Happenings on this day of Tuesday 18th January, 2011

So I had a tuition class this morning for an hour after another struggle to get out of bed. These last few nights I've slept very comfortably and I've had to fight myself out of bed for my morning classes. Thankfully, the bed eventually lost after half-hour epic battles!

The Australian Open tennis has started and is on channel 813 all day every day, so that is a dominant force now and will be for these coming two weeks. Yesterday I watched my favourite player Roger Federer, win an easy first round match, and my favourite women's player, Justine Henin, fight out a great comeback to beat a bullish Sania Mirza. Champions always find a way to win. Today, Nadal didn't drop a single game before his opponent retired with a knee injury in the 2nd set. Ana Ivanovic suffered a setback with an epic loss in the first round, going down 8-10 in an incredible final set. I'm just getting ready to watch Lleyton Hewitt slug it out with David Nalbandian.

This morning we went to Klinik Gambut for Fie's check-up. I was most appalled by the standard of the toilets. In a place where good health and hygiene are advised, where pregnant women and newborn babies visit, the dirty, smelly toilets are an absolute disgrace. The men's toilet at the adjoining dental clinic was unclean, wet, and had a pungent smell like those public toilets one encounters on highways. Trying to help my daughter use the toilet there was a horrible moment. There was no toilet paper, I wouldn't fancy handling the hose which was wet with who knows what type of fluid all over it, and the sink was small and dirty with a filthy mirror hanging above it. My wife had to use the ladies toilet at the clinic and reported that it was dirty and the toilet wouldn't flush! Of all places, I would have never imagined this in a health centre!! I am amazed that such atrocities can exist!

I had pancakes for lunch, made by myself, with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkling of sugar. I do feel like a good bowl of pasta now though, with cream cheese sauce.

While waiting at the clinic, Fie whipped out her trendy Zenith Hotel notebook and I began teaching Lauren the alphabet. She can correctly identify almost all 26 of the letters, but finds little motivation to count numbers. 

Looks like she'll be taking on English, just like her daddy!

Roland Garros update

Justine Henin, 4-time champion on the courts of Roland Garros, was shunted out of the tournament by Australia's bicepy Sam Stosur, in three sets yesterday. It was a sad moment for me personally, so now all my focus is on The Great Man, who tackles Robin Soderling tonight.

Here is the quarter final draw for both the men and the women:

Roger Federer     vs     Robin Soderling

Mikhail Youzhny     vs     Tom Berdych

Jurgen Melzer     vs     Novak Djokovic

Nicolas Almagro     vs     Rafael Nadal



Serena Williams     vs     Sam Stosur

Jelena Jankovic     vs     Yaroslava Shvedova

Francesca Schiavone     vs     Caroline Wozniacki

Elena Dementieva     vs     Nadia Petrova


I've got to say, I hope Wozniacki wins the womens competition. She seems nice and is really good at tennis.

This is where the Grand Slam really starts. The matches are more tight, more intense, as the best players face off with each other. Looking forward to Federer's match with a vastly improving Soderling. Could be close.

Murray's time expires as Roger rolls on

As I rightly predicted last week, it was indeed a matter of time before this detestable Scot bowed out of Roland Garros. He did so in a straight sets defeat to Thomas Berdych. He will probably blame it on his 'bad knee' which he only just told the world about after scraping past 'Reesh-ard' Gasquet in the opening round.

I'm also glad to see that big-headed, full-of-himself Tsonga weakly depart the scene, retiring injured after losing the first set to Mikhail Youzhny in their fourth-round match.

Meanwhile, the Great Man rolled past good friend Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets, looking increasingly smooth and sharp with each round. He did have to come back from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break, but he never panicked and keeps on winning.

Roger will face a familiar foe in the quarter finals with rising Swede Robin Soderling, the man who he beat in last years final, standing in his way once again. Soderling has neatly made his way through the draw and Federer should be prepared for a tough one.

On the ladies side, Justine Henin held her nerve to beat Maria Sharapova in 3 sets, coming from a break down in the final set to score a big win over the Russian. ALLEZ HENIN!!!

