i'm watching the morigami kraijcek match on betfair. should be a cracker.

Shame we can't view that in the UK. Well, I think that is the reason we can't :unsure:

Chakvetadze is through already in her first round match when Petkovic retired.. not sure if one full game was played..

michaela looks awful so far. totally lacking in confidence.

gets one break back *2-4. come on micha!

Have you had a couple of cheeky flurries in this tournament Flame?

oh dear 2-6 for micha v akiko

Eurosport have just mentioned they think Kraijicek is injured..

Eurosport have just mentioned they think Kraijicek is injured..

Venus through 6-2 7-5 earlier on against Yan Zi.

err.. one or two.

not going very well so far. :(

Go Venus! :D :yahoo:

A bit patchy on serve and on the forehand, but good enough just to get through. No need for perfection ;)

She looked so great too :wub:

Venus was indeed looking sharp (in more ways than one!). I was pleasantly surprised, since as we know she can often struggle in the opening rounds. She did have a scratchier second set, but each time made adjustments and reimposed herself onto the match; also part of it is that Yan acquitted herself well, making full use of angles into the corners and sending low balls dipping past the net, making it tough for Venus to consistently come forward.

It's a promising start, although of course we'll have a better idea when she comes up against a sterner test, which will probably come in the form of Gold Coast champion Li. I still like her for the final. Ivanovic was made to work by the feisty Cirstea (featuring in her very first main draw Slam match) but I suspect she is still working out the kinks; I would prefer she meet Venus in the semis rather than the quarters but it can't be helped. The No 2 spot is within striking distance for her - having just reached No 3 - since Ivanovic only made the third round here last year before suffering a shock thrashing at Zvonareva's hands, but Kuznetsova had a solid start and still has to be considered a good bet for the semis (and herself only has to improve on a R16 showing).

Speaking of the unlucky Zvonareva, she had to retire from her opening match, not surprising as she had to grant a walkover for the Hobart final last week. Each time she makes strides to getting her ranking back up something new befalls her. Other seeded players to fall were Safarova, Bartoli, and Safina, none of them paragons of consistency and still beginning the season so not exactly upsets. But I didn't expect Daniilidou (the benefactor of Zvonareva's walkover and with that title nudged up a few spots shy of a seeding at No 36) to go out so early and so tamely to Garbin, who is stronger on clay, in 2 and 2 no less. Fatigue perhaps.

Szavay was the big disappointment, having had a very winnable match against Makarova, and she did claim the first set before being edged out in the decider 7-5. She also had a headscratching three-set loss against Fedak (outside of the Top 100) at one of the warm-up events. Looks like the Hungarian will take some time to recover the form that saw her into the Top 20, which I hope she does.

Well surely that's the bottom line for all the top players. :P
They just want to get through the first few rounds without too much effort. People read far too much in to early round performances... :shrug:
I mean Venus played crap the first week of Wimbledon 2007 and then there was no stopping her in the second week... :ok: