G'day Mate - It's the Australian Open 2008

[davis]

I'm suffering from tennis deprivation so it made me happy as hell to see the entry list for the first real big event in 2008, the Australian Open in Melbourne. I couldn't resist, I just have to share ;D

The tournament will introduce a new surface, new heat regulations, the strongest entry field ever, and hopefully a resurgent Marat who'll kick some major ass! Make us proud!!!!!!!!!



Australian Open 2008
Melbourne, Australia
January 14-27, 2008
Draw Size: 128
Surface: Plexicushion
Prize Money: AUS$20,000,000
Ticket Hotline: [phone]
Website: www.ausopen.com

Ranking Points/Prize money breakdown
W 1000/$1,281,000
F 700/$ 640,500
SF 450/$320,250
QF 250/$160,125
R16 150/$80,060
R32 75/$49,100
R64 35/$29,890
R128 5/$19,215

Entry Deadline: December 3, 2007
Seeding: January 7, 2008

Qualifying draw: Tuesday, January 8, 2008, 9:00 p.m.
Main draw: Friday, January 11, 2008, 10:30 a.m. (TBC)
Men's doubles draw: Monday, January 14, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Mixed doubles draw: Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Mens Singles Draw

FEDERER, Roger SUI [1] vs HARTFIELD, Diego ARG
SANTORO, Fabrice FRA vs ISNER, John USA
TIPSAREVIC, Janko SRB vs SIRIANNI, Joseph AUS (W)
ASCIONE, Thierry FRA vs VERDASCO, Fernando ESP [25]

MONACO, Juan ARG [21] vs BERLOCQ, Carlos ARG
KENDRICK, Robert USA vs QUALIFIER
HERNANDEZ, Oscar ESP vs MINAR, Ivo CZE
ESCHAUER, Werner AUT vs BERDYCH, Tomas CZE [13]

BLAKE, James USA [12] vs MASSU, Nicolas CHI
RUSSELL, Michael USA vs FOGNINI, Fabio ITA
GROSJEAN, Sebastien FRA vs VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA
QUALIFIER vs LJUBICIC, Ivan CRO [17]

ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP [27] vs CILIC, Marin CRO
VANEK, Jiri CZE vs MELZER, Jurgen AUT
LEE, Hyung-Taik KOR vs GUCCIONE, Chris AUS
QUALIFIER vs GONZALEZ, Fernando CHI [7]




DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB [3] vs BECKER, Benjamin GER
QUALIFIER vs BOLELLI, Simone ITA
QUERREY, Sam USA vs ROCHUS, Olivier BEL
MALISSE, Xavier BEL vs TURSUNOV, Dmitry RUS [32]

HEWITT, Lleyton AUS [19] vs DARCIS, Steve BEL
ISTOMIN, Denis UZB (W) vs QUALIFIER
GULBIS, Ernests LAT vs SAFIN, Marat RUS
JOHANSSON, Thomas SWE vs BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP [15]

NALBANDIAN, David ARG [10] vs SMEETS, Robert AUS (W)
ZABALETA, Mariano ARG vs LUCZAK, Peter AUS
JONES, Alun AUS (W) vs MONTANES, Albert ESP
KIEFER, Nicolas GER vs FERRERO, Juan Carlos ESP [22]

STEPANEK, Radek CZE [30] vs SPADEA, Vincent USA
QUALIFIER vs ROITMAN, Sergio ARG
VENTURA, Santiago ESP vs DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG
ROGER-VASSELIN, Edouard FRA vs FERRER, David ESP [5]



GASQUET, Richard FRA [8] vs LINDAHL, Nick AUS (W)
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP vs QUALIFIER
VLIEGEN, Kristof BEL vs PATIENCE, Olivier FRA
PAVEL, Andrei ROU vs ANDREEV, Igor RUS [31]

CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG [18] vs GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo
ESP
FALLA, Alejandro COL vs QUALIFIER,
QUALIFIER vs BRZEZICKI, Juan Pablo ARG
TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA vs MURRAY, Andy GBR [9]

YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS [14] vs MONTCOURT, Mathieu FRA (W)
QUALIFIER vs SEPPI, Andreas ITA
SELA, Dudi ISR vs QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO [20]

WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI [26] vs BENNETEAU, Julien FRA
LU, Yen-Hsun TPE vs GICQUEL, Marc FRA
MAHUT, Nicolas FRA vs ACASUSO, Jose ARG
LLODRA, Michael FRA vs DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS [4]



RODDICK, Andy USA [6] vs QUALIFIER
YOUNG, Donald USA vs BERRER, Michael GER
KOROLEV, Evgeny RUS vs QUALIFIER,
QUALIFIER vs KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER [29]

NIEMINEN, Jarkko FIN [24] vs DANCEVIC, Frank CAN
LEVINE, Jesse USA (W) vs VASSALLO ARGUELLO, Martin ARG
FISH, Mardy USA vs PASHANSKI, Boris SRB
ZVEREV, Mischa GER vs ROBREDO, Tommy ESP [11]

MOYA, Carlos ESP [16] vs KOUBEK, Stefan AUT
HORNA, Luis PER vs CALLERI, Agustin ARG
CAPDEVILLE, Paul CH vs KLEIN, Brydan AUS (W)
HANESCU, Victor ROU vs MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA [23]

SIMON, Gilles FRA [28] vs REYNOLDS, Bobby USA
CLEMENT, Arnaud FRA vs SCHUETTLER, Rainer GER
SERRA, Florent FRA vs MAYER, Florian GER
QUALIFIER vs NADAL, Rafael ESP [2]



Strongest entry-list ever for Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The Australian Open in January will have the strongest field in the tournament's 103-year history -- all top-ranked 100 men (that was before Canas withdrew... ) and 99 of the top 100 women.

Three-time champion Roger Federer heads the men's draw, while top-ranked Justine Henin -- the 2004 champion -- will be the women's No. 1 seed.

Following Wednesday's release of the first entry lists, the only omission from the top 100 women was Russia's Vera Dushevina, ranked 44th, who was forced to withdraw due to a right-foot injury.

With 104 direct acceptances into the men's draw, the ranking cutoff is at its lowest ever at 103, which includes Belgian Xavier Malisse, who has an injury-protected ranking of 31.

The women's draw includes 108 direct acceptances and also has its lowest ranking cutoff ever at 108, which includes Russian Evgenia Linetskaya, who has an injury-protected ranking of 92.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said he was thrilled with the strength of the lineup for the Jan. 14-27 tournament.

"At this stage, it's the strongest field in the event's history and we're sure this will equate to one of the most exciting tournaments yet," said Tiley.

The men's field will be completed by 16 qualifiers and eight wild cards, while the women's field has 12 qualifiers and eight wild cards to be added.

The women's field has five former champions in Henin, the Williams sisters -- Venus and defending champion Serena -- Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport. The men's field includes three past winners -- Federer, Thomas Johansson and Marat Safin ;D.

[SAFINNO1]

A new court for Marat to kick ass on!



A spectacular blue plexicushion centre court at Rod Laver Arena was the centrepiece of the Australian Open 2008 launch today.

‘Where the world comes to play’ is the message of Australian Open 2008, and 500 of the world’s top players will compete next year on a new surface and trademarked ‘Australian Open True Blue’ court colour.

The announcement marks the most radical change to the tournament since it moved from grass at Kooyong to Rebound Ace at Melbourne Park 20 years ago.

The first Grand Slam tournament of 2008, staged from January 14–27, will offer A$20.6 million in prize money, with the men’s and women’s singles winners each collecting A$1.37m – seven per cent up on last year.

“As the biggest sporting event in the world in January, we want to set world-class benchmarks for the tournament’s look, feel and function,” Tennis Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve Wood, said. “Earlier this year we launched our contemporised Australian Open logo and the change of the on-court colour scheme is a natural progression of this.

“We want players, fans and viewers to have the best tennis experience of the year.’’

Following on from the success of Australian Open 2007, tournament officials are looking to do even better in 2008 by breaking records for Melbourne Park attendance, television and internet viewers, live site attendees and prize money.

