Peer Prevails in Gold Coast Opener


GOLD COAST, Australia - The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season got up and running on Sunday at the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts. Day 1 at the Tier III event saw few surprises as Shahar Peer, Victoria Azarenka and Nathalie Dechy all made winning starts to their campaigns.

Peer, this week's No.5 seed, was a losing semifinalist on the Gold Coast 12 months ago, but made a stuttering start against America's Julie Ditty and soon surrendered the first set. However, the 20-year-old Israeli starlet showcased her considerable fighting spirit by turning the match round in emphatic fashion to wrap up a 36 60 62 victory.

A potential semifinal opponent for Peer is Belarusian sensation Azarenka, who kicked off her season in style with a comfortable straight-set triumph over the experienced Ai Sugiyama. The match was the first meeting between the pair and the 32-year old Sugiyama was left in little doubt over the enormous potential of her teenage foe, as Azarenka delivered a mature display to secure a 62 63 win.

The only match to take place from the top half of the draw saw another one-sided affair, as France's Dechy put paid to the hopes of China's Yan Zi in just 65 minutes. Dechy is a former champion at the Royal Pines Resort and the manner of her 62 62 victory suggests the 28-year-old is in the mood to replicate her 2003 heroics.

Sunday also witnessed the conclusion of the qualifying draw at the $175,000 event, as the final four players took their place in the main draw. The players in question were Olga Savchuk, Timea Bacsinszky, Julia Schruff and Alisa Kleybanova who prevailed to set up first-round meetings with Amélie Mauresmo, Flavia Pennetta, Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Patty Schnyder.

The doubles competition at the 2008 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts promises to be one to remember and last year's singles and doubles champion, Dinara Safina, continued her fairytale relationship with the event by teaming up with Agnes Szavay to score a 63 62 opening-round triumph over Yuliana Fedak and Aiko Nakamura. Meeting the No.3 seeds in the quarterfinal will be the all-Russian duo of Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina, who broke local hearts when they defeated Australian wildcards Casey Dellacqua and Trudi Musgrave.

Monday's schedule in Eastern Australia will see several marquee names in action, including defending champion Safina, her fellow Russian Petrova and former Australian Open victor Mauresmo, who will face off against Jarmila Gajdosova, Tathiana Garbin and Savchuk respectively.

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsr...?ContentID=1925

Monday, December 31, 2007

Singles - First Round
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) d. (2) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 57 75 63
(4) Patty Schnyder (SUI) d. (Q) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 61 63

liam won't like Petrova's start to the new campaign :P

whoop! finally a thread for the tournament!
rain has stopped play on the 2 outside courts today :(
2 upsets, petrova (not a big surprise ^^) and szavay :(

Order of Play for Tuesday:
Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Centre Court (from 10.00hrs)
1. N.Li vs. Bammer
2. Bacsinszky vs. Pennetta
3. Vaidisova vs. Dellacqua
4. Fedak vs. Azarenka
5. Adamczak vs. Vesnina (NB 18.30hrs)
6. Black/Huber vs. Schnyder/Vaidisova

East Court 1 (NB 10.00hrs)
1. Razzano vs. Cibulkova (to finish 0-2)
2. Nakamura vs. Malek
3. Gajdosova/Stewart vs. Yan/Zheng
4. Kustova/Poutchek vs. Pennetta/Schiavone
5. Kudryavtseva/Perebiynis vs. Azarenka/Peer

East Court 2 (NB 10.00hrs)
1. Domínguez Lino vs. Schruff
2. Dechy/Foretz vs. Ji/S.Sun (NB 12.00hrs)
3. Benesova/Voskoboeva vs. Garbin/Shaughnessy


Looks like Li will definately be playing! Good luck! go get your revenge from the French Open!

thanks for the updates folks!! :girlkiss:

Li wins!!!!
64 46 64!!!!

i went out for new years eve, and come back to find she wins! i am SO happy!

match was 2hours 13mins! with Li trailing a break down in the third set 1-3! So happy that Li won! great start of the season for her, knocking out the 7th seed, world no.19! and getting her revenge from the French Open where she lost in straight sets to Bammer!

