something interesting enough comes up for me to blog during AO 2010 !!

Back To Blog  - Follow Me on Twitter