AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 1 - PICKS AND RESULTS

I hope everyone enjoyed Day 1 of the Australian Open.   There were some great matches yesterday (Julia Georges why do you insist on giving people heart attacks) and some not so great matches (Sharapova's blow out of Olga Puchkova).

Of the women's matches that I saw yesterday, Venus' was the most entertaining.  Watching Venus when she is playing well, one only hopes that she can maintain this level of play for as long as she can.  Her net game was awesome to watch and her serve was really working well.  Galina was understandably frustrated, but when Venus is playing this well, there is not much that others can do.

My internet at home is as frustrating as anything I have ever encountered.  The AO website is great for livestreaming but I wish I had internet that allowed me to watch matches without all the buffering.  Oh well.

ESPN2 continues to provide the same narrative on women's tennis.  One can only hope that at some point in time this narrative will change.

It was disheartening to hear Brad Gilbert espouse on the age old grunting debate.  Someone needs to tell him that that ship has sailed. Give it a rest.  No one cares, except you Brad.   Speaking of ... I watched bits and pieces of the Tipsy/Hewitt match as well as Ramos/Baghdatis and could any other players be more offensive to watch or indeed listen to other than Tipy and Ramos (and yes I have heard Granollers).

One of our new features on Overhead Spin is our Suicide Pool Picks and Results thread.  Yesterday, Spin picked her Day 1 winners from the women's side.  Below are the results.  Spin had a 70% success rate.  Later today Spin will post her Day 2 picks on the women's side.  Here's hoping for a 100% success rate

