Post by avalon on Dec 22, 2006 7:46:52 GMT 3
I wish other 'classy' Russian tennis players would come out early for the AO 
CLASSY Russian Nadia Petrova has led the parade of the world's best tennis players into town for next month's Australian Open.
Petrova arrived yesterday to make an early start to preparations for 2007's first grand slam at Melbourne Park from January 15-28.
The world No. 6 plans to waste no time getting reacquainted with the Rebound Ace courts and will supplement her practice sessions with fitness training at the on-site gym and around the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Petrova hopes to hit with Australian Alicia Molik when the local wildcard playoff finishes tomorrow.
Mark Philippoussis arrived home at the weekend hoping to be granted a wildcard into the men's singles draw. He chose not to join the other Australians at last week's training camp or participate in the playoff.
Open organisers will decide after tomorrow's men's and women's finals which players get the remaining three wildcards for each of the singles draws.
Swedish coach Lars Wahlgren, who spends part of the year in Melbourne and helped at the training camp, is starting a six-week trial with Petrova. He will organise her on-court work while his brother-in-law Damien Prasad handles her fitness routines.
Petrova was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last January and the 24-year-old has steadily improved her singles ranking every year.
She's the advance party of a powerful contingent of Russian women, led by world No. 2 Maria Sharapova. The Russians have four players in the top 10 and 12 in the world's top 50.
Petrova, who lives in Moscow, has been training in Cyprus to escape the northern winter. And Wahlgren, the 1989 Australian indoor runner-up to Ivan Lendl, believes she will be better prepared for the tournament by spending Christmas in Melbourne.
"The real practice will start tomorrow. I suggested she come out here early," Wahlgren said yesterday. "Melbourne is my second home. I've been talking to Tennis Australia and they are helping out with her training.
"It's a great preparation here. I know a lot of people in Australia and they are friendly and helpful.
"The weather is perfect, you can be outdoors all the time. You have a lot of courts and a lot of players.
"There's going to be a team of four and we're going to train for the next 10 days."
Petrova heads to Perth for the Hopman Cup early next week to team with Dimitry Tursunov.
Molik and Philippoussis will represent Australia in the round-robin competition at Burswood Dome starting on December 30.
CLASSY Russian Nadia Petrova has led the parade of the world's best tennis players into town for next month's Australian Open.
Petrova arrived yesterday to make an early start to preparations for 2007's first grand slam at Melbourne Park from January 15-28.
The world No. 6 plans to waste no time getting reacquainted with the Rebound Ace courts and will supplement her practice sessions with fitness training at the on-site gym and around the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Petrova hopes to hit with Australian Alicia Molik when the local wildcard playoff finishes tomorrow.
Mark Philippoussis arrived home at the weekend hoping to be granted a wildcard into the men's singles draw. He chose not to join the other Australians at last week's training camp or participate in the playoff.
Open organisers will decide after tomorrow's men's and women's finals which players get the remaining three wildcards for each of the singles draws.
Swedish coach Lars Wahlgren, who spends part of the year in Melbourne and helped at the training camp, is starting a six-week trial with Petrova. He will organise her on-court work while his brother-in-law Damien Prasad handles her fitness routines.
Petrova was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last January and the 24-year-old has steadily improved her singles ranking every year.
She's the advance party of a powerful contingent of Russian women, led by world No. 2 Maria Sharapova. The Russians have four players in the top 10 and 12 in the world's top 50.
Petrova, who lives in Moscow, has been training in Cyprus to escape the northern winter. And Wahlgren, the 1989 Australian indoor runner-up to Ivan Lendl, believes she will be better prepared for the tournament by spending Christmas in Melbourne.
"The real practice will start tomorrow. I suggested she come out here early," Wahlgren said yesterday. "Melbourne is my second home. I've been talking to Tennis Australia and they are helping out with her training.
"It's a great preparation here. I know a lot of people in Australia and they are friendly and helpful.
"The weather is perfect, you can be outdoors all the time. You have a lot of courts and a lot of players.
"There's going to be a team of four and we're going to train for the next 10 days."
Petrova heads to Perth for the Hopman Cup early next week to team with Dimitry Tursunov.
Molik and Philippoussis will represent Australia in the round-robin competition at Burswood Dome starting on December 30.
