RECAP: Tennis Country Predictions for the 2009 Australian Open
As the top tennis players in the world move on from Melbourne, we review our predictions for the 2009 Australian Open…
• One Australian player will reach the round of 16
o Former Wimbledon semifinalist, Jelena Dokic, enthralled the hometown fans with her sparkling play and reached the quarters where she lost a tough three setter to Dinara Safina
• Half of the top eight seeds will reach the quarters
o The men’s seeds played very true to form and overall only four of the top eight men’s and women’s seeds lost before the quarters…
• Either Serena Williams or Venus Williams will reach the women’s final
o Venus surprised many by losing early and Serena impressed many by playing so well in the finals to capture her fourth Australian Open
• One of the talented Frenchmen, i.e. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon will reach the semis
o The Frenchmen played quite well overall, but Tsonga and Simon still lost in the quarters while Monfils retired with an injury (against Simon) and Gasquet lost a heartbreaker to Fernando Gonzalez in the third round
• The extreme heat rule will be used to close the roof at least once during each week of the tournament
o Well… surprisingly the roof was left open during the very hot early days of the tournament, but there was no question it had to be closed for the last few day sessions when Melbourne experienced its hottest weather in a 100 years!
• A Russian woman will reach the final
o Dinara Safina reached her second Grand Slam final… but lost to Serena Williams…
• Neither Number One seed, i.e. Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic, will win the title
o Jelena Jankovic was upset early, but Rafael Nadal played impressively and survived the longest match in Australian Open history in the semis before defeating Roger Federer in five tough sets two days later – well done Rafa!
• If Roger Federer reaches the semis, he will win the title
o One could argue Federer could have… should have… won… but he didn’t and the pain etched across his tear-stained face during the trophy ceremony said it all…
|| Comments (0)
