Monday December 24, 2007 World No.1 Henin stamps her mark despite the heartaches
PARIS: Belgian star Justine Henin proved once again that heartache is no barrier to success as she hammered home her domination of women's tennis in 2007.
The year could not have gotten off to a worse start for the 25-year-old who missed the Australian Open following her divorce from husband Pierre-Yves Hardenne.
Henin: 慖'm finally happy and very much at peace with myself.
UNSEEDED Juan Los Santos proved that age is no barrier when he reachedthe National Hardcourt Championships Men's Open third round at theNational Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The 15-year-old Los Santos, the World No 240 inthe boys' world junior ranking, started his campaign impressively inthe opening two rounds yesterday by defeating Mohd Naim Isa and RuhilAmal with identical scores of 6-1, 6-0.
IfLos Santos, continues with his form, he should have no problemdisposing Shahrizan Syawa in the third round to set a date with likelyopponent B. Kanagaraj, a national player, in the last eight. The thirdround and quarter-final matches will be played today.
Incidently,favourite V. Selvam coaches Kanagaraj. Los Santos will partner Selvamin the men's doubles, where the pair have been given a first round bye.
Inother matches, Selvam, 38, reached the third round without lifting hisracquet as his first and second round opponents did not turn up.
Meanwhile, second seed Si Yew Meng swept past Tay Ken Wei6-1, 6-0 in the first round and then beat Shafique Dassila 6-0, 6-3 inhis second match of the day. The 28-year-old Yew Meng plays ShahrilAnwar in the third round today.
Also in the third round are national players Adam Jaya, B.Kanagaraj and Razlan Rawi.
Inthe women's Open, top seed Jawairiah Noordin was given a first roundbye while second seed T. Neesha thrashed Stella Heng 6-0, 6-0 in heropening match.
However, the biggest story of the day was whenDorothy Chong announced her retirement from the national team after shedid not turn up for her opening round match against Madeleine See.
Dorothy, who hails from Kuching, helped the women's team win bronze in the recent Korat Sea Games.
According to national coach Rahazam Rahim, the 16-year-old player cited that she wanted to concentrate on her studies.
rindu lak rasanya..thanks perol bg info all those wishes tu..i really like it laa...Roger must win dis year french open n hopefully all slams i think..
Piala Hopman next january rasanya kan..exact date xtau la..kena check balik schedule utk 2008..
[ Last edited by kodokpisang at 29-12-2007 02:54 PM ]
Sempena Australian Open yang semakin hampir ni, aku nak buat pilihan aku la.
Men's Singles - Roger Federer
Women's Singles - Lindsay Davenport
Lawan Federer dekat final semestinya aku nak Nadal memandangkan dia sure fresh lagi awal2 tahun nie, melainkan terjadi apa2 kat dia kt Chennai ataupun kt Sydney... aku pun pelik, kenapa dia nak main kt Chennai. Baik lah dia masuk 1 tournament je untuk memastikan dia cergas sedikit masa AO. Tapi dia ni cam degil sikit, schedule dia tak support langsung fitness ability dia.... dia mcm tk belajar drpd pengalaman. Kalau bukan Federer sure aku nak Nadal menang sebab Nadal mmg deserve 1 Hard court GS title this year.
Pasal Davenport pulak, tak ramai yg menumpukan perhatian dkt dia ni memandangkan dia dah lama pause selepas dia melahirkan Si Jagger dia tuh. (muka anak dia tu sebijik cam muka Lindsay, huhuhu). Aku suka permainan Davenport ni sebab dia nampak je relaks pukul bola, tp actually very very dangerous opponent. Sebagai alternatif aku akan pilih Venus Williams sebagai pemenang, malah aku suka Venus-Davenport sebagai final match, a repeat of Wimbledon 2005 final, yg mana dorang main antara perlawanan terpanjang dan paling lama dalam sejarah.
Kejutan.....
