andrewbroad
Aug 9th, 2008, 08:28 PM
Quick links (they open in new windows):
Preview (below)
Sunday 10th August: First round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13805051#post13805051)
Monday 11th August: First round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13814116#post13814116)
Tuesday 12th August: Second round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13824260#post13824260)
Wednesday 13th August: Third round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13834138#post13834138)
Thursday 14th/Friday 15th August: Quarter-finals (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13854619#post13854619)
Saturday 16th August: Semi-finals (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13863285#post13863285)
Sunday 17th August: Medal-matches (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13871628#post13871628)
==========================
BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES (Beijing, China; hard (Decoturf II))
========================== http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/
Contents
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1. Photos
2. UK TV-alert
3. Notable absentees
4. Opening ceremony
5. First-round draw
6. Lucie Šafářová preview
7. Vera Zvonarëva preview
8. Nicole Vaidišová preview
9. Daniela Hantuchová preview
10. Andrew's wishes
11. Women's Doubles
12. Order of play for Sunday
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1. Photos
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Pretournament: various players including Ana Ivanović, Marina Eraković, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Janković:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/
Various players including Ana Ivanović and Elena Dementieva:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?cap=1&pg=1
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2. UK TV-alert
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On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the tennis will be played in two sessions each day, the start-times as follows:
* 10:30 China-time = 02:30 GMT = 03:30 BST
* 17:00 China-time = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST
The following information applies to viewers with access to BBC 1, BBC 2, and Freeview BBCi:
These days will be televised by the BBC as follows (start-times in BST):
* Sunday 03:30 (Freeview 301), 11:00 (Freeview 302), 14:30 (BBC 2), 23:00 (Freeview 302)
* Monday 05:00 (Freeview Red button), 14:00 (BBC 1)
* Tuesday 03:30 (Freeview Red button), 12:00 (Freeview 301)
"Freeview Red button" refers to Freeview-channel 81, but timer-recorders beware: if you just tune into it without pressing the Red button, you'll get a screen saying "BBC Parliament has been suspended... press RED" (I have written to the BBC to complain about this).
From Wednesday to the second Sunday, the tennis will be played in one session each day:
* 16:00 China-time = 08:00 GMT = 09:00 BST)
These days will be televised by the BBC as follows (start-times in BST):
* Wednesday 09:00 (Freeview 302), 17:15 (BBC 2)
* Thursday 13:45 (BBC 1)
* Friday 09:30 (Freeview 301)
* Saturday/Sunday: information not yet available
I do not guarantee that the above information is up to date; it may change dynamically and without notice - especially the BBCi schedule. The following web-page gives details of the BBC's tennis-coverage a day ahead (Freeview, satellite, cable and online):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/tennis/default.stm
Freeview-viewers should also keep up to date with the "Interactive TV schedule" (press Red, then Select, then Blue, then select "BBC Sport Listings" from the menu).
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3. Notable absentees
--------------------
(Notable: would have been seeded, or is an active member of my Eternal Fanship or demi-fanship)
#4 Maria Sharapova [EF] (right-shoulder injury)
#10 Anna Chakvetadze [EF] (declined due to poor form)
#13 Marion Bartoli [DF,S] (ineligible due to skipping Fed Cup)
#18 Nadia Petrova (only four Russians can play singles)
#22 Maria Kirilenko [DF] (only four Russians can play singles)
#28 Tatiana Golovin [DF] (back-injury)
#100 Magdaléna Rybáriková [DF] (too low, but congrats on top 100!)
#123 Michaëlla Krajíček [DF] (too low)
#184 Karolina Šprem [DF] (too low)
#188 Jelena Dokić [EF] (too low)
#378 Iroda Tulyaganova [EF] (too low, and hasn't played since May)
#828 Romana Tabaková [DF] (too low)
3.1 Maria Sharapova's withdrawal
--------------------------------
I am very disappointed and saddened that Maria has pulled out of the Olympics after an MRI-scan revealed torn tendons in her right shoulder - after she pulled out of Montréal after winning a near-three-hour marathon against Marta Domachowska.
It was Maria's right shoulder that ruined her 2007 season, and now 2008 since a certain backhand against Alyona Bondarenko at Indian Wells did the damage, but it was not properly diagnosed until after the aforementioned MRI-scan, when she got a second opinion: a torn rotator-cuff tendon.
Disappointed, because Maria is my favourite active player, and was the only member of my Eternal Fanship who was likely to be televised by the BBC at these Olympics. I was really looking forward to watching her play the Olympics. I still have four players in my 'EF squad', but they are all on poor form going into Beijing, and - unlike Maria - unlikely to be televised on their own merits.
Saddened, because it was Maria's dream to play the Olympics "ever since I was a little girl, so it's been one of my priorities for a very long time."
This is how much the Olympics means to Maria:
* "I think because I already have a Wimbledon-title, I'd take the Olympic Gold Medal. It will be incredible to be part of the Games."
* "One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with all the athletes from my country in front of thousands of people."
* "You need to be smart about the events you play before the Olympics, because you want to go into the Games having a few matches under your belt, but I'll be coming off the seven-to-eight-week stretch of being on the road. When the schedule was made, it was known that that's the way it's going to be. You're not going to change the Olympics. It's an honour to play there, and it's been a dream of mine. So whatever it will take, I'll make sure I'll be there and do the best that I can."
* Maria asked to be Russia's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, but was denied this honour because Russian-tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev didn't want her to tire herself out in the heat for four hours while she waited to march.
Maria couldn't play the Olympics at Athens 2004, because even though she'd just won the Wimbledon-title, it came after the cut-off date, when there were five Russians above Maria in the rankings (only four players from each country can play singles at the Olympics).
Maria has bent over backwards to meet the Olympic eligibility-criteria, but all her hard work has been for nothing, and now she'll have to wait until London 2012 for her next chance to make her Olympic début - and probably her last chance, as she'll be 25 by then, and has previously stated that she'll retire at 25 - ideally at those London Olympics, where the tennis will be played at Wimbledon.
Now I hope she can get to the bottom of her shoulder-problems and sort them out once and for all. I'm glad she has decided to skip the US Open - I think that's a wise decision, and frankly I don't really care about the US Open anymore, now that not only can I not watch it on TV, the USTA have forbidden Tennis Videos International (and anybody else) to sell copies of US Open matches.
If I were a player, I would seriously consider boycotting the US Open over this issue.
3.1.1 Articles
--------------
NO CHANCE OF ME COMPETING IN BEIJING
7/31/2008 7:10:00 PM
http://www.mariasharapova.com/
>>>
After yesterdays match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder. After taking a few different exams and MRI's this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder. There are so many mixed feelings because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve which could have ultimately been much more serious but after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem. But on the other hand this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics.
I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to NY for a second opinion but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything.
<<<
Injured Sharapova out of Olympics [CEEFAX 480->486] (Thursday 31st July)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova will miss the Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder-injury.
The problem caused the 21-year-old Russian to withdraw from this week's WTA Rogers Open at Montréal.
She was in pain in her second-round 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska, and an MRI-scan revealed two small tears.
"This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics," she said.
<<<
Crocked Sharapova will miss Beijing [Teletext 495->499]
>>>
Beijing woe for Sharapova [Teletext 499]
Maria Sharapova has been ruled out of the Olympics with a shoulder-injury.
The 21-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from this week's Rogers Cup at Montréal after defeating Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in the tendons.
Sharapova told her website: "After the match, I knew there was something seriously wrong. This is something that needs a lot of time to heal."
<<<
Beijing 2008 - Sharapova out of Olympics (Eurosport/Reuters)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the Beijing Olympics after an MRI-scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.
The Russian was examined by doctors after withdrawing from the Montréal Cup late on Wednesday evening with a sore shoulder following a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
"After yesterday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," Sharapova said.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
"There are so many mixed feelings, because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
"But on the other hand, this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics."
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis has also been forced to pull out of the Olympics after failing to recover from a wrist-injury.
The Games start on 8th August.
<<<
Injured Sharapova withdraws from Olympics (additional reporting by Matthew Cronin, editing by Ken Ferris)
By Steve Keating (Reuters)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday after an MRI scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.
"I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to New York for a second opinion, but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing," Sharapova said on her website.
"The timing is so unfortunate, and this makes me more sad than anything," she added on www.mariasharapova.com (http://www.mariasharapova.com). The Olympic Games are scheduled for 8th-24th August.
The Russian was examined by doctors after withdrawing from the Montréal Cup late on Wednesday evening with a sore shoulder following a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
They advised Sharapova she would need a lot of time away from the game to let the injury to heal, which puts the 2006 US Open champion's chances of playing in this year's final Grand Slam, starting on 25th August in New York, in doubt.
"After yesterday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," said Sharapova.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
MIXED FEELINGS
"There are so many mixed feelings, because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
"But on the other hand, this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics."
Playing her first match since a shock second-round defeat by compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva at Wimbledon in June, Sharapova twice received treatment on her shoulder during her three-hour battle with Domachowska in Montréal on Wednesday.
