[1] Henin vs Nakmura
Adamczak vs Poutchkova
Ani vs Kerber
Loit vs [25] Schiavone

[19] Bammer vs [q] Tanasugarn
[q] Hseish vs Zakopalova
Bondarenko K vs Rezai
Cohen Aloro vs [13] Golovin

[11] Dementieva vs Obziler
Medina Garrigues vs Cetkovska
Moore vs Ditty
Voracova vs [17] Peer

[32] Vakulenko vs Vesnina
Craybas vs Chan
Davenport vs Errani
Kostanic Tosic vs [5] Sharapova

[3] Jankovic vs Paszek
Dubois vs Gallovits
Pennetta vs Cibulkova
Harkleroad vs [30] Razzano

[18] Mauresmo vs Poutchek
Shvedova vs Malek
Dellacqua vs Knapp
Osterloh vs [15] Schnyder

[12] Vaidisova vs Olaru
Kanepi vs Molik
Brengle vs Perebiynis
Sugiyama vs [23] Zvonareva

[26] Azarenka vs Amanmuradova
[q] Kloesel vs [q] Schruff
[q] Ivanova vs [q] Yuan
Gajdosova vs [7] S Williams

[8] V Williams vs Yan
Pin vs [q] Niculescu
Ferguson vs [q] Bacsinsky
Tulyaganova vs [31] Mirza

[24] Li Na vs Bremond
Camerin vs Wheeler
Johansson vs [q] Domachowska
Arvidsson vs [10] Bartoli

[16] Safina vs [q] Lisicki
Salerni vs Koryttseva
Wozniacki vs Dulko
Kudryavtseva vs [21] Bondarenko A

[28] Srebotnik vs Dominguez Lino
[q] Bachman vs Rodionova
Garbin vs Daniilidou
Cirstea vs [4] Ivanovic

[6] Chakvetadze vs Petkovic
Peng vs [q] Kleybanova
Morigami vs Krajicek
Tu vs [27] Kirilenko

[22] Safarova vs Castano
Vinci vs Ruano Pascual
Cornet vs Fernandez
King vs [9] Hantuchova

[14] Petrova vs Pratt
Linetskaya vs Kremer
Granville vs Meusburger
Makarova vs [20] Szavay

[29] A Radwanska vs Savchuk
Muller vs Parmentier
Govortsova vs Pironkova
Dechy vs [2]Kuznetsova

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores...s/ws/index.html

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

2008 has brought with it a Slam draw that looks suspiciously like the last several of 2007. We've got Henin, Jankovic and Serena fighting it out on one side, with Kuznetsova and Ivanovic left to frolic on the other (Kuznetsova of course earning her insulation from the No 1 by virtue of her No 2 seeding). There are a few new twists, however.

For one, really the only name that looms large from the bottom half is Venus. This title is a conspicuous absence from her trophy case more than most, because apart from the one final (lost to her sister) and one semi she's underperformed at this hard court Slam in comparison to others. (Although she couldn't play last year, the year before that brought the ignominious first-round exit to Pironkova.) If she's in good form (and she seemed to be at the Hong Kong exhibition tourney, with wins against Sharapova among others en route to the title), there is really nobody there who should stop her. Ivanovic has been her bunny in Slams of late, and although she and Kuznetsova have a battling H2H, the American can more than hold her own against her. I'm going to say that whoever emerges from Venus v Ivanovic should be in the final from the bottom half.

Meanwhile, hopes were high for Davenport given her sparkling form (and three titles) since returning to the tour last season, but she's landed in a very tough section of the draw, slated to face two players against whom she has a lousy record (seven losses in a row against Henin, and a 1-4 H2H against Sharapova). Speaking of the latter, they are slated to meet in the second round! That should be a very interesting test of form right out of the gates for both women, although fans of either are likely to be chagrined. Whoever comes out on top might pose an intriguing match-up for the No 1, but again both Davenport and Sharapova historically don't have the best record against her (although the recent Madrid final was a thriller).