Kalau nak pikir kejutan, AO ni selalu ade finalist yg mengejutkan seperti Baghdatis pada tahun 2006 dan Gonzalez pd tahun lepas. So tahun ni, aku rase yang akan membuat kejutan mungkin adalah Andy Murray. Aku nak senaraikan juga Richard Gasquet, tp dia ni tak konsisten la... cuma bila dia dpt hantu dia je, baru la dia perform (baca: Quarterfinal Wimbledon tahun ni - vs Andy Roddick). Lain2 pilihan bukan kejutan - Roddick dan Nalbandian.
Di pihak wanita pulak, aku nak tengok Jelena Jankovic. Dia ni ada talent tapi dia selalu emosi bila ada sesuatu distract dia cthnya cam bad calls pasal bola masuk ke tak, pastu mulalah dia main gelabah semacam dan meroyan tak tentu pasal. last2 lepas leading, dia kalah. Lain2 pilihan yg boleh pergi final tapi bukan kejutan la, Maria Sharapova (aku sungguh minat nak tgok dia main sejak final Madrid vs Henin Nov lepas, sbb dia ni ade fighter spirit dalam diri dia).
Dan utk tahun 08 ni, AO dh tuka surface dia kepada Plexichusion aku rase ejaan camtu hehehe. Surface ni digunakan sudah mase Hopman Cup yang sedang berlangsung. Novak Djokovic yg main kt tournament tu kata surface ni lembab. Bola tak akan bounce tinggi - kata Jankovic lak... tk tau la samada ni advantage utk mereka2 yg suka surface yg lambat. Tapi aku rase surface yg lambat yg boleh dicompare adalah clay... so probability Nadal utk perform atas surface ni adalah tinggi.
Tapi apa2 pun boleh berlaku. Kita tunggu dan lihat.
Would like to see how the others pick. Sila la bg preview korang pulak.
untuk men's single..aku tak berani nak cakap banyak la..sbb RF ni is destined for greatness....menang AO 2008 ni...akan menambahkan lagi pressure dier tuk menang FO 08...so biler dier pressure tuk perform kt FO 08..dier akan kalah awal or kalah lagi ngn Nadal..hehe....
my choice tuk lawan Federer kt final is Rafael Nadal..nape Nadal..sbb dier 2nd best player in the world and the new Plexicushion surface ni suits his game...mcm ape yg MGS post atas tadi....Djokovic and Jankovic ada comment yg court tuk Hopman Cup agak slow and for sure kita akan lihat more long rallies ( boring teramat ! )..slow surface always favours Nadal no matter what.
Other names worth a mention to be in the final ( x sure gi draw camne..so aku letak je nama2...) are Nalbandian ( sape dlm draw dier ni sure akan terkencing...)..Djokovic ( aku mintak2 dier dlm half Federer nanti)..Andy Roddick , Gonzalez and Ferrer...
For women's singles...I bet Masha akan menang...based on her performance kt YEC's Final, dier dah jumpa balik form dier and with her new service motion...players yg laen patut jaga2 ngn dier ni..aku yakin dier akan perform tk tahun 2008 after a very lackluster performance in 2007...in order for her to enter semifinal..aku yakin dier akan jumpa one of the WS kt QF...MASHA Ranking 5...WS ranking 7/8...Ranking 7/8 takkan masuk same half of the draw..so Masha kena jaga2 kt QF..tp aku yakin dier akan prevail...
lawan kt final is none other than Juju@Justine Henin....hopefully dier akan jumpa Serena lagi kt QF and Juju akan kalahkan Serena for the 4th consecutive times in a Slam....
other names worth a mention are Ivanovic ( aku mintak2 dier akan menang one Slam this year), Jankovic, William Sisters ( provided tak cedera la..) and Davenport...Davenport plg bahaya aku rasa antara diorang ni..sbb dier non seeded...so masuk 2nd round aje sure akan jumpa seeded players...so..better watch out for Lindsay...
ok..aku tak sabar nak tunggu AO tune up next week..SYDNEY...
Post time 12-12-2007 12:32 PM
Post time 24-12-2007 08:22 AM