way to start the year Li! hoep you carry this fighting spirit into the rest of the year!!!!

i am SO happy lol! tears in my eyes ^^;;

I thought you'd be pleased Jack :D

Li was down 2-4 0-40 in that final set :o

But clawed it back to win :clap:

On a side note, Britain's Anne Keothavong fell in the final round of qualifying to Olga Savchuk (who was dismissed by Momo in round 1 of the Main Draw). Good to see her going for WTA tour events - hopefully she can have another run like in Kolkata at some point soon :)

that's a good win for li na...and a bit of a wobble, but victory nonetheless for vaidisova :clap: , a bagel in the 3rd :)

This time it was the No.7 seed Sybille Bammer who was on the unexpected side of the result. Bammer lost to China’s Na Li, who is ranked No.29 in the world, in three sets 6-4 4-6 6-4.

In a tight third set, Bammer was up 4-1 and looking like she was headed for the second round. Enter Li. Li stepped up her game and started to find the angles. With a renewed attack on the ball the momentum slowly started to swing in her favour.

Bammer looked to be tiring when she needed to close the match out, Li looked like she could go another set.

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yup! so so happy! she is playing WC Adamczak next, hoping for a quick win! save your energy for Vaidisova! :P

Peer won due to retirement, up 60
Safina survived a test from Pennetta 64 26 64
Currently Schnyder down 26 21 on serve in the second set.

Yan/Zheng win 63 64, these two havent played together for a long time now, good to start the season with a win!

Good Luck Li! im going to bed, but will be back in about 4hours to check the score :P

Li beats Adamczak 63 62 in under an hour!
Impressive start to the season for Li, next up is Vaidisova, who beat Malek 64 62! Good luck Li!!!!

Other Results:
Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Singles - Second Round
(1) Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) d. Tatjana Malek (GER) 64 62
(3) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 64 26 64
(4) Patty Schnyder (SUI) d. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 26 63 64
(5) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. (Q) Julia Schruff (GER) 60 ret. (upper respiratory infection)
(6) Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) d. Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 63 64
Li Na (CHN) d. (WC) Monique Adamczak (AUS) 63 62
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 75 61

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(3) Safina/Szavay (RUS/HUN) d. Petrova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) 63 64
Benesova/Voskoboeva (CZE/RUS) d. Dechy/Foretz (FRA/FRA) w/o (Foretz: right shoulder injury)

Doubles - First Round
(2) Yan/Zheng (CHN/CHN) d. Gajdosova/Stewart (AUS/AUS) 63 64
Azarenka/Peer (BLR/ISR) d. Kudryavtseva/Perebiynis (RUS/UKR) 62 62
Benesova/Voskoboeva (CZE/RUS) d. (A) Kleybanova/Shvedova (RUS/RUS) 63 46 101
Pennetta/Schiavone (ITA/ITA) d. Kustova/Poutchek (BLR/BLR) 62 61

Thanks for the updates everyone!!! :D Go Amelie!!!!

umm...li na dismissed vaidisova 3&3 :hmm:

WHOOP WHOOP!
Li beats Vaidisova! 63 63!
Either Schnyder or Momo next in the SF! Li is sure to climb up rankings from 29th to atleast 26th! Good luck for SF Li!


Peer beat defending champ Safina 46 61 76(8), saving 5 match points
Azarenka beat Cibulkova 61 36 63

Mauresmo and Schnyder yet to play. They play after the current doubles match: Azarenka/Peer vs Yan/Zheng, currently on serve with Yan/Zheng breaking back for 44

Patty a set up against Amelie but is 1-2 down on serve in set 2...

and Patty eases through 6-4 6-4... :rolleyes:

Schnyder vs Li in the SF! Should be a close match, with their 3 past encounters have been tight, Having said that, they havent played for nearly 2 years, i think Li will pull off another upset!

Li is on first on centre tomorrow, GOOD LUCK!!!!!