While her groundstrokes were crisp and powerful, the Australian Open champion struggled with her serve, committing 17 double faults.
Sharapova said her shoulder had been troubling her since she played at Indian Wells, California in March.
After the results of tests in Montréal, the Russian was flying straight to New York to have the injury examined by sports-physician Dr. David Alchek, who will provide a second opinion and advise her on how much time she should take off.
<<<
Despondent Sharapova pulls out of Olympics (AFP, 1st August)
>>>
A despondent Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Friday with a shoulder-injury, depriving the Games of one of its biggest stars.
The glamorous Russian withdrew from the WTA Rogers Cup in Montréal on Wednesday after a marathon second-round win over Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in her right shoulder.
"I'm currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion, but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing," she said on her official website.
"The timing is so unfortunate, and this makes me more sad than anything."
The world number-three's match against Domachowska was her first since her disappointing performance at Wimbledon, where she was dumped out by fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round.
"After Wednesday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," she added on the website.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
"There are so many mixed feelings, because on Wednesday night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after Thursday morning's tests, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem."
"This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics," she said.
The injury also throws into doubt whether she will be fit for the US Open, which starts on 25th August in New York.
The 21-year-old has already suffered wear and tear this year, pulling out of her scheduled Italian Open semi-final in May against Jelena Janković because of a calf-strain.
Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing-casualties, including former world number-one and Athens Olympic silver-medallist Amélie Mauresmo and fellow French star Mary Pierce.
While many other top names remain in the draw, Sharapova's exit will be a big blow for Olympic organisers.
The pin-up attracts huge media interest, and her name-recognition is so powerful that an Internet-search brings up over seven million results.
She is also a global brand off court, raking in an estimated $25 million from endorsement-deals so far.
But it is also a cruel blow for Sharapova herself. When she announced she would play at the Olympics, she said: "It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl."
"One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with athletes from my country in front of thousands of people."
With the three-time Grand Slam champion's withdrawal, Serbian superstar Ana Ivanović will be the centre of attention after claiming the number-one spot and the French Open title in Paris.
But with defending champion Justine Henin's shock retirement in May, and plenty of different winners already this year, the event is unpredictable.
Serbia's Janković holds the second ranking, and Serena Williams will look to join a role of honour which includes her sister Venus - the current Wimbledon-champion - by claiming the only major title to elude her.
The Games tennis-event starts on 10th August.
<<<
3.2 Anna Chakvetadze's withdrawal
---------------------------------
I'm very disappointed that Anna is skipping the Olympics simply because her form is "far from ideal".
Perhaps she wanted to give the Russian team a better chance by letting that bruiser Dinara Safina replace her - "I really want to thank her that she gives me a chance to go there," said Safina.
Or perhaps Anna just didn't want to make the long trip from America to Beijing and back, just for a couple of matches, so close to the US Open.
But I don't think she understands the honour that she is giving up, and I think her decision is against the spirit of the Olympics: "Taking part is more important than winning."
Maybe she'll understand these things when she's too old and low-ranked to play the Olympics, which I hope she won't be by London 2012.
3.2.1 Article
-------------
Dinara Safina to Replace Anna Chakvetadze on Russian Olympic Team
Posted by Aaress Lawless on 23rd June 2008
http://www.onthebaseline.com/2008/06/23/dinara-safina-to-replace-anna-chakvetadze-on-russian-olympic-team/
>>>
2008 French Open finalist Dinara Safina will have an opportunity to represent Russia in Beijing after her countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze decided to skip the Olympics.
Safina is expected to compete alongside Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Elena Dementieva.
Russia's team-captain Shamil Tarpischev announced his tentative squad last month, but Chakvetadze recently asked to have her name removed from the team-roster.
According to Chakvetadze's mother, the Russian No.4 has decided to skip the Olympics because of her recent struggles.
"Anna has no plans to compete in Beijing, because her current form is far from ideal," said her mother to the Allsport news-agency.
Chakvetadze played her first match at the Wimbledon Championships on Monday, and was forced to save three match-points before beating Stéphanie Dubois 2-6 6-1 8-6.
<<<
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4. Opening ceremony (The Bird's Nest, Friday 8th August)
-------------------
I watched the whole ceremony on BBC 1.
After a magnificent, atmospheric and selective portrayal of China's history that lasted an hour, the opening ceremony got to the bit I really love: the parade of athletes marching through the stadium, country by country - I always have fun trying to spot all the tennis-players.
The order of the countries was unpredictable to me: presumably Chinese alphabetical order. Greece came out first (presumably because it hosted the last Olympics), followed by the countries beginning with 'T'...
The first tennis-player I spotted was Shahar Pe'er (Israel), and then (in order of presentation):
* Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark was pretty sexy);
* Victoria Azarenka (Belarus);
* Leander Paes (India);
* Rafael Nadal (Spain) - they showed him at three different times in the parade!;
* Argentina was very sexy, and I think I caught a brief glimpse of Gisela Dulko;
* I loved Poland's cool red dresses, but couldn't spot Marta Domachowska;
* Andy and Jamie Murray (I was annoyed that the BBC kept focusing on Britain instead of showing Romania properly);
* Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria);
* Liezel Huber (USA);
* Lucie Šafářová and Tomáš Berdych (Czechia) - spotting Lucie was the highlight of the entire ceremony for me;
* Daniela Hantuchová (Slovakia) - sadly not close up, but I'm nearly sure that the tallest Slovenka was her;
* Fernando González (Chile's flag-bearer!);
* Roger Federer (Switzerland's flag-bearer);
* Ana Ivanović (Serbia) - sadly not close up, but I'm pretty sure I saw her.
The athletes marched with paint on their soles, creating a massive and increasingly visible rainbow of footprints on a canvas in the middle of the arena, which was then transferred to the podium - "a way of including every single athlete in the formal protocol."
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5. First-round draw
-------------------
The following draw is out of date: at the time of writing, I can't find a version updated since the withdrawal of Tatiana Golovin (I've been checking the official websites of the WTA, the ITF and the Beijing Olympics for hours), so I don't even know whom Lucie Šafářová plays now.
5.1 Top half (all four of my Eternal Fanship)
------------
* ANA IVANOVIĆ [1,DF] v Mariya Koryttseva (ajde Ana!)
* Lucie Šafářová [EF] v Tatiana Golovin [DF] (my loyalty is to Lucie)
* Anabel Medina Garrigues v Sybille Bammer
* Jill Craybas v PATTY SCHNYDER [13]
* VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] v Yan,Zi [s] (my loyalty is to Vera)
* Shahar Pe'er v Sorana Cîrstea (my loyalty is to Shahar)
* Akgul Amanmuradova v Francesca Schiavone
* Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] v AGNIESZKA RADWAŃSKA [8] (jia you Yung-Jan!)
* Olga Govortsova v SERENA WILLIAMS [4] (davai Olga!)
* Samantha Stosur v Sara Errani
* Peng,Shuai [s] v Carla Suárez Navarro (jia you Shuai!)
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [15] (my loyalty is to Nicole)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Ai Sugiyama (POĎME DANIELA!!)
* Caroline Wozniacki v Selima Sfar [WC] (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Tamarine Tanasugarn [WC] v Sofia Arvidsson
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] v Kateryna Bondarenko (davai Elena!)
5.2 Bottom half
---------------
* Timea Bacsinszky v VENUS WILLIAMS [7] (hopp Timea!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Iveta Benešová (my loyalty is to Sania)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Casey Dell'Acqua (ˇvamos Gisela!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis v VICTORIA AZARENKA [12] (my Reason says Victoria, but my Passion says Tatiana)
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF] v Kaia Kanepi (forza Flavia!)
* Eleni Daniilidou v Virginie Razzano
* Marina Eraković v Ayumi Morita [WC,S] (my loyalty is to Marina)
* Li,Na v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (jia you Na!)
* Mara Santangelo v DINARA SAFINA [6] (forza Mara!)
* Alicia Molik [WC] v María-José Martínez Sánchez (go Alicia!)
* Klára Zakopalová v Nuria Llagostera Vives [WC] (pojďme Klára!)
* Zheng,Jie v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [11] (jia you Jie!)
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [16] v Pauline Parmentier (poďme Domi!)
* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v Marta Domachowska (my loyalty is to Tsvetana)
* Alyona Bondarenko v Milagros Sequera (davai Alyona!)
* Cara Black [WC] v JELENA JANKOVIĆ [2] (go Cara!)
-------------------------
6. Lucie Šafářová preview
-------------------------
Lucie continues to have a rough time of it in 2008, with a 10:16 win/loss record for the year so far. Since her first-round Wimbledon-exit, she's:
* beaten Kira Nagy 6-2 6-2 at Budapest ("I cannot say it was too hard," she said), only to lose 6-1 6-4 to the resurgent Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the second round;
* lost 6-3 6-4 to world #320 Melanie Klaffner at Bad Gastein;
* extended her losing-streak to 3 matches: 7-6 6-3 to Vera Dushevina at Stockholm.
