Future Tennis Stars

With Nikolay Davydenko wrapping up his match on Vodafone Arena, Serena Williams is about to meet up with Victoria Azarenka. Now upsetting Serena is a daunting task for any player not named Justine Henin, it’s not impossible and here is what Azarenka will have to do to pull it off.

1. She needs a high percentage of first serves in and to win a high percentage of second serve points.
2. Paint the corners. She will need to go deep in the court with her shots to get Serena pushed back and to hit the ball up.
3. Keep the points short. Azarenka can’t let Serena get into a rhythm and pound the ball away.
4. Hit the ball back to Serena then go for the winner deep in the corner.
5. Mix it up. Throw in slices and spins with the hard shots. Push Serena back, then throw in a drop shot.
6. Take care of her serve and move in when returning Serena’s serve especially on the second serve. Really move in, remember what Radwanska did against Sharapova at the US Open? Try that. If it doesn’t work, at least you took the chance, but if it does work, you’ll get in her head and make her over think her serve.
7. Push her to play her best earlier than she wants. Let’s face it, it’s the first week and it’s a third round match. Serena won’t play as hard as she would if it were a final against Ivanovic. If Azarenka can catch her off guard early in the match (not easy since Azarenka is seeded and has a lot of hype) Victoria could get a lead that she will have to work hard to maintain.

Good luck Victoria, we’re all pulling for you!

Ok, I called it when the draw came out. I am sticking to it. Victoria Azarenka will upset Serena Williams. There. I know people will call me crazy. I don’t care. I am going with Azarenka because a breakthrough is coming for her, I know it. I feel it. This is how a breakthrough happens. We’ve seen it before, a fringe player we know is destined for greatness but hasn’t quite achieved it. Azarenka has been hyped for a few years, garnering praise from several players including Andre Agassi. A big upset like this always happens when it’s least expected. Williams is playing great, no reason we should be expecting an upset but that’s why it will happen. Come on Victoria, don’t prove me wrong!

Rod Laver Arena

11:00 AM Start
Justine Henin (BEL)[1] v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[25]
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[3] v. Virginie Razzano (FRA)[30]
Gilles Simon (FRA)[28] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Rod Laver Arena

7:30 PM Start
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[18] v. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[29]

Vodafone Arena

11:00 AM Start
Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[4]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[26] v. Serena Williams (USA)[7]
Elena Vesnina (RUS) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)[5]
Richard Gasquet (FRA)[8] v. Igor Andreev (RUS)[31]

MCA

11:00 AM Start
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)[12] v. Ai Sugiyama (JPN)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[11] v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[17]
Nathalie Dechy (FRA)[8]/Andy Ram (ISR)[8] v. Sophie Ferguson (AUS)/Adam Feeney (AUS)
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)[24] v. Mardy Fish (USA)

Show Court 2

11:00 AM Start
Cara Black (ZIM)[1]/Liezel Huber (USA)[1] v. Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[14] v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[20]
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/Alexander Peya (AUT) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)[2]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
Monique Adamczak (AUS)/Christina Wheeler (AUS) or Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)  v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[2]/Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[2]

Show Court 3

11:00 AM Start
Bob Bryan (USA)[1]/Mike Bryan (USA)[1] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Nicolas Massu (CHI)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v. Aravane Rezai (FRA)
Stefan Koubek (AUT) v. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)[23]
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/Samuel Groth (AUS) v. Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)[6]/Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[6]
Sania Mirza (IND)[6]/Alicia Molik (AUS)[6] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Court 6

11:00 AM Start
Scott Lipsky (USA)/David Martin (USA) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[8]/Andy Ram (ISR)[8]
Agnes Szavay (HUN)/Leander Paes (IND) v. Renata Voracova (CZE)/David Skoch (CZE)
Zi Yan (CHN)[7]/Jie Zheng (CHN)[7] v. Klaudia Jans (POL)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA)/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v. Jordan Kerr (AUS)/Todd Perry (AUS) or Martin Damm (CZE)[4]/Pavel Vizner (CZE)[4]
Zi Yan (CHN)[3]/Mark Knowles (BAH)[3] v. Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)/Jeff Coetzee (RSA)

Court 7

11:00 AM Start
Frantisek Cermak (CZE)[9]/Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)[9] v. Marcel Granollers-Pujol (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP)
Stephanie Foretz (FRA)/Selima Sfar (TUN) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)[16]/Galina Voskoboeva (RUS)[16]
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[10]/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)[10] or Angelique Kerber (GER)/Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)  v. Aiko Nakamura (JPN)/Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
Michaella Krajicek (NED)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) or Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)  v. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Court 13

1:00 PM Start
Janette Husarova (SVK)/Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) v. Tamira Paszek (AUT)/Marcelo Melo (BRA)
Christopher Kas (GER)[15]/Rogier Wassen (NED)[15] v. Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)/Florent Serra (FRA)

Court 18

11:00 AM Start
Arnaud Clement (FRA)[7]/Michael Llodra (FRA)[7] v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
Kveta Peschke (CZE)[4]/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[4] v. Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO)/Martina Muller (GER)
Vania King (USA)[14]/Nicole Pratt (AUS)[14] or Maret Ani (EST)/Meilen Tu (USA)  v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA)
Rik De Voest (RSA)/Chris Haggard (RSA) v. Martin Garcia (ARG)/Oliver Marach (AUT) or Julien Benneteau (FRA)[14]/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)[14]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/Max Mirnyi (BLR) v. Meilen Tu (USA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)