PLAYER A	PLAYER B	KAREN’S  PICKS	RESULTS
Na Li	Sesil Karentacheva	NA LI – coming off a very good Sydney even though she lost to eventual champ Radwanska	6-1, 6-3
Kristyna Pliskova	Sacha Jones	PLISKOVA – never seen either woman play, but Pliskova is higher ranked for what it is worth	6-3, 6-2
Coco Vandeweghe	Sorana Cirstea	CIRSTEA – more variety but she retired in her last match so exercise caution	4-6, 2-6
Julia Georges	Vera Dushevina	GEORGES – because if you can’t beat Dushevina, you really need to take stock	5-7, 6-2, 6-4
Romina Oprandi	Tsvetana Pironkova	Tough one but I am picking Oprandi on form and guile	4-6, 7-5, 6-2
Yuxuan Zhang	Jie Zheng	JHENG – on form player	1-6, 6-3, 4-6
Ana Ivanovic	Melinda Czink	Tough one – but I am going with Ivanovic	6-2, 6-1
Yung-Jan Chan	Daniela Hantuchova	This should be a long drawn out affair and CHAN may pull it out as she plays well in Australia but Daniela also plays well here.  Pick em	6-1, 1-6, 6-1
Maria Koehler	Karin Knapp	This one is tough as I have never seen either player.  Going with KNAPP as name more familiar to me	3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Johanna Larsson	Jelena Jankovic	This should be a long drawn out battle and I am going with JANKOVIC to try and get a good start on her season	2-6, 2-6,
Mona Barthel	Ksenia Pervak	This one is also going to be a long drawn out affair. Pervak is a fighter & Barthel has had good results this season.  I am going with PERVAK on mental game alone.	5-7, 6-2, 4-6
Heather Watson	Alexandra Cadantu	WATSON – but this one will be a tough battle	2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu	Arantxa Rus	BEGU – Rus does not play well on hard courts	4-6, 2-6
Bojana Bobusic	Agnieszka Radwanska	RADWANSKA – on form	5-7, 0-6
Angelique Kerber	Elina Svitolina	KERBER – if she can’t pass the first round?	6-2, 6-4
Lucie Hradecka	Kiki Bertens	This is also a toss up. Bertens is coming off a very good Auckland but HRADECKA by experience for me	6-2, 7-6(10-8)
Casey Dellaqua	Madison Keys	The Australian crowd will be rooting hard for Casey but I think KEYS takes this one in straights	4-6, 6-7(0)
Stefanie Voegele	Tamira Paszek	PASZEK – despite having a poor start to the season, I expect her to win this	6-4, 4-6, 5-7
Ekaterina Makorova	Michelle Larcher de Brito	I had no idea de Brito was still playing tennis.  MAKOROVA in straights	6-2, 7-5
Camila Giorgi	Stefanie Foretz Gacon	GIORGI – the young Italian made a name for herself when she took out Schiavone at the USO.  Look for great things in 2013 from her	2-6, 3-6
Vesna Dolonc	Olivia Rogowska	As in the Dellaqua/Keys match, the Australian crowd will be rooting for the Aussie.  ROGOWSKA	5-7, 7-5, 8-6
Anabel Medina Garrigues	Marion Bartoli	GARRIGUES – she is coming off a great victory at Hopman Cup and while it is still an exhibition her net play was awesome.  Bartoli seems to be in a slump and is ripe for an upset	2-6, 4-6
Dominika Cibulkova	Ashleigh Barty	CIBULKOVA – after that shellacking in Sydney, I expect Domi to bounce back and bounce the 16 year old in straights.	It was not in straights but Domi won 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
Mandy Minella	Valeria Savinykh	Pick em – I say MINELLA even though she is returning to the Tour from injury	6-7(4), 1-6
Kirsten Flipkens	Nina Bratchikova	FLIPKENS – with the retirement of Henin and Clijsters, Flipkens is hoping to keep Belgian hopes alive.  Should come through in straights	6-4, 6-3
Chanelle Scheepers	Klara Zakopalova	Another pick em – this time I think SCHEEPERS will triumph	1-6, 2-6
Venus Williams	Galina Voskoboeva	Sentimental favourite of this write and tennis fans in general, I pick WILLIAMS for this one.  Galina has an interesting game and I am sure Serena gave Venus pointers on how to play her.	6-1, 6-0
Alize Cornet	Marina Erakovic	If ERAKOVIC can keep her serve working she should be able to get through CORNET who does not do well on hard courts.	7-5, 6-7(3), 10-8
Petra Martic	Misaki Doi	MARTIC – I have not seen Martic since she was ousted in the first round of the USO by Stosur.  Here’s hoping she comes to play.  MARTIC in 3	3-6, 4-6
Olga Puchikova	Maria Sharapova	SHARPAOVA – nothing more to be said really.	0-6, 0-6
Kai Chen-Chang	Samantha Stosur	For some reason I did not have this match on my Day 1 picks.  STOSUR won	6-7(3), 3-6
Pauline Parmentier	Olga Govortsova	This was also not on the schedule of play	6-2,3-6, 2-6

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - DAY 1 SUICIDE PICKS

Today (Sunday 13 January 2013), Monday, 14 January 2013 if you are living in Australia and other countries Down Under, marks the start of the Australian Open 2013. During this Grand Slam and others to follow, Overhead Spin will attempt to pick the winners of the ladies’ matches scheduled during tournament play.  Consider it Overhead Spin’s Suicide Pick.

From time to time many people ask me during Grand Slams who do I pick to win when doing Suicide Pool.  I thought it would be fun than rather than people asking me via Twitter, Facebook or emails, they could just come here and do their pick-ems.  I will post the matches for each day and give my picks and the results. The results will be important as fans will need to see how much effort the winning player put forth in order to be able to do their picks for the next round etc.  

So without further ado, here are the matches scheduled for Day 1 on the women’s side. 