Ultimately, it's still very difficult to look past Henin for the top half. Jankovic has been fading for some time now (after this week she slips to No 4), and Serena is a question mark although she was apparently sharp in leading the US to a win in the Hopman Cup. I think a Serena who has fought her way to the semis can pose a stiff test and may well break the quarterfinal curse against Henin, at the very least by facing her in a later round finally. Vaidisova might give Serena trouble, however; they've had tight matches in the past that Serena has edged, and Vaidisova seems to be giving some of the top ladies trouble already in the Aussie warm-ups.

Add to this the uncertainty posed by the new surface and whose game it will suit more.

All WIlliams domination to finals is looming again. It should have happened at WImbledon it's gonna happen now.

Serena has an easy draw till semi's where she will meet Justine/Sharapova who will have kicked the shit out of each other.

Then onto Venus who should get to the final!

Talking about Serena, there is an interesting article about her which talks about love, broken hart, tennis and cheese.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=afp-...v=afp&type=lgns

Serena or Henin from the top, Venus or anyone of an assortment of non-entity cannon-fodder (yup, looks are not enough) from the bottom.

Henin may have to repeat her double Williams feat if she is to win this one.

Biggest shame is that Davenport is in the top half, where there is already plenty of interest, instead of being a fascinating dark horse in the bottom half. If Venus does not get through from the bottom half it is a question of who will be the last standing from a bunch of players that is not fit to produce (at the moment) a GS winner and who will simply be there as an opponent for the top-half player.

I'm not so sure the draw is quite as top heavy as Manzikert and barrystar imply. The top half may contain Henin, Sharapova, Serena and Jankovic, but the older Serb has looked weary and more than beatable recently, and I don't think she's much of a threat at all, despite her seeding. In fact, I'd tip Paszek to knock her out in round 1. So that leaves a Henin vs Maria quarter final with the winner to face Serena, if all goes to plan.

The premise of the expected QF from the third quarter is almost as interesting as Henin vs Sharapova, with Venus seeded to meet Ivanovic. Admittedly, Venus has owned Ana recently, but it's still a promising matchup. Finally, at first glance I thought that the bottom quarter was incredibly weak, with Kuznetsova due to meet Chakvetadze, but last time I looked Kuznetsova was a break up on Henin in the deciding set of the Sydney final, which perhaps suggest she's ready to actually perform like a worthy world number 2. It's still the weakest quarter though.

So while I'd say that Henin or Sharapova vs Serena is slightly stronger than Venus or Ana vs Kuznetsova, I don't think the draw is as top heavy as some of last year's draws, with the prospect of the final amost certainly being an interesting one.

Oof. I haven't had opportunity to scrutinise the finer points of the draw just yet, and somehow missed that Jankovic had drawn Paszek as her opener. That's brutal. Ranked 37, the rising Austrian narrowly missed a seeding herself, and had a reasonably strong start to the season, reaching the Auckland semis before falling victim to Davenport like everyone else has in these smaller events.

If Jankovic is still carrying an injury complaint and demonstrating the lacklustre form she's shown of late, she may well be upset as you predict. A shame since this is the only slam where she can more readily build points, having reached the quarters or better in the other three last year.

Another slam, another top heavy draw though this one isn't as bad as the US Open at least. Here it's really only the bottom quarter that looks weak rather than the whole bottom half.

Justine has a comfortable first few matches until Golovin then should face Sharapova who has a nastier draw, Davenport, Vakulenko then Peer (Who I think will beat Dementieva). Poor Lindsay though - if she was in the bottom quarter she would be a potential semi finalist but now she has to get past Sharapova who leads the H2H 4-1 & Justine who she hasn't beaten since 2002.

Jankovic has a nasty draw, Paszek in the first, in form Pennetta or Razzano in the 3rd then Mauresmo or Schnyder then Serena! With that draw I can't see her making the semis. Serena also has a tricky draw - Gajdasova has her moments then Zvonareva or Vaidisova.

Bottom half, Venus doesn't have it too bad though as NF noted Yan can be great very occasionally. I'd really like to see a Venus v Li Na 4th round match - hopefully Bartolli won't get in the way. I should be looking forward to Venus v Ivanovic but Venus has been winning those matches very comfortably recently. Ana should make the quarters though - I can't see Srebotnik or Safina stopping her.

