!B By Pete Bodo
Before we get down to the business at hand, let's just start with this: Serena Williams often gets a lot of heat (some of it right here) for being a poor loser, disinclined to give an opponent who beats her adequate respect and credit. Yesterday, it was Kim Clijsters, with whom everyone seems enamored these days, who went that route, after being annihilated by Nadia Petrova.
Baloney, Kim.
When a WTA player serves 60 percent, cracks five aces and no double faults, and makes just 10 unforced errors (all things over which Kim had little, if any control, no matter how badly she was "feeling" the ball), you're obliged to say, first and foremost: She played great and cleaned my clock...
But it's okay to add, "It sucks."
And it will suck even more if Justine Henin, who's overshadowed you from, it seems, birth, goes on to win this tournament. That's just the way it goes.
Now let's move on, to the matches I like today (I thought I did pretty well yesterday, selecting and previewing matches featuring Andy Roddick, Justine Henin, John Isner and Marin Cilic).
Marcos Baghdatis vs. Lleyton Hewitt (22)(Baghdatis leads the head-to-head, 2-1):
It's no secret that both of these men are in resurgence. Baghdatis won Sydney (beating Hewitt enroute in a tough three-setter) a few weeks ago, but went out in the third round at Brisbane. Hewitt played just one official match before falling to Baghdatis, tacking up an impressive 6-0, 6-2 win over Andreas Seppi.
The backstory with these two is rich: their first two meetings (1-1) were in major events, including that memorable, five-set, third-round all-nighter that Hewitt won at this event at the same stage in 2008. It's unlikely that the boys will be on court until 4 a.m. again, because they're first match on Rod Laver Arena tonight.
Is this a rivalry? Hewitt laughed when he was asked that question: "We've only played three times; it's not like we're Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal."
Baghdatis appears to be loving life again, after losing his way and struggling with injuries (some of them fitness-related) in the wake of his breakout Australian Open performance in 2006 (he lost to Roger Federer in the championship match). He's still attracting tremendous support from the Greek expats living in Oz, and once again they've turned Rod Laver Arena into a man-cave, chanting and singing Marcos' name and praises. What is it they sing about?
"A lot of things," Baghdatis said the other day. "Marcos, I love you. I will never stop singing for you. Stuff like this."
Baghdatis is awfully dangerous when he's on a roll, but I have a feeling that Hewitt still has some scores to settle in his homeland, and he's been playing a little like it's 2001 or '02 again. Great players, and Hewitt once was one of them despite his current ranking, have a way of making one or two big statements after their use-by dates seem to have expired. This may be Hewitt's time to make a run.
The crowd is sure to embrace and inspire Hewitt, much the way the New York crowd once swooned for aging punk Jimmy Connors, and that's going to help him. Baghdatis has played a fair amount of tennis in Australia (he had a knock-down, drag-out five setter with David Ferrer in his last match) and may be a wee bit prone to fatigue, or a letdown.
Serena Williams (1) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (32) (no H2H record):
This may be a dangerous match for the top seed, especially with the tournament looking more and more wide-open by the day. Suarez Navarro is built on the Svetlana Kuznetsova platform, and has a comparably versatile game despite preferring the one-handed backhand. Suarez Navarro knows how to move the ball around, and she can give a typical WTA opponent who feeds on pace fits with her sliced backhand. She's not afraid to back it up with the volley, either.
But Suarez Navrro has one big problem to overcome: at 5-3, she's even shorter if more powerfully built than Justine Henin. That will make it difficult for her to handle 5-9 Serena's tour-best serve, as well as Serena's deadly, forcing return (Suarez Navarro's serve will present Serena with few problems). Suarez Navarro has a chance if she can lure Serena into a cat-and-mouse game; if Serena is a little off her game and serving poorly, she'll find Carla's dinks, chips and sudden net attacks irritating to maddening.
But on the whole, this is one very big cat. And one very small mouse.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) vs. Tommy Haas (18) (Haas, 1-0)
Haas' win in the only previous match between these men was on grass at Halle, which tells you that Tommy on his day can handle Jo-Willy's big serve. And that might have a significant influence on their clash in Australia. Although Haas stands 15 rungs below his career high ranking of No. 2 (2002), he's continually bounced back from severe adversity (including shoulder surgery) to put up some big results. He is without doubt the definition of a seasoned, indomitable ATP warrior; he likes the hard courts Down Under (he's a three-time Australian Open semifinalist), and he knows how to play big matches. This his first event of 2010.
Jo-Willy, a finalist in Melboure a few years ago, also launched his 2010 campaign here, so both men are apt to be a slightly wary in this, each one's first big match of the year. Tsonga hasn't lost a set in Melbourne yet, and had little trouble with big-serving, hard-charging Taylor Dent in the first round. Haas survived a tiring, if confidence boosting, five-setter against Janko Tipsarevic in round one, but seemed to find his game after losing the first set to Simon Greul in his next match (he won in four).
I wrote yesterday that Jelena Jankovic's match with Alona Bondarenko was a bellwether for Jankovic, and I'll say the same for Tsonga today. Haas is too seasoned a veteran to go down meekly.
Daniela Hantuchova (22) vs. Na Li (16) (Hantuchova leads, 2-1)
Li is 2-1 this year, but her lone win was a big one; she took out Caroline Wozniacki in Hobart. Hantuchova is 3-2, but her loss in Brisbane to Andrea Petkovic once again underscored her inconsistency. So much will depend on which Hantuchova shows up for this match - the haughty giant killer with the penetrating groundstrokes, or the distractable head case who can lose to anyone.
Hantuchova posted her best Australian Open result in 2008, when she was a semifinalist (she lost to Ana Ivanovic), while Li has never made it to the quarterfinals in Melbourne. But she barely survived her second-rounder here with the Ukraine's Victoriya Kutuzova (7-5 in the third). Li had a three-setter with Agnes Szavay, but then lost just two games in the second round against her own Kutuzova, Marina Erakovic.
This shapes up as a classic toss-up, but Li gets my nod based on her week-in, week-out consistency - and her strong second-round performance.