And as a footnote, Venus Williams was thankfully beaten by Nadia Petrova - so we don't have to watch her stomping around in that hideous dress, watching her pull it back up over her bosoms more times than she served a ball, and getting an eyeful of her bumcheeks or flesh coloured underwear. Deary me, stick to the tennis Venus!!

Women's Singles Final - Day 13

Serena Williams     6     3     6

Justine Henin         4     6     2

Serena raced into a 4-1 lead at the start of this final between two multiple Grand Slam champions. However, Henin responded with the next three games to level at 4-4. But the tiny Belgian, who struggled with her serve all match, dropped serve at 4-5 to forfeit the opening set.

In the second set Henin played at a higher level and scored decisive breaks in the 3rd, 7th and 9th games as she got to grips with the American's big serve. But Serena, the champion that she is, extinguished all hopes of a comeback Slam for Henin as Serena powered her way through the 3rd set to claim her 12th Grand Slam, tying her with legend Billie Jean King.

For Henin, it was a remarkable feat to be in the final showpiece itself, and she can only get fitter, better and more match-sharp in the tournaments ahead. As a small consolation, my favourite match of the entire two weeks was henin's fantastic match with Elena Dementieva in the second round where she produced some stunning tennis to win a long, close battle.

Semi-final action - Day 11

Two contrasting women's semi-finals were played out on Thursday afternoon in Melbourne. Two unheralded Chinese players had the possibility of meeting in the final of the Grand Slam of Asia and the Pacific, but they were up against two champions of the game, in Serena Williams and Justine Henin.

First up was Li Na, who had beaten Venus to get here, and would have to beat sister Serena, the defending champion, to progress further. It was an extremely close match which was ultimately decided by two tiebreaks. Serena it was who played the bigger points better to emerge victorious, although Li Na has nothing to be ashamed of.

Then it was the turn of Zheng Jie to tackle the graceful terrier that is Justine Henin. In contrast to the first semi-final, this one was a no-contest as Zheng crumbled to the overwhelming force of the Belgian. Henin ran away with a 6-1, 6-0 scoreline and is looking good for a come-back Grand Slam triumph.

The first of the men's semi-finals was played in the night session between marathon man Marin Cilic and Briton Andy Murray. Cilic had contested 3 five-setters on his way to the last four whilst Murray had yet to drop a set en route to his penultimate match of the Open.

For the first set and a half, Cilic dominated, sweeping Murray from one side of the court to the other with some devastating forehands and gruelling rallies.

But Murray managed to hang in there, and as Cilic began to tire, Murray gained greater control, hitting winners from all over the court. Murray will now compete in just his 2nd Grand Slam final on Sunday, but will he be facing Federer or Tsonga? Their showdown begins in around five hours' time.

Henin motors on - Day 9

Seven-time Grand Slam champion and returning hero, Justine Henin, beat giant-killer Nadia Petrova in a close quarter-final in which the Belgian came through 7-6, 7-5. The "Roger Federer of women's tennis", as Todd Woodbridge labelled her, is looking better with each match, and will face Chinese Zheng Jie, who beat Maria Kirilenko, for a place in the final.

Andy Roddick got awfully lucky in his last 16 match with Fernando Gonzalez when the most outrageous umpiring decision saw Mr. Molina fail to replay a challenged point when the Chilean had a shot on the questioned ball. Roddick  was resultingly awarded the point, which just happened to be game point, break point and set point at a crucial moment in the match.

He wasn't so lucky against Cilic, when after coming back from two sets down, the young Croat blew him away 6-3 in the fifth.

The amazing run of Marin Cilic has seen him conquer Stanislas Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro and now Andy Roddick, en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final.

There, he will meet Andy Murray who was on top of Nadal from the start, taking the first set 6-3 and then winning the 2nd set tiebreak in a largely impressive performance against the second best player in the world. Murray had an answer to everything Nadal came up with, and with the Briton leading 3-0 in the third, the Spaniard conceded the match, being troubled with yet another knee injury which flared up in the 2nd set.