And this is what she had to say for herself after the Stockholm-loss: "At the beginning of the year, I was injured a lot, and have not been able to come back right. I would say that first set was very smooth, but that I did a lot of unnecessary errors. That is my biggest problem right now: that I am doing too much wrong."
6.1 First-round preview before Golovin's withdrawal
---------------------------------------------------
I checked the draw on Saturday morning, I went to all the trouble of writing a wonderful preview of the mouthwatering Lucie v Tatiana first-round match, and then Tatiana withdrew from the Olympics with more back-problems! :-(
It would be a shame for my Lucie v Tatiana preview to go to waste, so I'm going to post it anyway:
>>>>>>
But it's interesting that Lucie's drawn Tatiana Golovin in the first round, because Tatiana's been having an even worse year: barely able to play due to a back-injury, she's just 3:5 in 2008, and hasn't played since early May.
Olympic Draw Thoughts
by Nick Bollettieri (Thursday 7th August)
http://nickstennispicks.com/
>>>
This tournament will also mark the return of another NBTA alum: Tatiana Golovin. She hasn't played since May because of injuries, and will face Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Golovin just spent some time practising here a couple of weeks ago, and looked healthy and ready to play. If she wins this match, she will most likely face Ana Ivanović in the second round.
<<<
I look at it as 50/50, because I don't know how strong Tatiana's going to come back. Nick Bollettieri says she's ready, but she hasn't been ready to play any WTA tournaments recently, so I have to wonder whether she's just desperate to play the Olympics rather than really ready.
It's great to see Tatiana in the Olympic draw this time, because in 2004, she appeared to have secured a place in the Athens Olympics by reaching the Birmingham-final, but it still rankles in my mind how Sandrine Testud came out of maternity-leave and used a protected ranking to steal Tatiana's rightful place in Athens.
Lucie may be the one I inducted into my Eternal Fanship, but I seriously considered inducting Tatiana several times between 2004 and 2007. Back in 2004, Tatiana was drop-dead gorgeous (who could forget those microshorts?), and seemed like a solid if unspectacular prospect in tennis-terms.
It seemed then that Tatiana had years of improvement ahead of her, but she has been plagued by numerous injuries: particularly ankle-injuries in 2005-2007. She managed to win her first two WTA singles-titles last year, and was runner-up to Justine Henin at two Tier I tournaments last October before a first-round retirement at Linz heralded her disastrous 2008.
Lucie and Tatiana have played each other once before: Tatiana beat Lucie 6-2 6-1 in Fed Cup 2006, but I don't think that's very relevant, after everything they've both been through since.
Lucie v Tatiana is definitely the most intriguing first-round match of the Olympics as far as I'm concerned. It's a shame that the BBC won't agree with me, but at least the winner should get televised against Ana Ivanović in the second round!
<<<<<<
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7. Vera Zvonarëva preview
-------------------------
Vera was originally listed for doubles only at the Olympics, due to only four players of each country being allowed to play singles, but got her place in the singles after Maria Sharapova withdrew. While I am very disappointed to lose Maria, I am delighted that Vera gets to make her Olympic début in singles as well as doubles.
Vera had an excellent start to 2008, winning Prague and reaching three other finals, but it's been pretty much all downhill for her since her fourth-round loss at the French Open:
* She lost 6-3 6-3 to Ekaterina Makarova at Eastbourne: I was there and it was a listless performance by Vera;
* she beat Aiko Nakamura 6-1 6-7(3) 6-1 at Wimbledon, but came up against on-form Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round: she played much better than at Eastbourne, but lost 7-6 4-6 6-3;
* lost 6-3 6-2 to lucky loser Samantha Stosur at Stanford;
* beat Jill Craybas 6-4 7-6 at Los Angeles, only to lose 6-4 7-5 to Nadia Petrova in the second round;
* lost 6-3 1-6 7-6 to Virginie Razzano at Montréal.
7.1 First round
---------------
Vera begins her Olympic campaign against Yan,Zi: a Selesian player who, being Chinese, can count on the support of a partisan crowd. Vera has never played Yan before.
Yan is best known for her Grand Slam success in women's doubles: in 2006, she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Zheng,Jie.
But Yan can also be dangerous in singles: she beat Ana Ivanović 6-3 6-1 in 3r Toronto 2007, and went on to reach the semi-finals! She also beat Jelena Janković 6-3 3-6 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of Bangalore in March 2008.
Yan's had a pretty poor 2008 apart from that, though: she's 8:12 for the year so far, is currently on a 3-match losing-streak, and hasn't played since Wimbledon, where she lost 6-3 6-0 to Anabel Medina Garrigues. So Vera has a good chance of coming through this one.
Without analysing beyond the first round in depth at this stage, Vera is seeded to come up against rising star Agnieszka Radwańska [8] in the third round, with the winner facing a likely quarter-final against top seed Ana Ivanović.
7.2 Articles
------------
Zvonarëva to replace injured Sharapova in Beijing (AFP, Friday 1st August)
>>>
Vera Zvonarëva will replace the injured Maria Sharapova at the Beijing Olympics, Russian tennis-federation official Vladimir Kamelzon said on Friday.
Kamelzon said that Fed Cup skipper Shamil Tarpishchev had been in charge of naming Sharapova's replacement after the world number-three withdrew earlier on Friday with a shoulder-injury.
"He told me that Zvonarëva, 23, who will play in the doubles-tournament together with Yelena Vesnina, will replace Sharapova in the singles-competition," he said.
Sharapova, 21, withdrew from the Montréal WTA event on Wednesday after a marathon second-round win over Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in her right shoulder.
The injury also throws her US Open participation into doubt.
Zvonarëva is ranked 11th in the world.
Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing-casualties, including Athens silver medallist Amélie Mauresmo and fellow French star Mary Pierce.
<<<
---------------------------
8. Nicole Vaidišová preview
---------------------------
After her 6-match losing-streak that started in February and ended in June, Nicole appeared to be getting back on track as she successfully defended her Wimbledon quarter-final, albeit way below the form she showed at Wimbledon 2007.
But lack of patience and a tendency to tank have been key characteristics of Nicole's slump, and while you can get away with being impatient on grass if you have huge weapons such as Nicole's serve and forehand, there are no such shortcuts on faster, higher-bouncing hard courts.
Nicole's struggles have continued post-Wimbledon, struggling past world #133 Ayumi Morita 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 at Los Angeles, where Bethanie Mattek repeated the humbling she gave Nicole at Birmingham: this time 6-4 6-0.
And it hardly got any better for Nicole at Montréal, as she lost 6-3 3-6 6-2 to Ai Sugiyama.
Nicole will have to do a lot better than that at the Olympics, where she has a tough first-round match against Alizé Cornet, who recently won her first-ever WTA singles-title at Budapest - albeit without having to play anyone in the top 100.
It's strange to see that Cornet is the seed here [15], rather than Nicole, but it's certainly an accurate reflection of their form in recent months.
Cornet has a 26:15 win/loss record for the year so far: mainly by virtue of excellent results on clay: she reached the Acapulco-final, the semi-finals of Amelia Island, semi-finals of Charleston with a win over world #13 Ágnes Szávay, and to cap it all, she reached the final of Rome with wins over #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (6-2 6-4) and #8 Anna Chakvetadze! (3-6 6-4 6-3)
Cornet suffered a disappointing grasscourt-season with first-round losses at Eastbourne and Wimbledon, but then got back on clay to win the aforementioned Budapest-title, and retired ill in the first round of Bad Gastein the following week - it was a mistake to play there, but of more concern that she hasn't played since.
Cornet is a good counterpuncher, which is what makes her so effective on clay, so Nicole can't afford to be impatient against her.
They've never played each other before, but I'd say it's 60/40 in favour of Cornet, weighing up their recent form against the question-marks over Cornet's absence from the Tour since her retirement at Bad Gastein (though she hasn't actually withdrawn from any tournaments since then, so maybe she's just taking a break).
8.1 Articles
------------
Olympic Draw Thoughts
by Nick Bollettieri (Thursday 7th August)
http://nickstennispicks.com/
>>>
Another interesting first-round match will pit NBTA alum Nicole Vaidišová against young Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet. These two have never faced, but this has the potential to be a good one.
<<<
Beijing 2008 - Fantasy: Going for Gold (Eurosport, Friday 8th August)
>>>
It is hard to recommend Czech player Nicole Vaidišová after she was handed a nightmare draw. In the first round, she has to face up-and-coming French star Alizé Cornet, and if she then gets past that battle, she is likely to face home-favourite Shuai Peng and a partisan home-crowd.
That is just the easy part though; Serena Williams is likely to come next in the third round, and it is hard to see Vaidišová getting past the American, who holds a 4:0 record over her.
<<<
-----------------------------
9. Daniela Hantuchová preview
-----------------------------
It's been Daniela's dream to play in the Olympics ever since she was a little girl watching Miloslav Mečíř winning the Gold Medal for men's singles at Seoul 1988, but the timing is terrible, as she has yet to recover the form she had before the stress-fracture in her right heel that kept her off the Tour from April to Wimbledon.
