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| TENNIS |
| AUSTRALIAN OPEN - Day 14 Review. Melbourne Park, Sunday 27th January 2008. |
| SEEDWATCH - Mens Singles Final Standings 1 - Roger Federer (SUI) - Eliminated semi finals 2 - Rafael Nadal (ESP) - Eliminated semi finals 3 - Novak Djokovic (SRB) - CHAMPION 4 - Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) - Eliminated round 4 5 - David Ferrer (ESP) - Eliminated quarters 6 - Andy Roddick (USA) - Eliminated round 3 7 - Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) - Eliminated round 3 8 - Richard Gasquet (FRA) - Eliminated round 4 9 - Andy Murray (GBR) - Eliminated round 1 10 - David Nalbandian (ARG) - Eliminated round 3 11 - Tommy Robredo - Eliminated round 2 12 - James Blake (USA) - Eliminated quarters 13 - Tomas Berdych (CZE) - Eliminated round 4 14 - Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) - Eliminated quarters 15 - Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) - Eliminated round 3 16 - Carlos Moya (ESP) - Eliminated round 1 17 - Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) - Eliminated round 1 18 - Juan Ignatio Chela (ARG) - Eliminated round 1 19 - Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) - Eliminated round 4 20 - Ivo Karlovic (CRO) - Eliminated round 3 21 - Juan Monaco (ARG) - Eliminated round 3 22 - Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) - Eliminated round 4 23 - Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) - Eliminated round 4 24 - Jarkko Niemenem (FIN) - Eliminated quarters 25 - Fernando Verdasco (ESP) - Eliminated round 2 26 - Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) - Eliminated round 2 27 - Nicolas Almagro (ESP) - Eliminated round 1 28 - Gilles Simon (FRA) - Eliminated round 3 29 - Philipp Kolschreiber (GER) - Eliminated round 4 30 - Radek Stepanek (CZE) - Eliminated round 1 31 - Igor Andreev (RUS) - Eliminated round 3 32 - Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) - Eliminated round 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) - Runner up |
| SEEDWATCH - Womens Singles Final Standings 1 - Justine Henin (BEL) - Eliminated quarters 2 - Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) - Eliminated round 3 3 - Jelena Jankovic (SRB) - Eliminated semi finals 4 - Ana Ivanovic (SRB) - Runner up 5 - Maria Sharapova (RUS) - CHAMPION 6 - Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) - Eliminated round 3 7 - Serena Williams (USA) - Eliminated quarters 8 - Venus Williams (USA) - Eliminated quarters 9-Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) - Eliminated semi finals 10 - Marion Bartoli (FRA) - Eliminated round 1 11 - Elena Dementieva (RUS) - Eliminated round 4 12 - Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) - Eliminated round 4 13 - Tatiana Golovin (FRA) - Eliminated round 2 14 - Nadia Petrova (RUS) - Eliminated round 4 15 - Patty Schnyder (SUI) - Eliminated round 2 16 - Dinara Safina (RUS) - Eliminated round 1 17 - Shahar Peer (ISR) - Eliminated round 3 18 - Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) - Eliminated round 3 19 - Sybille Bammer (AUT) - Eliminated round 2 20 - Agnes Szavay (HUN) - Eliminated round 1 21 - Alona Bondarenko (UKR) - Eliminated round 2 22 - Lucie Safarova (CZE) - Eliminated round 2 23 - Vera Zvonareva (RUS) - Eliminated round 1 24 - Na Li (CHN) - Eliminated round 3 25 - Francesca Schiavone (ITA) - Eliminated round 3 26 - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) - Eliminated round 3 27 - Maria Kirilenko (RUS) - Through to quarters 28 - Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) - Eliminated round 3 29 - Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)- Eliminated quarter 30 - Virginie Razzano (FRA) - Eliminated round 3 31 - Sania Mirza (IND) - Eliminated round 3 32 - Julia Vakulenko (UKR) - Eliminated round 1 |
Both were in their first Australian Open final, but unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was
the sentimental favourite when he took on 3rd seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the
2008 Australian Open.
Tsonga's giant-killing run had begun in the opening round when he defeated Andy Murray, and
had continued all the way to the final. Un-nerved by the occasion, the Frenchman, who bore an
uncanny resemblance to boxer Mohammed Ali, continued to stun the tennis world with an early
break on his way to taking the first set 6-4. Pumping his fist as he took the first set, was there
one more stunning upset in him?
As it turned out, there wasn't. Allowing himself to get upset by a line call and a failed challenge
late in the second set, Tsonga was finding himself becoming over-run by Djokovic, who after a
slow start was working his way into the contest; looking fitter and quicker around the court in
the warm conditions on centre court.
Although Tsonga was the favourite with the majority of the crowd, there was a considerable
Serbian support base there for Novak Djokovic, and as the match unfolded they became more
vocal. As Djokovic took out the third set to open up a 2-1 advantage, with the Serbian flags
flying, the end of the match looked a foregone conclusion.
As it turned out, Tsonga still had some more fight in him. Saving multiple break points in the
fourth set, Tsonga ended up holding all his serves to force the set into a tie-break. Had he been
able to take the tie-break and force a 5th set, who knows what would have happened?
But Djokovic, calm under pressure, dominated the tie-break, taking it out 7-2. Slumping to the
ground exhausted after his win, before kissing the court in triumph, the 3rd seed had achieved
his goal of becoming the first Serb to win a grand slam tournament.
And so the first grand slam of 2008 had come to an end. The reign of Roger Federer was over,
and a new champion came forward to accept the trophy. A worthy champion, who had
entertained the crowds throughout the tournament; and it would take a brave predictor to
suggest that Djokovic won't win another grand slam tournament in the near future.
the sentimental favourite when he took on 3rd seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the
2008 Australian Open.
Tsonga's giant-killing run had begun in the opening round when he defeated Andy Murray, and
had continued all the way to the final. Un-nerved by the occasion, the Frenchman, who bore an
uncanny resemblance to boxer Mohammed Ali, continued to stun the tennis world with an early
break on his way to taking the first set 6-4. Pumping his fist as he took the first set, was there
one more stunning upset in him?
As it turned out, there wasn't. Allowing himself to get upset by a line call and a failed challenge
late in the second set, Tsonga was finding himself becoming over-run by Djokovic, who after a
slow start was working his way into the contest; looking fitter and quicker around the court in
the warm conditions on centre court.
Although Tsonga was the favourite with the majority of the crowd, there was a considerable
Serbian support base there for Novak Djokovic, and as the match unfolded they became more
vocal. As Djokovic took out the third set to open up a 2-1 advantage, with the Serbian flags
flying, the end of the match looked a foregone conclusion.
As it turned out, Tsonga still had some more fight in him. Saving multiple break points in the
fourth set, Tsonga ended up holding all his serves to force the set into a tie-break. Had he been
able to take the tie-break and force a 5th set, who knows what would have happened?
But Djokovic, calm under pressure, dominated the tie-break, taking it out 7-2. Slumping to the
ground exhausted after his win, before kissing the court in triumph, the 3rd seed had achieved
his goal of becoming the first Serb to win a grand slam tournament.
And so the first grand slam of 2008 had come to an end. The reign of Roger Federer was over,
and a new champion came forward to accept the trophy. A worthy champion, who had
entertained the crowds throughout the tournament; and it would take a brave predictor to
suggest that Djokovic won't win another grand slam tournament in the near future.
| MENS SINGLES FINAL: 3 - Novak Djokovic (SRB) d Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(2) MIXED DOUBLES FINAL: 5 - Tiantian Sun (CHN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) d Sania Mirza (IND)/Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) 7-6(4) 6-4 |