PLAYER A	PLAYER B	KAREN’S  PICKS	RESULTS
Na Li	Sesil Karentacheva	NA LI – coming off a very good Sydney even though she lost to eventual champ Radwanska
Kristyna Pliskova	Sacha Jones	PLISKOVA – never seen either woman play, but Pliskova is higher ranked for what it is worth
Coco Vandeweghe	Sorana Cirstea	CIRSTEA – more variety but she retired in her last match so exercise caution
Julia Georges	Vera Dushevina	GEORGES – because if you can’t beat Dushevina, you really need to take stock
Romina Oprandi	Tsvetana Pironkova	Tough one but I am picking Oprandi on form and guile
Yuxuan Zhang	Jie Zheng	JHENG – on form player
Ana Ivanovic	Melinda Czink	Tough one – but I am going with Ivanovic
Yung-Jan Chan	Daniela Hantuchova	This should be a long drawn out affair and CHAN may pull it out as she plays well in Australia but Daniela also plays well here.  Pick em
Maria Koehler	Karin Knapp	This one is tough as I have never seen either player.  Going with KNAPP as name more familiar to me
Johanna Larsson	Jelena Jankovic	This should be a long drawn out battle and I am going with JANKOVIC to try and get a good start on her season
Mona Barthel	Ksenia Pervak	This one is also going to be a long drawn out affair. Pervak is a fighter & Barthel has had good results this season.  I am going with PERVAK on mental game alone.
Heather Watson	Alexandra Cadantu	WATSON – but this one will be a tough battle
Irina-Camelia Begu	Arantxa Rus	BEGU – Rus does not play well on hard courts
Bojana Bobusic	Agnieszka Radwanska	RADWANSKA – on form
Angelique Kerber	Elina Svitolina	KERBER – if she can’t pass the first round?
Lucie Hradecka	Kiki Bertens	This is also a toss up. Bertens is coming off a very good Auckland but HRADECKA by experience for me
Casey Dellaqua	Madison Keys	The Australian crowd will be rooting hard for Casey but I think KEYS takes this one in straights
Stefanie Voegele	Tamira Paszek	PASZEK – despite having a poor start to the season, I expect her to win this
Ekaterina Makorova	Michelle Larcher de Brito	I had no idea de Brito was still playing tennis.  MAKOROVA in straights
Camila Giorgi	Stefanie Foretz Gacon	GIORGI – the young Italian made a name for herself when she took out Schiavone at the USO.  Look for great things in 2013 from her
Vesna Dolonc	Olivia Rogowska	As in the Dellaqua/Keys match, the Australian crowd will be rooting for the Aussie.  ROGOWSKA
Anabel Medina Garrigues	Marion Bartoli	GARRIGUES – she is coming off a great victory at Hopman Cup and while it is still an exhibition her net play was awesome.  Bartoli seems to be in a slump and is ripe for an upset
Dominika Cibulkova	Ashleigh Barty	CIBULKOVA – after that shellacking in Sydney, I expect Domi to bounce back and bounce the 16 year old in straights.
Mandy Minella	Valeria Savinykh	Pick em – I say MINELLA even though she is returning to the Tour from injury
Kirsten Flipkens	Nina Bratchikova	FLIPKENS – with the retirement of Henin and Clijsters, Flipkens is hoping to keep Belgian hopes alive.  Should come through in straights
Chanelle Scheepers	Klara Zakopalova	Another pick em – this time I think SCHEEPERS will triumph
Venus Williams	Galina Voskoboeva	Sentimental favourite of this write and tennis fans in general, I pick WILLIAMS for this one.  Galina has an interesting game and I am sure Serena gave Venus pointers on how to play her.
Alize Cornet	Marina Erakovic	If ERAKOVIC can keep her serve working she should be able to get through CORNET who does not do well on hard courts.
Petra Martic	Misaki Doi	MARTIC – I have not seen Martic since she was ousted in the first round of the USO by Stosur.  Here’s hoping she comes to play.  MARTIC in 3
Olga Puchikova	Maria Sharapova	SHARPAOVA – nothing more to be said really.

Take it away folks and may the force be with you

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE BLOGGED ABOUT

It is now 2 weeks into the tennis season and as usual news flies so fast that blogging about it is usually a case of missed opportunities.