Daniela's 7-6 6-4 win over Sara Errani in her comeback-match at Wimbledon was commendable, but she didn't look fully fit in the third set of her 6-3 4-6 6-1 second-round loss to Alisa Kleybanova - and that was on grass: the most forgiving surface there is.
Daniela has struggled even more on the hard courts, losing 6-3 6-1 to Ai Sugiyama at Stanford, and 6-2 6-4 to Olga Govortsova at Los Angeles, extending her losing-streak to 3 matches.
So it's most unfortunate that she has to play Sugiyama again in the first round here, even if she'll have the crowd on her side.
Daniela is only 3:6 head-to-head against Sugiyama, even though Daniela was the higher-ranked player in 6 of those meetings. It's hard to play your regular doubles-partner (as Sugiyama was a few years ago), and often the lower-ranked partner has an advantage because she has inside information, not to mention the emotional aspect of seeing your partner on the other side of the net.
Daniela's wins over Sugiyama came at Eastbourne 2004 (6-1 7-6), Zürich 2005 (1-6 7-5 6-4) and Zürich 2006 (7-6 6-2). They didn't play each other in 2007 (Daniela's best year), but Sugiyama already beat Daniela at Miami this year (6-4 6-7 7-5) before the aforementioned Stanford-drubbing.
There's no one I'd like to see win the Gold Medal here more than Daniela, but the timing is terrible, the draw is very tough, and I would hate to put a number on Daniela's chances. Even if she gets past Sugiyama, she could have to play Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams back to back on consecutive days.
9.1 Daniela's diary
-------------------
My last days before the Olympics (2008-08-01)
http://www.dhantuchova.com/diary.html?id=5
>>>
Hi guys!
Last week i have visited the nike base in Portland which was incredible experience..the whole place is absolutely fantastic it makes you understand why nike is the biggest and best sport company in the world..all the people i had oportunity to meet were very exciting and there is incredible amount of engery and enviroment to work in,that you can just feel it full of energy and new ideas that are going to come out any second..i have to say it makes me very proud to be representing nike as an athlete and to be a part of such a great company...
After i had a plane to catch which was very very tight as we had fly back to LA and from there to London..we had only few minutes to make the connection so at least i got my work out for the day done, running from one terminal to another.
This week im in Barcelona preparing in the Sanchez Casal for the upcoming olympics which is going to be such an in incredible experience..it is so hot here in barcelona and full fo tourists during this time of the year so it is very busy right now and aslo in the academy there are lot of kids that come here just for the summer holidays to improve their tennis which is nice to see that they like to do my sport also during holidays..talking about olympics i cant wait to be there as just beeing a part of it and represent my country is already going to be a big honour...
I hope you guys will all support me as much as you can and hope you will enjoy watching the whole thing on tv...i hope i will get a chance to see some sports as well and support my country men and women in their sports but tennis will come first of course for me as always..
Have a great day and i will speak to you all soon :-)
D
<<<
-------------------
10. Andrew's wishes
-------------------
10.1 Second round
-----------------
+ Lucie Šafářová [EF] d. ANA IVANOVIĆ [1,DF]
+ Anabel Medina Garrigues d. PATTY SCHNYDER [13]
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Shahar Pe'er
+ Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] d. Francesca Schiavone
+ Olga Govortsova d. Samantha Stosur
+ Nicole Vaidišová [EF] d. Peng,Shuai [s]
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Caroline Wozniacki
+ ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] d. Tamarine Tanasugarn [WC]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Timea Bacsinszky
+ Gisela Dulko [DF] d. Tatiana Perebiynis
+ FLAVIA PENNETTA [14] d. Virginie Razzano
+ Marina Eraković d. Li,Na
+ Alicia Molik [WC] d. Mara Santangelo
+ Klára Zakopalová d. Zheng,Jie
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [16] (I didn't really want to cheer against Domi this early, but Tsvetana is just too delectable!)
+ Alyona Bondarenko d. Cara Black [WC]
10.2 Third round
----------------
+ Lucie Šafářová [EF] d. Anabel Medina Garrigues
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Chan,Yung-Jan [WC]
+ Nicole Vaidišová [EF] d. Olga Govortsova
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Gisela Dulko [DF] (my Passion says Gisela, but my Reason says Sania)
+ FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF] d. Marina Eraković
+ Klára Zakopalová d. Alicia Molik [WC]
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. Alyona Bondarenko
To be more realistic, it will be interesting to see if Dominika Cibulková can repeat her Montréal-win over Jelena Janković at this stage - and if I finally get to see Domi play!
10.3 Quarter-finals
-------------------
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Lucie Šafářová [EF]
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Nicole Vaidišová [EF]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF]
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. Klára Zakopalová
10.4 Semi-finals
----------------
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Tsvetana Pironkova [DF]
10.5 Finals
-----------
Gold-medal match:
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Sania Mirza [DF]
Bronze-medal match:
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Tsvetana Pironkova [DF]
It's a real shame that all four members of my Eternal Fanship are in the top half of the draw, but given that this is the situation, I think the podium should look like this:
GOLD: Daniela Hantuchová
SILVER: Sania Mirza
BRONZE: Vera Zvonarëva
According to a poll at www.dhantuchova.com (http://www.dhantuchova.com), 46% of Daniela-fans believe she's going to win the Gold medal (the dream), while 39% believe she's not going to win a medal at all (the harsh reality).
-------------------
11. Women's Doubles
-------------------
11.1 First-round draw
---------------------
Andrew's selections (desired winners on the left):
* Daniela Hantuchová [EF]/Janette Husárová v (YAN,ZI [s]/ZHENG,JIE)[8]
* Lucie Šafářová [EF]/Petra Kvitová v Samantha Stosur/Rennae Stubbs
* Flavia Pennetta [DF]/Francesca Schiavone v Alicia Molik/Casey Dell'Acqua
* (VERA ZVONARËVA [EF]/ELENA VESNINA)[7] v Nuria Llagostera Vives/María-José Martínez Sánchez
* Gisela Dulko [DF]/Betina Jozami [WC] v Shahar Pe'er/Tzipora Obziler [WC]
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF]/Iveta Benešová v (SERENA WILLIAMS/VENUS WILLIAMS)[2]
11.2 Desired podium
-------------------
GOLD: Vera Zvonarëva/Elena Vesnina (but it isn't easy for me to choose them over Nicole Vaidišová/Iveta Benešová in the quarter-finals)
SILVER: Daniela Hantuchová/Janette Husárová
BRONZE: Lucie Šafářová/Petra Kvitová
----------------------------
12. Order of play for Sunday
----------------------------
All matches will be played at the Olympic Green Tennis Center (sic), which looks absolutely magnificent in the photos I've seen!
Sunday's schedule is a mixture of matches from both halves of the draw. The first round will be completed on Monday, followed by a round a day for the Women's Singles (with the finals on Saturday).
The weather doesn't look too good for the first round: rain, temperatures up to 31°C and humidity at 90%. Daniela Hantuchová said earlier this week: "This is the hottest weather I think I've ever experienced."
All start-times are given in China-time, which is 8 hours ahead of GMT and 7 hours ahead of BST (e.g. 10:30 China-time = 02:30 GMT = 03:30 BST).
Show Court 1
(10:30) MS 1r: Fernando González v Sun,Peng
(12:30) WS 1r: Peng,Shuai [s] v Carla Suárez Navarro
(17:00) MS 1r: Janko Tipsarević v David Ferrer
(19:00) WS 1r: VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] v Yan,Zi [s]
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
Show Court 2
(10:30) MS 1r: Nikolay Davydenko v Ernests Gulbis
(12:30) WS 1r: DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Ai Sugiyama
(17:00) WS 1r: Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] v AGNIESZKA RADWAŃSKA [8]
(19:00) WD 1r: Nicole Vaidišová [EF]/Iveta Benešová v (SERENA WILLIAMS/VENUS WILLIAMS)[2]
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
Court 3
(10:30) MS 1r: Yu,Xinyuan v Tomáš Berdych
(12:30) WS 1r: Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [15]
(17:00) WS 1r: Marina Eraković v Ayumi Morita [WC,S]
(19:00) MD 1r <snip>
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
I have only included courts involving members of my Eternal Fanship; the full order of play is at:
http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/event/scheduleday1.asp
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharapova_vaidisova_hantuchova/
Preview (below)
Sunday 10th August: First round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13805051#post13805051)
Monday 11th August: First round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13814116#post13814116)
Tuesday 12th August: Second round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13824260#post13824260)
Wednesday 13th August: Third round (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13834138#post13834138)
Thursday 14th/Friday 15th August: Quarter-finals (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13854619#post13854619)
Saturday 16th August: Semi-finals (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13863285#post13863285)
Sunday 17th August: Medal-matches (http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?p=13871628#post13871628)
==========================
BEIJING 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES (Beijing, China; hard (Decoturf II))
========================== http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/
Contents
--------
1. Photos
2. UK TV-alert
3. Notable absentees
4. Opening ceremony
5. First-round draw
6. Lucie Šafářová preview
7. Vera Zvonarëva preview
8. Nicole Vaidišová preview
9. Daniela Hantuchová preview
10. Andrew's wishes
11. Women's Doubles
12. Order of play for Sunday
---------
1. Photos
---------
Pretournament: various players including Ana Ivanović, Marina Eraković, Elena Dementieva and Jelena Janković:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/
Various players including Ana Ivanović and Elena Dementieva:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/gallery?cap=1&pg=1
--------------
2. UK TV-alert
--------------
On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the tennis will be played in two sessions each day, the start-times as follows:
* 10:30 China-time = 02:30 GMT = 03:30 BST
* 17:00 China-time = 09:00 GMT = 10:00 BST
The following information applies to viewers with access to BBC 1, BBC 2, and Freeview BBCi:
These days will be televised by the BBC as follows (start-times in BST):
* Sunday 03:30 (Freeview 301), 11:00 (Freeview 302), 14:30 (BBC 2), 23:00 (Freeview 302)
* Monday 05:00 (Freeview Red button), 14:00 (BBC 1)
* Tuesday 03:30 (Freeview Red button), 12:00 (Freeview 301)
"Freeview Red button" refers to Freeview-channel 81, but timer-recorders beware: if you just tune into it without pressing the Red button, you'll get a screen saying "BBC Parliament has been suspended... press RED" (I have written to the BBC to complain about this).