If Na Li was to get through to the final, it would certainly be interesting as I don't think she has ever faced Azarenka or Peer.

I'd predict Na Li v Shahar Peer in the final but any one of the semi-finalists could go on to win it.

I agree, any semifinalist could win i think. But one match at a time! Li and Schnyder match is on in 4 hours time! Good Luck Li!!!!

Oh dear Amelie :(

Well done to Li btw. Some good results considering her lay off :ok:

and we have a Li v Azarenka final... :)

Yeah thank god Patty didnt win :rolleyes: roflmao We would've had to endure a bad final.............

Well done Li, superb comeback. Amazing really, as she hasnt played since June :o

It will be a hard-hitting final no doubt. Azarenka hits the ball a ton.

well i'm glad Azarenka is proving me right so early in the season :P

I take it Patty wasn't on your Christmas card list dl? :P

Whoop! Li wins again!
Li Azarenka Final!
should be a good match! My favourite player against someone who I am liking more and more!
Please Li! one more win! and take your 2nd title! You deserve it!!! GOOD LUCK!

There's no stopping the "new Li Na"

Eurosport - Fri, 04 Jan 12:01:00 2008

China's Li Na continued her giant-killing run at the Australian Hardcourt Championships, beating fourth seed Patty Schnyder 3-6 6-3 7-5 to reach the final.
TENNIS Li Na - 0

Schnyder had beaten former world number one Amelie Mauresmo in the previous round, but she was worn down as Li reached her first final in 20 months, where she will play Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

World number 29 Li had beaten top seed Nicole Vaidisova on her way to the last four but looked in trouble when she dropped the first set to Schnyder.

But the Chinese, who missed the second half of 2007 because of a stress fracture to her rib, hit back to level.

The third set contained nine breaks of serve but Li broke for 6-5 and then held her nerve to clinch victory after one hour, 48 minutes.

"I feel stronger mentally," Li said. "A new Li Na has come back. I feel fresh."

The 18-year-old Azarenka, ranked 30, upset fifth seed Shahar Peer 6-4 6-2 to reach her third WTA Tour final.

Peer had saved five match points in beating defending champion Dinara Safina to get to the semi-finals.

But the effort in getting past the Russian took its toll on the Israeli and Azarenka took full advantage to win through in 68 minutes.
Reuters

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I very much like this new Li Na! Its Super Na!!!!

Just how old is Patty Schnyder anyway?? She looks like she's about 12. :lmaao: i'll bet she gets asked for her identification card everywhere she goes.

Enough with the Patty bashing please :rolleyes: Now that Kim has retired have you chosen to pick on her instead? :rolleyes:

Patty may not be a future slam winner and probably should remain outside the top 10 this season, but she is actually a talented player. She mixes it up from the baseline which is more than can be said for some of the current crop of players who just bash the hell out of the ball.

Think you have had the nail on the head...:lol:

The bashing of Patty (and Kim for that matter) just seems unnecessary as I can understand that maybe people don't like their styles of play, or find them bland as people, but it's not like they really do anything offensive, I just don't get it :shrug:

i wasn't trying to bash Patty. I've just noticed that she looks much younger than she really is. :D

lol you guys are funny :)
thought tbh, i would be like that if you started Li bashing! so dont! :P

i just checked, and patty is 29 years old, and she does look alot younger than she actually is! :o

Sorry that wasn't a dig at you :) It was more directed at longer serving members of the board who take the p*ss out of Patty, but get all huffy when their favourites are criticised.

You are quite right in your observations, Patty does look like she's just come from the junior circuit... maybe it's her curly hair???

No, i've always disliked Patty :lol:

Well I actually quite like the mop-headed swiss....bless her :)

OMG, i really hope its not an injury, Li please stay healthy for 2008!
The way they say "143 pound body" make her sound like a fatty :( But glad she has aspirations to be in the top 10, i personally think she has the talent to do it !

Good luck for the match! and stay healthy Li!!!!

I don't think Russiafan was directing that comment at you Duchess... :)

Well you know............ each to their own :)