Stuff happened during the past week in women's tennis that had people talking.

1.     Serena Williams continued where she left off by winning a title in Brisbane and doing so without dropping a set.

2.    In getting to the final, Serena faced young up and comer Sloane Stephens, who after losing the first set to Serena 6-4, told her coach that she felt Serena was being disrespectful with her come ons.   All I have to say is welcome to the big leagues Sloane.  This is not the juniors.   Word has it that Sloane was joking around with her coach when she mentioned the dis word.  Yeah, I believe that inasmuch as I believed that Serena meant to compliment Eva Asderaki by telling her that she was unattractive inside.

3.    The semi-final showdown between Serena and Azarenka did not happen as Azarenka withdrew from her match with an injury caused by a pedicure ... and so it goes

4.    Kuznetsova is playing well, even though she lost to Kerber in the quarters.

5.    Petra Kvitova is still MIA.  Someone needs to tell her that the season has started.

6.    Wozniacki is one up on Kvitova as unlike Kvitova she has actually scored a win this season.

7.   Agnieska Radwanska has already won a tournament (Auckland) and is in the final of another (Sydney).

8.   Kerber is doing her usual thing.  Winning when she should not and losing when she should.  She went down in 3 sets to Cibulkova in the semifinals of Sydney.

WHO YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING IN 2013

1.    If you have never seen her play, keep an eye out for Madison Keys.  Big serve, woeful forehand, powerful backhand. Slow, but lots of room for improvement.

2.   Lauren Davis.  A fighter if there ever was one.

3.   Ksenia Pervak.  If only she could stay healthy.  Great game.  Lots of positive composure out there.

4.   Heather Watson.  A feisty Brit who is coming off hr best season ever in 2012 after winning her first tournament in Osaka.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

The draw ceremony is about to begin and the question the tennis world is asking ... who gets  Serena Williams?  You read it here first.  She will be in the top half of the draw.     

THIS IS A TEST

Based on my Twitter discussions, I am just testing this out.

From time to time we see players enter the tennis court, sponsored by the same clothing brand.  Many times, players try to ensure that they are not wearing the same outfit, but sometimes this does not happen.

It is the start of the season and I am currently watching Monica Puig (who I had not heard about before today) and Angelique Kerber.  They are both sponsored by Adidas and they are both wearing the same outfit.  I thought it would be a good idea to have a poll to see who wore it best?

Tell me what you think by voting below:-

Angelique Kerber

Monica Puig

CONTENDERS, FLOATERS & NO QUESTIONS

Last night I was talking to a fellow tennishead friend of mine.  She knows about my love for the WTA and she wanted to get my views on this upcoming season.  She specifically wanted to know whether I thought there was anyone in the ranking group 11-20 that could make a break through this year.  She also wanted to know who I thought were the contenders for the first major of the year.

It was an interesting question and one that I had not given much thought to.  I looked at the rankings and we had an interesting discussion about who we both felt could make some noise this year on the women's tour.  In no particular order, this is a summary of our discussion:-

1. I felt that there were 3 women who could contend for the first major of the year and they were all ranked in the top 3 as of now.  It is going to be a 3 way tie and whoever beats Serena in the semis wins the title. That being said, I am calling it now that Serena will draw Vika in her side of the draw and it will be a Serena v. Sharapova final, with Serena coming out on top.

2. Like many others I just don't see Kerber maintaining her win/loss ratio that she had during 2012.  Ditto for Errani.  The only way Errani maintains her top 10 ranking is if she continues to play the WTA equivalent of the ATP 250s. With her in the top 10 she is automatically disqualified from playing many of these smaller tournaments.  A look at Errani's results at the Premier and Premier Mandatories shows that she has not done well in these, even those that were played on clay.