From Wednesday to the second Sunday, the tennis will be played in one session each day:
* 16:00 China-time = 08:00 GMT = 09:00 BST)
These days will be televised by the BBC as follows (start-times in BST):
* Wednesday 09:00 (Freeview 302), 17:15 (BBC 2)
* Thursday 13:45 (BBC 1)
* Friday 09:30 (Freeview 301)
* Saturday/Sunday: information not yet available
I do not guarantee that the above information is up to date; it may change dynamically and without notice - especially the BBCi schedule. The following web-page gives details of the BBC's tennis-coverage a day ahead (Freeview, satellite, cable and online):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/tennis/default.stm
Freeview-viewers should also keep up to date with the "Interactive TV schedule" (press Red, then Select, then Blue, then select "BBC Sport Listings" from the menu).
--------------------
3. Notable absentees
--------------------
(Notable: would have been seeded, or is an active member of my Eternal Fanship or demi-fanship)
#4 Maria Sharapova [EF] (right-shoulder injury)
#10 Anna Chakvetadze [EF] (declined due to poor form)
#13 Marion Bartoli [DF,S] (ineligible due to skipping Fed Cup)
#18 Nadia Petrova (only four Russians can play singles)
#22 Maria Kirilenko [DF] (only four Russians can play singles)
#28 Tatiana Golovin [DF] (back-injury)
#100 Magdaléna Rybáriková [DF] (too low, but congrats on top 100!)
#123 Michaëlla Krajíček [DF] (too low)
#184 Karolina Šprem [DF] (too low)
#188 Jelena Dokić [EF] (too low)
#378 Iroda Tulyaganova [EF] (too low, and hasn't played since May)
#828 Romana Tabaková [DF] (too low)
3.1 Maria Sharapova's withdrawal
--------------------------------
I am very disappointed and saddened that Maria has pulled out of the Olympics after an MRI-scan revealed torn tendons in her right shoulder - after she pulled out of Montréal after winning a near-three-hour marathon against Marta Domachowska.
It was Maria's right shoulder that ruined her 2007 season, and now 2008 since a certain backhand against Alyona Bondarenko at Indian Wells did the damage, but it was not properly diagnosed until after the aforementioned MRI-scan, when she got a second opinion: a torn rotator-cuff tendon.
Disappointed, because Maria is my favourite active player, and was the only member of my Eternal Fanship who was likely to be televised by the BBC at these Olympics. I was really looking forward to watching her play the Olympics. I still have four players in my 'EF squad', but they are all on poor form going into Beijing, and - unlike Maria - unlikely to be televised on their own merits.
Saddened, because it was Maria's dream to play the Olympics "ever since I was a little girl, so it's been one of my priorities for a very long time."
This is how much the Olympics means to Maria:
* "I think because I already have a Wimbledon-title, I'd take the Olympic Gold Medal. It will be incredible to be part of the Games."
* "One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with all the athletes from my country in front of thousands of people."
* "You need to be smart about the events you play before the Olympics, because you want to go into the Games having a few matches under your belt, but I'll be coming off the seven-to-eight-week stretch of being on the road. When the schedule was made, it was known that that's the way it's going to be. You're not going to change the Olympics. It's an honour to play there, and it's been a dream of mine. So whatever it will take, I'll make sure I'll be there and do the best that I can."
* Maria asked to be Russia's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, but was denied this honour because Russian-tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev didn't want her to tire herself out in the heat for four hours while she waited to march.
Maria couldn't play the Olympics at Athens 2004, because even though she'd just won the Wimbledon-title, it came after the cut-off date, when there were five Russians above Maria in the rankings (only four players from each country can play singles at the Olympics).
Maria has bent over backwards to meet the Olympic eligibility-criteria, but all her hard work has been for nothing, and now she'll have to wait until London 2012 for her next chance to make her Olympic début - and probably her last chance, as she'll be 25 by then, and has previously stated that she'll retire at 25 - ideally at those London Olympics, where the tennis will be played at Wimbledon.
Now I hope she can get to the bottom of her shoulder-problems and sort them out once and for all. I'm glad she has decided to skip the US Open - I think that's a wise decision, and frankly I don't really care about the US Open anymore, now that not only can I not watch it on TV, the USTA have forbidden Tennis Videos International (and anybody else) to sell copies of US Open matches.
If I were a player, I would seriously consider boycotting the US Open over this issue.
3.1.1 Articles
--------------
NO CHANCE OF ME COMPETING IN BEIJING
7/31/2008 7:10:00 PM
http://www.mariasharapova.com/
>>>
After yesterdays match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder. After taking a few different exams and MRI's this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder. There are so many mixed feelings because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve which could have ultimately been much more serious but after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem. But on the other hand this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics.
I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to NY for a second opinion but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything.
<<<
Injured Sharapova out of Olympics [CEEFAX 480->486] (Thursday 31st July)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova will miss the Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder-injury.
The problem caused the 21-year-old Russian to withdraw from this week's WTA Rogers Open at Montréal.
She was in pain in her second-round 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska, and an MRI-scan revealed two small tears.
"This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics," she said.
<<<
Crocked Sharapova will miss Beijing [Teletext 495->499]
>>>
Beijing woe for Sharapova [Teletext 499]
Maria Sharapova has been ruled out of the Olympics with a shoulder-injury.
The 21-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from this week's Rogers Cup at Montréal after defeating Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in the tendons.
Sharapova told her website: "After the match, I knew there was something seriously wrong. This is something that needs a lot of time to heal."
<<<
Beijing 2008 - Sharapova out of Olympics (Eurosport/Reuters)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the Beijing Olympics after an MRI-scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.
The Russian was examined by doctors after withdrawing from the Montréal Cup late on Wednesday evening with a sore shoulder following a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
"After yesterday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," Sharapova said.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
"There are so many mixed feelings, because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
"But on the other hand, this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics."
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis has also been forced to pull out of the Olympics after failing to recover from a wrist-injury.
The Games start on 8th August.
<<<
Injured Sharapova withdraws from Olympics (additional reporting by Matthew Cronin, editing by Ken Ferris)
By Steve Keating (Reuters)
>>>
World number-three Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday after an MRI scan on her right shoulder revealed two small tears.
"I'm currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to New York for a second opinion, but I wanted to let all of you know first that there's no chance of me competing in Beijing," Sharapova said on her website.
"The timing is so unfortunate, and this makes me more sad than anything," she added on www.mariasharapova.com (http://www.mariasharapova.com). The Olympic Games are scheduled for 8th-24th August.
The Russian was examined by doctors after withdrawing from the Montréal Cup late on Wednesday evening with a sore shoulder following a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
They advised Sharapova she would need a lot of time away from the game to let the injury to heal, which puts the 2006 US Open champion's chances of playing in this year's final Grand Slam, starting on 25th August in New York, in doubt.
"After yesterday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," said Sharapova.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs this morning, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
MIXED FEELINGS
"There are so many mixed feelings, because last night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after the tests this morning, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem.
"But on the other hand, this is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics."
Playing her first match since a shock second-round defeat by compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva at Wimbledon in June, Sharapova twice received treatment on her shoulder during her three-hour battle with Domachowska in Montréal on Wednesday.
While her groundstrokes were crisp and powerful, the Australian Open champion struggled with her serve, committing 17 double faults.
Sharapova said her shoulder had been troubling her since she played at Indian Wells, California in March.
After the results of tests in Montréal, the Russian was flying straight to New York to have the injury examined by sports-physician Dr. David Alchek, who will provide a second opinion and advise her on how much time she should take off.