There seems to be some WTA rule that the top seeded russian gets the best draws. That used to Sharapova but this time Kuznetsova has it. Radwanska can be trouble but remains inconsistent, Petrova is not in form and Szavay has yet to show she can live with the pressure of suddenly being a top 20 player. Svetlana should really make her first AO semi final with this draw. The big question is who will she meet in the QF - Chakvetadze is out of form and there is no one obvious candidate lurking to take her place. Kirilenko, Krajicek, Hantuchova & Safarova could all manage it & even a realy long shot - Cornet. I'd really like to see Safarova come through here and start fufilling on the flashes of promise she has shown in the past.

I reckon semis -

Justine v Serena

Venus v Kuznetsova

I agree with this, although i think their paths there wont be as easy as people are saying. Apart from Petrova and Jankovic, most of the seeded players seem to be in good form and the young guns are all looking to make this a breakthrough year after the 'old guard' stole all the headlines andhonours last season. Im looking forward to some great early round matches rather than the usual one sided drubbings we usually get. Im really excited by what the WTA will produce this season :)

I agree as well. Serena certainly looks to have quite an easy passage through to the semi-finals - 1st round, Gajdosova, 2nd round, qualifier, 3rd round, Azarenka (anyone know why she retired from Hobart?), 4th round, Vaidisova (trickier but S. Williams has never lost a set to her). It will be intriguing to see who she'll meet in the quarter finals. I think Jankovic will lose to Paszek and Momo has already lost to Schnyder.

Quarter final picks are
Henin v Sharapova
Schnyder v S. Williams
V. Williams v Ivanovic
Chakvetadze v Kuznetsova

I think Venus winning this is being overplayed a little. Of course she could win it, but we never know what Venus will turn up and have to take one match at a time with her. She tends to be sluggish at the start of the year also. I do think her section of the draw is among the most straightforward though and same for Ivanovic, so I expect to see them in the quarters.

Justine's section - I expect her to come through easily to her quarter, but who she will face is another matter. It shoudl be Sharapova but her form is of concern, and of course she's got Davenport in round 2 - shame Davenport wasn't placed elsewhere really. I think Davenport has a good chance of taking Maria out.

Jankovic's section - I think this is a really interesting par tof the draw, with Serena in the bottom half. If Jankovic is fading and injured, then there's a real dange rof her not making the quarters. There's up and coming Paszek in round 1, and Mauresmo and Schnyder further down. Not sure hwo Amelie will do as she's had a terrible year but she coudl have had a much worse draw than this. So I would not bet on who will prevail here to a potential quarter with Serena. Speaking of whom has a potential meeting with Vaidisova in R4. I'd obviously go with Serena form this lot but it is an interesting section of the draw nonetheless.

Kuzzy's section - this is also quite interesting as in Chakvetadze's top half looms Krajicek who did well last Winbledon against her. Further down is Safrova who I feel coudl pull off upsets, and Hantuchova who although I don't feel will win a slam, certainly has her moments and seems to be having good form of late. In th ebottm half, Kuzzy's route to the quarters looks a cert, but Radwanska and Szavay could get in the way - they are good improvign players and Kuzzy does have off days. Petrova woudl meet Szavay first, and we don't know how she will play either as another oen to have ha dinjury and a bad year.


So not that dull at all, BUT I do agree that some sections are very weak and uncompetitive. But I think it's interesting enough and I am lookgin forward to it gettign under way. :D

i dont agree at all that any part of the draw is uncompetetive. In fact i think this is the most exciting OVERALL draw for a GS for years.I agree Venus can be unpredictable but she won hong kong 2 weeks ago in very convincing style and i think a fi8nal with justine or serena would be the best gs final for years also!!!! ooh im so excited i nearly wet me knickers

Calm down love :lol:

Yeah it's not bad at all, but i do think 2 sections appear easier to navigate for the seeds than others.