3. We both felt that Wozniacki will not be a contender.  The fact that she lost to Pervak in her first match in Brisbane kind of solidifies that thought.  I watched portions of that match and her forehand which had looked so lethal during the spring of the 2012 season, now seems to have regressed to its 2011 position, i.e. finding its way in the middle of the court with no pace and direction.  In addition, the assertiveness that seemed to be  forcing its way out of her game seems to have given up the ghost and the hated moonballing is now back.

4.  In the players ranked 11-20, I thought Petrova if she can maintain her game from the latter part of the 2012 season should be able to make a deep run at the Australian Open.  I am not sure where Petrova is starting her season but I guess we can keep an eye out for her as the season progresses.   We also discussed  2 time Grand Slam champ Kutznetsova, who while she fell in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, can be forgiven for this loss as she is just returning from knee surgery.  She is playing doubles so clearly she is healthy and fit.

5.  Kirilenko, Bartoli, Ivanovic and Cibulkova are not contenders.  For some reason while these 4 women seem to have games, I do believe for one reason or another they just don't have what it takes to challenge the top 3 women at this time.

6.   The 2 biggest question marks in women's tennis for me right now are Na Li and Petra Kvitova.  Both women have tasted Grand Slam glory and both women have regressed somewhat.  While my friend was optimistic that Na would be a contender with Carlos Rodriquez in her corner, I was somewhat meh about this.  For one, Justine Henin, Rodriquez' most famous pupil had more talent in her little finger than Na has in her whole body.  In addition, Henin was hungry for glory.  I don't see that same type of hunger in Na, at least  not for a long while.  Petra seems to be healthy but her asthma, as we have seen, can flare up at any moment.  She had a good win against Suarez-Navarro, so we should see how she fares in the rest of the lead up tournaments before the AO.

For floaters, we looked at Sloane Stephens.  I wish Sloane had the hunger of Christina McHale and the fight of Melanie Oudin.  For a young player she has a big game.  However, I just don't sense that fight that seems to drive Oudin or the hunger that I see in McHale.  Sloane seems very happy and she comes across as a very nice young lady, but I wished that she would fight for every point and get that steely look in her eyes and a bit more positive body language.

I have basically given up on Julia Georges and Kaia Kanepi, especially the latter.

I may be wrong.  Maybe there is someone who will surprise me, but for now I just don't see it.  The Australian Open is known for giving us surprise champions.  However, this year for me it is a certainty that one of the Big 3 (yes I went there) will lift the trophy. 

MY TENNIS WISH LIST FOR 2013 (PERSONAL)

Every tennis fan, be it tennis writer, journalist, commentator, or blogger has their own personal wish list of things that they would like to see happen as a new tennis season approaches.  Most of those wishes usually centers around their favourite players.  I have read most of the blogs and followed many writers on social media and the mood is that, especially in men's tennis, fans want to see a change up. They are tired of the Big 4 and with Andy Roddick, who used to be the darling of the US media having retired, and with Mardy Fish not 100%, many fans are of the view that now is the time for someone in the top 10 to make their mark and make themselves relevant at the Grand Slams, and indeed at the Masters' events. 

For women's tennis, things could not be any different.  The WTA has just come off one of its best seasons in recent memory, with a top 4 that competed admirably, especially at the Premier and Grand Slam events.  Therefore, without further  ado, here are my things that I hope happens on the WTA Tour in the upcoming 2013 season.  This is in no particular order. 

1.   Venus Williams to make one more glorious  Wimbledon run.  Watching Venus on the grass of Wimbledon is what makes me continue to enjoy tennis.  After seeing her bow out meekly to Vesnina at Wimbledon this year in the first round, I want to see her come back bigger and badder than ever and list the trophy for whom she was named.  Venus for Wimbledon.  I think many tennis fans can get on that. 

2.  While this flies in the face of my No. 1 wish above, it would be awesome if Serena could complete the Grand Slam once again.  While she would not need to win Wimbledon or the US Open in the same year, it would be a great story line if she could win both the Australian and the French Open to hold all 4 Grand Slams.  I think that would put paid to talk of whether she is one of the greats. 