<<<
Despondent Sharapova pulls out of Olympics (AFP, 1st August)
>>>
A despondent Maria Sharapova pulled out of the Beijing Olympics on Friday with a shoulder-injury, depriving the Games of one of its biggest stars.
The glamorous Russian withdrew from the WTA Rogers Cup in Montréal on Wednesday after a marathon second-round win over Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in her right shoulder.
"I'm currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion, but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing," she said on her official website.
"The timing is so unfortunate, and this makes me more sad than anything."
The world number-three's match against Domachowska was her first since her disappointing performance at Wimbledon, where she was dumped out by fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round.
"After Wednesday's match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," she added on the website.
"After taking a few different exams and MRIs, the doctors found two small tears in the tendons of my shoulder.
"There are so many mixed feelings, because on Wednesday night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious.
"But after Thursday morning's tests, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem."
"This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics," she said.
The injury also throws into doubt whether she will be fit for the US Open, which starts on 25th August in New York.
The 21-year-old has already suffered wear and tear this year, pulling out of her scheduled Italian Open semi-final in May against Jelena Janković because of a calf-strain.
Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing-casualties, including former world number-one and Athens Olympic silver-medallist Amélie Mauresmo and fellow French star Mary Pierce.
While many other top names remain in the draw, Sharapova's exit will be a big blow for Olympic organisers.
The pin-up attracts huge media interest, and her name-recognition is so powerful that an Internet-search brings up over seven million results.
She is also a global brand off court, raking in an estimated $25 million from endorsement-deals so far.
But it is also a cruel blow for Sharapova herself. When she announced she would play at the Olympics, she said: "It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl."
"One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with athletes from my country in front of thousands of people."
With the three-time Grand Slam champion's withdrawal, Serbian superstar Ana Ivanović will be the centre of attention after claiming the number-one spot and the French Open title in Paris.
But with defending champion Justine Henin's shock retirement in May, and plenty of different winners already this year, the event is unpredictable.
Serbia's Janković holds the second ranking, and Serena Williams will look to join a role of honour which includes her sister Venus - the current Wimbledon-champion - by claiming the only major title to elude her.
The Games tennis-event starts on 10th August.
<<<
3.2 Anna Chakvetadze's withdrawal
---------------------------------
I'm very disappointed that Anna is skipping the Olympics simply because her form is "far from ideal".
Perhaps she wanted to give the Russian team a better chance by letting that bruiser Dinara Safina replace her - "I really want to thank her that she gives me a chance to go there," said Safina.
Or perhaps Anna just didn't want to make the long trip from America to Beijing and back, just for a couple of matches, so close to the US Open.
But I don't think she understands the honour that she is giving up, and I think her decision is against the spirit of the Olympics: "Taking part is more important than winning."
Maybe she'll understand these things when she's too old and low-ranked to play the Olympics, which I hope she won't be by London 2012.
3.2.1 Article
-------------
Dinara Safina to Replace Anna Chakvetadze on Russian Olympic Team
Posted by Aaress Lawless on 23rd June 2008
http://www.onthebaseline.com/2008/06/23/dinara-safina-to-replace-anna-chakvetadze-on-russian-olympic-team/
>>>
2008 French Open finalist Dinara Safina will have an opportunity to represent Russia in Beijing after her countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze decided to skip the Olympics.
Safina is expected to compete alongside Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Elena Dementieva.
Russia's team-captain Shamil Tarpischev announced his tentative squad last month, but Chakvetadze recently asked to have her name removed from the team-roster.
According to Chakvetadze's mother, the Russian No.4 has decided to skip the Olympics because of her recent struggles.
"Anna has no plans to compete in Beijing, because her current form is far from ideal," said her mother to the Allsport news-agency.
Chakvetadze played her first match at the Wimbledon Championships on Monday, and was forced to save three match-points before beating Stéphanie Dubois 2-6 6-1 8-6.
<<<
-------------------
4. Opening ceremony (The Bird's Nest, Friday 8th August)
-------------------
I watched the whole ceremony on BBC 1.
After a magnificent, atmospheric and selective portrayal of China's history that lasted an hour, the opening ceremony got to the bit I really love: the parade of athletes marching through the stadium, country by country - I always have fun trying to spot all the tennis-players.
The order of the countries was unpredictable to me: presumably Chinese alphabetical order. Greece came out first (presumably because it hosted the last Olympics), followed by the countries beginning with 'T'...
The first tennis-player I spotted was Shahar Pe'er (Israel), and then (in order of presentation):
* Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark was pretty sexy);
* Victoria Azarenka (Belarus);
* Leander Paes (India);
* Rafael Nadal (Spain) - they showed him at three different times in the parade!;
* Argentina was very sexy, and I think I caught a brief glimpse of Gisela Dulko;
* I loved Poland's cool red dresses, but couldn't spot Marta Domachowska;
* Andy and Jamie Murray (I was annoyed that the BBC kept focusing on Britain instead of showing Romania properly);
* Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria);
* Liezel Huber (USA);
* Lucie Šafářová and Tomáš Berdych (Czechia) - spotting Lucie was the highlight of the entire ceremony for me;
* Daniela Hantuchová (Slovakia) - sadly not close up, but I'm nearly sure that the tallest Slovenka was her;
* Fernando González (Chile's flag-bearer!);
* Roger Federer (Switzerland's flag-bearer);
* Ana Ivanović (Serbia) - sadly not close up, but I'm pretty sure I saw her.
The athletes marched with paint on their soles, creating a massive and increasingly visible rainbow of footprints on a canvas in the middle of the arena, which was then transferred to the podium - "a way of including every single athlete in the formal protocol."
-------------------
5. First-round draw
-------------------
The following draw is out of date: at the time of writing, I can't find a version updated since the withdrawal of Tatiana Golovin (I've been checking the official websites of the WTA, the ITF and the Beijing Olympics for hours), so I don't even know whom Lucie Šafářová plays now.
5.1 Top half (all four of my Eternal Fanship)
------------
* ANA IVANOVIĆ [1,DF] v Mariya Koryttseva (ajde Ana!)
* Lucie Šafářová [EF] v Tatiana Golovin [DF] (my loyalty is to Lucie)
* Anabel Medina Garrigues v Sybille Bammer
* Jill Craybas v PATTY SCHNYDER [13]
* VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] v Yan,Zi [s] (my loyalty is to Vera)
* Shahar Pe'er v Sorana Cîrstea (my loyalty is to Shahar)
* Akgul Amanmuradova v Francesca Schiavone
* Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] v AGNIESZKA RADWAŃSKA [8] (jia you Yung-Jan!)
* Olga Govortsova v SERENA WILLIAMS [4] (davai Olga!)
* Samantha Stosur v Sara Errani
* Peng,Shuai [s] v Carla Suárez Navarro (jia you Shuai!)
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [15] (my loyalty is to Nicole)
* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Ai Sugiyama (POĎME DANIELA!!)
* Caroline Wozniacki v Selima Sfar [WC] (kom sĺ Caroline!)
* Tamarine Tanasugarn [WC] v Sofia Arvidsson
* ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] v Kateryna Bondarenko (davai Elena!)
5.2 Bottom half
---------------
* Timea Bacsinszky v VENUS WILLIAMS [7] (hopp Timea!)
* Sania Mirza [DF] v Iveta Benešová (my loyalty is to Sania)
* Gisela Dulko [DF] v Casey Dell'Acqua (ˇvamos Gisela!)
* Tatiana Perebiynis v VICTORIA AZARENKA [12] (my Reason says Victoria, but my Passion says Tatiana)
* FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF] v Kaia Kanepi (forza Flavia!)
* Eleni Daniilidou v Virginie Razzano
* Marina Eraković v Ayumi Morita [WC,S] (my loyalty is to Marina)
* Li,Na v SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA [3] (jia you Na!)
* Mara Santangelo v DINARA SAFINA [6] (forza Mara!)
* Alicia Molik [WC] v María-José Martínez Sánchez (go Alicia!)
* Klára Zakopalová v Nuria Llagostera Vives [WC] (pojďme Klára!)
* Zheng,Jie v ÁGNES SZÁVAY [11] (jia you Jie!)
* DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [16] v Pauline Parmentier (poďme Domi!)
* Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] v Marta Domachowska (my loyalty is to Tsvetana)
* Alyona Bondarenko v Milagros Sequera (davai Alyona!)
* Cara Black [WC] v JELENA JANKOVIĆ [2] (go Cara!)
-------------------------
6. Lucie Šafářová preview
-------------------------
Lucie continues to have a rough time of it in 2008, with a 10:16 win/loss record for the year so far. Since her first-round Wimbledon-exit, she's:
* beaten Kira Nagy 6-2 6-2 at Budapest ("I cannot say it was too hard," she said), only to lose 6-1 6-4 to the resurgent Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the second round;
* lost 6-3 6-4 to world #320 Melanie Klaffner at Bad Gastein;
* extended her losing-streak to 3 matches: 7-6 6-3 to Vera Dushevina at Stockholm.