However, Murray should be cautious of the dangerously impressive Cilic, who could yet spring another surprise at Melbourne Park.

A tennis feast! - Day 7

Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro put on a monumental show of big hitting in this fourth round match in which the scoreline swung back and forth throughout. I am absolutely delighted and relieved to tell you that the beast Del Potro was beaten, Cilic winning this marathon, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. Del Potro was a huge threat to Federer should he have reached the final.

Current Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal faced off against giant-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in a close encounter. Nadal took the opener only for Karlovic to level in the next set. But nadal began reading the Croat's serve and was totally on top by the fourth set. He won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Nadia Petrova continued her giant-killing act as she powered past 3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets, the final score reading 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Belgian maestro Justine Henin came up against young compatriot Yanina Wickmayer. The youngster had been the surprise package of last year's US Open, and after losing a first set tiebreak, she went on to race through the second set 6-1. But Henin, seven times Grand Slam champion, kept her cool and put on another great exhibition of her skills, winning the decider 6-3 to set up a quarter final with Petrova. As much as Henin insists it is a great physical challenge for her after missing the last couple of years on tour, she nevertheless looks like she's never been away.

In the first match of the day, Andy Murray quite comfortably beat an inept John Isner in three straight sets. While the American has a serve to boast of, he possesses absolutely nothing else based on this performance, and was rather incapable of maintaining, let alone winning, a rally. Where does this leave Andy Murray? He has had four simple matches in which he hasn't been stretched in the least, and now he must be prepared to take on the second best player on the planet in Rafael Nadal. I think we will be seeing the Scot on a plane out of Melbourne in the very near future, perhaps on Tuesday.

ALLEZ JUSTINE! Day 3

A gripping match of the highest quality was played out between these two athletes on Rod Laver arena Wednesday. Services were frequently exchanged throughout the contest. Both competitors literally had to hit the lines to win a point, so fine were the margins, and so lofty were the standards of play.

However, it was Henin who decisively broke in the 11th game of the opening set to serve out a 7-5 winning margin.

Henin served for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, Dementieva saving a match point before levelling at 5-5. Such was the fluctuating momentum between these two stars in the most intense match so far.

Henin broke again to serve for the match a second time following an exquisite backhand winner pushed up the line to set up break point, and a following Dementieva netted volley to give the Belgian the balls on her racquet.

But Henin failed to hold once more, duplicating the pattern of both players struggling on serve. And so to a tiebreak it went. Dementieva, at 6-5, had the opportunity to send the match into a deciding set, but Henin produced her most glorious tennis when it mattered, to save the set point. Henin then drew the Russian into the net the following point, forcing Dementieva to send her attempted drop-shot into the net. Justine then tucked away a volley for the triumph.

The little Belgian now becomes a serious title contender as she looks like she's never been away.

ALLEZ JUSTINE!

The final night match finished after 2am in the morning, featuring Marin Cilic and Australian youngster, Bernard Tomic. The first four sets were exchanged evenly, and it was at 4-4 deep in the fifth that the 17-year-old dropped his serve, allowing Cilic to finish it off for a 6-4 scoreline in the final set. However, the signs look good for Tomic and he can walk away from this one with his head held high. He put on a great performance but experience came through in the end.

Another marvellous match was fought out between the Argentinian beast Juan Martin Del Potro, and America's James Blake. Del Potro fought from two sets to one down, to eventually prevail 10-8 in the decider. He has now dropped three sets in two matches and against a better opponent in the later rounds, he may struggle more. But it was a great fight-back from the current US Open champion and he will take confidence from that.

Now, a mention for Britain's Elena Baltacha. When was the last time a British female reached the third round of a Grand Slam? I too have absolutely no idea. So her achievement in disposing of 30th seed Kateryna Bondarenko, is all the more laudable, and she now has a dream match-up with three-time Slam finalist, Dinara Safina.

Meanwhile, Roddick, Murray, Nadal, Clijsters and Kuznetsova have all smoothly progressed to round 3 where they are hoping to build some good momentum for the later stages of the competition.