3.  Azarenka to wear shorts at every single event.  Is there another player who rocks exercise gear on a tennis court better than Vika.  I say keep the shorts, the fist pumps and the shrieks.  Tennis needs it. 

4. Radwanska to step up on clay.  For someone with such an artful game, it shocks me that she does so poorly on clay. 

5.  Sharapova to win a title off clay.  Yes, I said it.  While 2012 was a great year for Sharapova, people need to be reminded that her 3 titles this season all came on clay, which now seems to be her favourite surface. 

6. Sloane Stephens.  This is your time.  Nuff said. 

7.  I would really like to see Kerber take the next step.  Enough of winning 100 plus matches, start grabbing more than 2 titles for the season.  

8.  I see that Svetlana is looking fit and getting ready to play.  Can we say more Sveta please?

9.  The young ones. I have seen your break out seasons and I now raise it.  The difference between the men's and women's game is like day and night.  The women have young talent coming up.  The men have a whole host of almost 30 somethings.  Ladies, continue to step up.

Do you have any wishes for the 2013 tennis season?  If so, hit me up on Twitter or post them in the comments. 

TENNIS WISH LIST FOR 2013

The holidays are almost over.  Tennis season has already begun.  I have read most of my favourite sports writers commentary about the 2012 tennis season.  Some of them I agree with.  Others I just past by the wayside.  2012 was a great year for women’s tennis.  With the top 3 women competing admirably against each other (or at least the top 2 against each other), women’s tennis is in my view placed to grow even more and gain an even bigger audience.

I have been watching Tennis Channel’s Love 30 coverage, and while I am not happy that the majority of the women’s matches seem to fall below the top 10, it was great to see that at least a few of them were voted into the top 5.  Here’s hoping that with the coming 2013 season, there will be many more quality matches to watch.

Everyone has their wish list of what they would like to see in tennis.  I am no different.  And so without further ado, here is my top 10 things I would like to see in women’s tennis this year.

1.                   The end of on-court coaching.  With the great season just completed, it would be great if the powers that be would end this farce.  It continues to make the women’s game look weak.  At a time when we have 3 of the most powerful women in the top echelons of the sport,  having multi-millionaires calling on some old guy to play dog whisperer does nothing good for the women’s game.

2.                   The WTA to provide clarity as to where we can now watch women’s tennis now that Eurosport no longer holds the rights in women’s tennis.

3.                   The end of commentators referring to grown women, married and with children being described as girls.

4.                   The end of commentators with the grunting, shrieking debate.  It is hear to stay.  Get over it.

5.                   The end of commentators repeating the same narrative over and over and over again. 

6.                   Tennis writers to begin taking women’s tennis seriously.  It is not a sideshow.  It is a professional outfit.  The women deserve better than writers just putting out press releases as if they are being paid by an organization to promote players, rather than the game.

7.                   I would love to see WTA events from at least the fourth round, rather than selected quarter-final or semi-final matches on Tennis Channel.  On the same score, I would love to see the end of delayed broadcasts on Tennis Channel.  It is ridiculous that in this day and age, I know the results of matches long before Tennis Channel deigns to provide coverage.  Delayed coverage is the reason why NBC no longer has the rights to Wimbledon.

8.                   The continue use of commentators who were former players.  Many tennis fans adore Lindsay Davenport’s commentary and Brett Haber, despite my best efforts has grown on me.  The guys over at ESPN2 could take a page out of their books.

9.                   I would love if the WTA could have a show on Tennis Channel, or any network, that showcases the women’s Tour in much the same way as the ATP does.  I am sure that many fans like myself would love to see up and coming players like Taylor Townsend, Putinseva and many others as they make the transition from the juniors to the senior tour.

10.               Finally, I would love to see the women’s tour being described as competitive and professional rather than being filled with cat fights as most journalists like to describe it.

Before the season starts, I will publish my predictions for 2013