And this is what she had to say for herself after the Stockholm-loss: "At the beginning of the year, I was injured a lot, and have not been able to come back right. I would say that first set was very smooth, but that I did a lot of unnecessary errors. That is my biggest problem right now: that I am doing too much wrong."
6.1 First-round preview before Golovin's withdrawal
---------------------------------------------------
I checked the draw on Saturday morning, I went to all the trouble of writing a wonderful preview of the mouthwatering Lucie v Tatiana first-round match, and then Tatiana withdrew from the Olympics with more back-problems! :-(
It would be a shame for my Lucie v Tatiana preview to go to waste, so I'm going to post it anyway:
>>>>>>
But it's interesting that Lucie's drawn Tatiana Golovin in the first round, because Tatiana's been having an even worse year: barely able to play due to a back-injury, she's just 3:5 in 2008, and hasn't played since early May.
Olympic Draw Thoughts
by Nick Bollettieri (Thursday 7th August)
http://nickstennispicks.com/
>>>
This tournament will also mark the return of another NBTA alum: Tatiana Golovin. She hasn't played since May because of injuries, and will face Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Golovin just spent some time practising here a couple of weeks ago, and looked healthy and ready to play. If she wins this match, she will most likely face Ana Ivanović in the second round.
<<<
I look at it as 50/50, because I don't know how strong Tatiana's going to come back. Nick Bollettieri says she's ready, but she hasn't been ready to play any WTA tournaments recently, so I have to wonder whether she's just desperate to play the Olympics rather than really ready.
It's great to see Tatiana in the Olympic draw this time, because in 2004, she appeared to have secured a place in the Athens Olympics by reaching the Birmingham-final, but it still rankles in my mind how Sandrine Testud came out of maternity-leave and used a protected ranking to steal Tatiana's rightful place in Athens.
Lucie may be the one I inducted into my Eternal Fanship, but I seriously considered inducting Tatiana several times between 2004 and 2007. Back in 2004, Tatiana was drop-dead gorgeous (who could forget those microshorts?), and seemed like a solid if unspectacular prospect in tennis-terms.
It seemed then that Tatiana had years of improvement ahead of her, but she has been plagued by numerous injuries: particularly ankle-injuries in 2005-2007. She managed to win her first two WTA singles-titles last year, and was runner-up to Justine Henin at two Tier I tournaments last October before a first-round retirement at Linz heralded her disastrous 2008.
Lucie and Tatiana have played each other once before: Tatiana beat Lucie 6-2 6-1 in Fed Cup 2006, but I don't think that's very relevant, after everything they've both been through since.
Lucie v Tatiana is definitely the most intriguing first-round match of the Olympics as far as I'm concerned. It's a shame that the BBC won't agree with me, but at least the winner should get televised against Ana Ivanović in the second round!
<<<<<<
-------------------------
7. Vera Zvonarëva preview
-------------------------
Vera was originally listed for doubles only at the Olympics, due to only four players of each country being allowed to play singles, but got her place in the singles after Maria Sharapova withdrew. While I am very disappointed to lose Maria, I am delighted that Vera gets to make her Olympic début in singles as well as doubles.
Vera had an excellent start to 2008, winning Prague and reaching three other finals, but it's been pretty much all downhill for her since her fourth-round loss at the French Open:
* She lost 6-3 6-3 to Ekaterina Makarova at Eastbourne: I was there and it was a listless performance by Vera;
* she beat Aiko Nakamura 6-1 6-7(3) 6-1 at Wimbledon, but came up against on-form Tamarine Tanasugarn in the second round: she played much better than at Eastbourne, but lost 7-6 4-6 6-3;
* lost 6-3 6-2 to lucky loser Samantha Stosur at Stanford;
* beat Jill Craybas 6-4 7-6 at Los Angeles, only to lose 6-4 7-5 to Nadia Petrova in the second round;
* lost 6-3 1-6 7-6 to Virginie Razzano at Montréal.
7.1 First round
---------------
Vera begins her Olympic campaign against Yan,Zi: a Selesian player who, being Chinese, can count on the support of a partisan crowd. Vera has never played Yan before.
Yan is best known for her Grand Slam success in women's doubles: in 2006, she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Zheng,Jie.
But Yan can also be dangerous in singles: she beat Ana Ivanović 6-3 6-1 in 3r Toronto 2007, and went on to reach the semi-finals! She also beat Jelena Janković 6-3 3-6 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of Bangalore in March 2008.
Yan's had a pretty poor 2008 apart from that, though: she's 8:12 for the year so far, is currently on a 3-match losing-streak, and hasn't played since Wimbledon, where she lost 6-3 6-0 to Anabel Medina Garrigues. So Vera has a good chance of coming through this one.
Without analysing beyond the first round in depth at this stage, Vera is seeded to come up against rising star Agnieszka Radwańska [8] in the third round, with the winner facing a likely quarter-final against top seed Ana Ivanović.
7.2 Articles
------------
Zvonarëva to replace injured Sharapova in Beijing (AFP, Friday 1st August)
>>>
Vera Zvonarëva will replace the injured Maria Sharapova at the Beijing Olympics, Russian tennis-federation official Vladimir Kamelzon said on Friday.
Kamelzon said that Fed Cup skipper Shamil Tarpishchev had been in charge of naming Sharapova's replacement after the world number-three withdrew earlier on Friday with a shoulder-injury.
"He told me that Zvonarëva, 23, who will play in the doubles-tournament together with Yelena Vesnina, will replace Sharapova in the singles-competition," he said.
Sharapova, 21, withdrew from the Montréal WTA event on Wednesday after a marathon second-round win over Marta Domachowska, and a scan revealed two small tears in her right shoulder.
The injury also throws her US Open participation into doubt.
Zvonarëva is ranked 11th in the world.
Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing-casualties, including Athens silver medallist Amélie Mauresmo and fellow French star Mary Pierce.
<<<
---------------------------
8. Nicole Vaidišová preview
---------------------------
After her 6-match losing-streak that started in February and ended in June, Nicole appeared to be getting back on track as she successfully defended her Wimbledon quarter-final, albeit way below the form she showed at Wimbledon 2007.
But lack of patience and a tendency to tank have been key characteristics of Nicole's slump, and while you can get away with being impatient on grass if you have huge weapons such as Nicole's serve and forehand, there are no such shortcuts on faster, higher-bouncing hard courts.
Nicole's struggles have continued post-Wimbledon, struggling past world #133 Ayumi Morita 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 at Los Angeles, where Bethanie Mattek repeated the humbling she gave Nicole at Birmingham: this time 6-4 6-0.
And it hardly got any better for Nicole at Montréal, as she lost 6-3 3-6 6-2 to Ai Sugiyama.
Nicole will have to do a lot better than that at the Olympics, where she has a tough first-round match against Alizé Cornet, who recently won her first-ever WTA singles-title at Budapest - albeit without having to play anyone in the top 100.
It's strange to see that Cornet is the seed here [15], rather than Nicole, but it's certainly an accurate reflection of their form in recent months.
Cornet has a 26:15 win/loss record for the year so far: mainly by virtue of excellent results on clay: she reached the Acapulco-final, the semi-finals of Amelia Island, semi-finals of Charleston with a win over world #13 Ágnes Szávay, and to cap it all, she reached the final of Rome with wins over #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (6-2 6-4) and #8 Anna Chakvetadze! (3-6 6-4 6-3)
Cornet suffered a disappointing grasscourt-season with first-round losses at Eastbourne and Wimbledon, but then got back on clay to win the aforementioned Budapest-title, and retired ill in the first round of Bad Gastein the following week - it was a mistake to play there, but of more concern that she hasn't played since.
Cornet is a good counterpuncher, which is what makes her so effective on clay, so Nicole can't afford to be impatient against her.
They've never played each other before, but I'd say it's 60/40 in favour of Cornet, weighing up their recent form against the question-marks over Cornet's absence from the Tour since her retirement at Bad Gastein (though she hasn't actually withdrawn from any tournaments since then, so maybe she's just taking a break).
8.1 Articles
------------
Olympic Draw Thoughts
by Nick Bollettieri (Thursday 7th August)
http://nickstennispicks.com/
>>>
Another interesting first-round match will pit NBTA alum Nicole Vaidišová against young Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet. These two have never faced, but this has the potential to be a good one.
<<<
Beijing 2008 - Fantasy: Going for Gold (Eurosport, Friday 8th August)
>>>
It is hard to recommend Czech player Nicole Vaidišová after she was handed a nightmare draw. In the first round, she has to face up-and-coming French star Alizé Cornet, and if she then gets past that battle, she is likely to face home-favourite Shuai Peng and a partisan home-crowd.
That is just the easy part though; Serena Williams is likely to come next in the third round, and it is hard to see Vaidišová getting past the American, who holds a 4:0 record over her.