“We want this event to be the best, on and off the court,’’ Wood said. “We are striving for a new attendance record and aiming to showcase the tournament to a potential television viewing audience of nearly two billion.’’

Speaking on the new court surface and colour, Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley, said, “The initial player responses, from Roger Federer down, have been positive.’’

“The choice of plexicushion is about ensuring consistency in pace and bounce across all of our courts. The new colour is fresh and ensures greater visibility for players, officials, spectators and television viewers alike.’’

[maryb]

Is the new court surface faster?

Think I'll use up my annual leave during the first few days of the AO ... don't think I could stagger in to work after sitting up half the night watching matches.

[Mrs. Fabregas]

;D YAAAAAY!!!!! It's Aussie Open time again !!!!!

Really looking forward to it, even though i won't be around and so can't follow anything TV and internet wise in/for the 2nd week (please, DO MAKE IT INTO THE 2nd week, Marat ) but woohoo.... will be free the whole first week to watch : BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!

[wendy]

I read somewhere that the courts will be faster with the new surface.I have tickets for the first week after that I will be watching the telly.Hope marat will be their for the second week.wendy

[luxsword]

I thought the 2 shades of blue would contrast much more...

[maryb]

The Big Yin will be in the second week. I'll nag all the way.

[Mrs. Fabregas]

maryb said:

The Big Yin will be in the second week. I'll nag all the way.

OFCOURSE HE WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have full faith in him for doing that



Or else : , lol!

[luxsword]

what, there's a DENIAL thread here too ? ;D
coool

[Annie]

This whole board is a denial board LOL. I don't think there is another board on the net who has more faith in Marat ;D

[maryb]

Now now guys. The D word is banned with the C word. It only has the effect of emphasising the effect of the C word.

Equation:
(C-D) x self-belief x ability x Big Yin = winner
(C-D) x self-belief x ability x Big Yin + Fairy Godmother + nagging relentlessly x net approach + footwork = Grand Slam winner

The equations will be applied ruthlessly throughout 2008. Otherwise:
(C+D) - self-belief x ability x Big Yin = 2nd round exit
(C+D) - self-belief x ability x Big Yin - Fairy Godmother + nagging relentlessly - net approach - footwork = pissed off Fairy Godmother (formulae tend to disintegrate at boiling point here)

By adding in:
Big Yin - self-belief, we reach the point of no return: Fairy Godmother + Big Yin ( - self-belief - footwork - net approach) x 2 = nuclear explosion.

I knew the maths theory would come in useful other than working out how much water 3 football pitches x 3 high would be!

[maryb]

And he can do a Serena and print that off and stick it in his shorts and read between points! ;D

[Annie]

ROTFLMFAO Mary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in fits here

[maryb]

Continuing on the theme of tennis mathematical formulae :

(C-D) x self-belief x ability x Big Yin + Fairy Godmother + nagging relentlessly x net approach + footwork ; to the power of (Liverpool tennis tournament x June 2008) + Fairy Godmother to the power of (free tickets) x Wimbledon 2008 + Fairy Godmother to the power of (free tickets) x matches x self-belief (cubed) = Maestro - Wimbledon title = Fairy Godmother x elation. ;D

This formula is foolproof. No mathematician has disproved it. If you then add in the dimension of free booze for the Fairy Godmother on non-match days, coupled with visits to London art galleries and museums, the theory can be extended by at least a 2 year period. Amazing that the Big Yin hasn't applied it. ;D

Mrs Annie, get off the floor. You're embarassing me.

PS The pics of you and the Big Yin at the Moscow Cup are on my i-Pod. It's treasured - and makes me smile when I see them. ;D

[maryb]

Mrs Annie - it's official! Scotland is colder than Russia. What a week. My toes are blue and are about to fall off. God bless my Nepalese trader with sales of double thickness socks and mitts. It could have been worse and I could have been in casualty by now. Hard to believe that in Australia, it's summer. Roll on the AO for a glimpse of blue skies and tennis players collapsing from heat exhaustion. Not an experience that I'm ever likely to have.

PS I should have said Kremlin Cup, not Moscow Cup. The cold has frozen my brain cells to the wall of my skull. They'll thaw out by June.