I actually think this is a pretty balanced draw, when you consider how top-heavy it was at the Open last year :crazy1:

Justine's rout to the fourth round will be fairly routine i think. Nakamura is no threat in the firs round, and Adamczak( who has been in good form over the Australian summer), just nowhere near justine's level to challenge her. Could get touger against Bammer in the third round, but based on their past GS match-ups, i doubt Bammer has the weight of shot to trouble Justine. She's a great competitor and is in great shape, but it's still almost an impossible task i feel. The first potential banana skin would be Golovin. However Golovin never starts the year that well in Australia and is inconsistent IMO in terms of big matches. Sometimes she's a real danger and sometimes she can just be a total choke-job.

I actually think Lindsay could get through to the quarters to meet Justine, i really do. Has all the momentum going into this tournament from her Auckland win, and is probably the most relaxed she's ever been on a tennis court. If there's a time for her to beat Sharapova again, IMO this is her best shot. I think she's such a danger to the big names here and maybe Justine's biggest threat bar Serena. Like GS2, i think itwill be Li not bartoli who will be Venus's round of 16 opponent. Slight question mark over her knee injury that forced her out of Sydney, but is in great form after winning the Gold Coast, so will be a formidable opponent no doubt.

Jankovic probably wont even make the quarters IMO. Has probably the worst first round in the amazing teen paszek, Penneta, Cibulkova( a one to watch) and Mauresmo. This could be a huge turning point for Mauresmo if she could somehow find her form to beat Jankovic, who's seemingly laboured by injury. If she were to beat Jankovic, you could envisage a quarter-final with Serena. Howeverwill have to get past Schnyder first, who beat her in Gold Coast incidentally. Still i still feel it'll be a Serena vs mauresmo quarter-final.

Serena's draw is fairly decent. Gajdosova can hit the ball a ton and possibly move Serena around, but lacks the consistency and the staying power to beat the defending champ. Azarenka, whowas in awesomeform in the Gold Coast looms in thethird round, but again i feel Serena's experience and arsenal of weapons will push her through to the fourth round. There Vaidisova will probably meet her, but i smell an upset against Molik. We could possibly have a Serena vs Molik round of 16, which would begreat for the fans.

Venus( :D ), has pretty comfy opening opponents. Yan is an extremely talented player, but her skills pale in comparison to Venus's power and athleticsm. It could be a good work-out, but Venus will surely come through. First real test would come from Mirza in the third round, but i'm not sure how match-fit Mirza is after long lay-offs last year. Still if she's fit and healthy, could give Venus a good match. Still i think the quarter-final will be Venus vs Ivanovic.

Chaky has one of the worst quarters too. Peng, Kraijeck, Kirilenk are all before the fourth round. Should she survive that, she'll have either Hantuchova or Safarova and then potentially Kuznetsova. However i'm picking Szavay to dump out Petrova.

Kuzy should be untroubled until the third round. Dechy is a former top 15 player, but her best days are behind her now and i cant see her posing any serious threat. Radwanska is slightly enigmatic recently. Like at the Open she maybe could upset kuzy, but she's too inconsistent and prone to let-downs. However Kuzy's real test will be against Szavay. Gets through this and is good for the semis IMO.

I don't know :flash: about tennis (hoping that by hanging out in these chat rooms I can figure it out). but on paper it looks like this is going to be a great tournament-hoping everyone can stay healthy.

:yep:

Please Lord no... :yikes: :pray:

They did play an awesome final here in 2003! :bow:

They did. :)

But, with no disrespect to either of them, they are wonderful players but I dunno maybe it's cos they're sisters but generally their match ups aren't that good... :shrug:

Just remembered: no Likhovtseva this year. Has she retired?

The 2008 domination will be even more devastating than before muhahahhaa!!!!!!!

Slam finals throughout the years....Venus will win some finals this time as well....the beatdowns will be even worse!!!!!!!

:argh: roflmao

I actually doubt that... :shrug:

FW delusional as ever :rolleyes: and talking a load of "£&T$" just like his mentor Sourena :whistle:

I mean come on .... "Justine you have been warned" MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA

Only players worried about someone would say something like that, otherwise why say it? :shrug: Does she think it will frighten Justine ?roflmao roflmao roflmao Things like that only motivate the undisputed world no. 1 :bow: :bow:

FW .... you have been warned roflmao