<<<
-----------------------------
9. Daniela Hantuchová preview
-----------------------------
It's been Daniela's dream to play in the Olympics ever since she was a little girl watching Miloslav Mečíř winning the Gold Medal for men's singles at Seoul 1988, but the timing is terrible, as she has yet to recover the form she had before the stress-fracture in her right heel that kept her off the Tour from April to Wimbledon.
Daniela's 7-6 6-4 win over Sara Errani in her comeback-match at Wimbledon was commendable, but she didn't look fully fit in the third set of her 6-3 4-6 6-1 second-round loss to Alisa Kleybanova - and that was on grass: the most forgiving surface there is.
Daniela has struggled even more on the hard courts, losing 6-3 6-1 to Ai Sugiyama at Stanford, and 6-2 6-4 to Olga Govortsova at Los Angeles, extending her losing-streak to 3 matches.
So it's most unfortunate that she has to play Sugiyama again in the first round here, even if she'll have the crowd on her side.
Daniela is only 3:6 head-to-head against Sugiyama, even though Daniela was the higher-ranked player in 6 of those meetings. It's hard to play your regular doubles-partner (as Sugiyama was a few years ago), and often the lower-ranked partner has an advantage because she has inside information, not to mention the emotional aspect of seeing your partner on the other side of the net.
Daniela's wins over Sugiyama came at Eastbourne 2004 (6-1 7-6), Zürich 2005 (1-6 7-5 6-4) and Zürich 2006 (7-6 6-2). They didn't play each other in 2007 (Daniela's best year), but Sugiyama already beat Daniela at Miami this year (6-4 6-7 7-5) before the aforementioned Stanford-drubbing.
There's no one I'd like to see win the Gold Medal here more than Daniela, but the timing is terrible, the draw is very tough, and I would hate to put a number on Daniela's chances. Even if she gets past Sugiyama, she could have to play Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams back to back on consecutive days.
9.1 Daniela's diary
-------------------
My last days before the Olympics (2008-08-01)
http://www.dhantuchova.com/diary.html?id=5
>>>
Hi guys!
Last week i have visited the nike base in Portland which was incredible experience..the whole place is absolutely fantastic it makes you understand why nike is the biggest and best sport company in the world..all the people i had oportunity to meet were very exciting and there is incredible amount of engery and enviroment to work in,that you can just feel it full of energy and new ideas that are going to come out any second..i have to say it makes me very proud to be representing nike as an athlete and to be a part of such a great company...
After i had a plane to catch which was very very tight as we had fly back to LA and from there to London..we had only few minutes to make the connection so at least i got my work out for the day done, running from one terminal to another.
This week im in Barcelona preparing in the Sanchez Casal for the upcoming olympics which is going to be such an in incredible experience..it is so hot here in barcelona and full fo tourists during this time of the year so it is very busy right now and aslo in the academy there are lot of kids that come here just for the summer holidays to improve their tennis which is nice to see that they like to do my sport also during holidays..talking about olympics i cant wait to be there as just beeing a part of it and represent my country is already going to be a big honour...
I hope you guys will all support me as much as you can and hope you will enjoy watching the whole thing on tv...i hope i will get a chance to see some sports as well and support my country men and women in their sports but tennis will come first of course for me as always..
Have a great day and i will speak to you all soon :-)
D
<<<
-------------------
10. Andrew's wishes
-------------------
10.1 Second round
-----------------
+ Lucie Šafářová [EF] d. ANA IVANOVIĆ [1,DF]
+ Anabel Medina Garrigues d. PATTY SCHNYDER [13]
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Shahar Pe'er
+ Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] d. Francesca Schiavone
+ Olga Govortsova d. Samantha Stosur
+ Nicole Vaidišová [EF] d. Peng,Shuai [s]
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Caroline Wozniacki
+ ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5] d. Tamarine Tanasugarn [WC]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Timea Bacsinszky
+ Gisela Dulko [DF] d. Tatiana Perebiynis
+ FLAVIA PENNETTA [14] d. Virginie Razzano
+ Marina Eraković d. Li,Na
+ Alicia Molik [WC] d. Mara Santangelo
+ Klára Zakopalová d. Zheng,Jie
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. DOMINIKA CIBULKOVÁ [16] (I didn't really want to cheer against Domi this early, but Tsvetana is just too delectable!)
+ Alyona Bondarenko d. Cara Black [WC]
10.2 Third round
----------------
+ Lucie Šafářová [EF] d. Anabel Medina Garrigues
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Chan,Yung-Jan [WC]
+ Nicole Vaidišová [EF] d. Olga Govortsova
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. ELENA DEMENTIEVA [5]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Gisela Dulko [DF] (my Passion says Gisela, but my Reason says Sania)
+ FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF] d. Marina Eraković
+ Klára Zakopalová d. Alicia Molik [WC]
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. Alyona Bondarenko
To be more realistic, it will be interesting to see if Dominika Cibulková can repeat her Montréal-win over Jelena Janković at this stage - and if I finally get to see Domi play!
10.3 Quarter-finals
-------------------
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Lucie Šafářová [EF]
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Nicole Vaidišová [EF]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. FLAVIA PENNETTA [14,DF]
+ Tsvetana Pironkova [DF] d. Klára Zakopalová
10.4 Semi-finals
----------------
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF]
+ Sania Mirza [DF] d. Tsvetana Pironkova [DF]
10.5 Finals
-----------
Gold-medal match:
+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] d. Sania Mirza [DF]
Bronze-medal match:
+ VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] d. Tsvetana Pironkova [DF]
It's a real shame that all four members of my Eternal Fanship are in the top half of the draw, but given that this is the situation, I think the podium should look like this:
GOLD: Daniela Hantuchová
SILVER: Sania Mirza
BRONZE: Vera Zvonarëva
According to a poll at www.dhantuchova.com (http://www.dhantuchova.com), 46% of Daniela-fans believe she's going to win the Gold medal (the dream), while 39% believe she's not going to win a medal at all (the harsh reality).
-------------------
11. Women's Doubles
-------------------
11.1 First-round draw
---------------------
Andrew's selections (desired winners on the left):
* Daniela Hantuchová [EF]/Janette Husárová v (YAN,ZI [s]/ZHENG,JIE)[8]
* Lucie Šafářová [EF]/Petra Kvitová v Samantha Stosur/Rennae Stubbs
* Flavia Pennetta [DF]/Francesca Schiavone v Alicia Molik/Casey Dell'Acqua
* (VERA ZVONARËVA [EF]/ELENA VESNINA)[7] v Nuria Llagostera Vives/María-José Martínez Sánchez
* Gisela Dulko [DF]/Betina Jozami [WC] v Shahar Pe'er/Tzipora Obziler [WC]
* Nicole Vaidišová [EF]/Iveta Benešová v (SERENA WILLIAMS/VENUS WILLIAMS)[2]
11.2 Desired podium
-------------------
GOLD: Vera Zvonarëva/Elena Vesnina (but it isn't easy for me to choose them over Nicole Vaidišová/Iveta Benešová in the quarter-finals)
SILVER: Daniela Hantuchová/Janette Husárová
BRONZE: Lucie Šafářová/Petra Kvitová
----------------------------
12. Order of play for Sunday
----------------------------
All matches will be played at the Olympic Green Tennis Center (sic), which looks absolutely magnificent in the photos I've seen!
Sunday's schedule is a mixture of matches from both halves of the draw. The first round will be completed on Monday, followed by a round a day for the Women's Singles (with the finals on Saturday).
The weather doesn't look too good for the first round: rain, temperatures up to 31°C and humidity at 90%. Daniela Hantuchová said earlier this week: "This is the hottest weather I think I've ever experienced."
All start-times are given in China-time, which is 8 hours ahead of GMT and 7 hours ahead of BST (e.g. 10:30 China-time = 02:30 GMT = 03:30 BST).
Show Court 1
(10:30) MS 1r: Fernando González v Sun,Peng
(12:30) WS 1r: Peng,Shuai [s] v Carla Suárez Navarro
(17:00) MS 1r: Janko Tipsarević v David Ferrer
(19:00) WS 1r: VERA ZVONARËVA [9,EF] v Yan,Zi [s]
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
Show Court 2
(10:30) MS 1r: Nikolay Davydenko v Ernests Gulbis
(12:30) WS 1r: DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [10,EF] v Ai Sugiyama
(17:00) WS 1r: Chan,Yung-Jan [WC] v AGNIESZKA RADWAŃSKA [8]
(19:00) WD 1r: Nicole Vaidišová [EF]/Iveta Benešová v (SERENA WILLIAMS/VENUS WILLIAMS)[2]
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
Court 3
(10:30) MS 1r: Yu,Xinyuan v Tomáš Berdych
(12:30) WS 1r: Nicole Vaidišová [EF] v ALIZÉ CORNET [15]
(17:00) WS 1r: Marina Eraković v Ayumi Morita [WC,S]
(19:00) MD 1r <snip>
(21:00) MD 1r <snip>
I have only included courts involving members of my Eternal Fanship; the full order of play is at:
http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/event/scheduleday1.asp
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharapova_vaidisova_hantuchova/