Australian Open Begins Today

Women: (7) Serena vs. Pin, (2) Mauresmo vs. Stosur, (5) Kuznetsova vs. Kirkland, (4) Sharapova vs. Karatantcheva, (24) Pierce vs. Cohen-Aloro, (17) Zuluaga vs. Sfar, (9) Zvonareva vs. Liu, (16) Sugiyama vs. Sucha, Llagostera Vives vs. Ferguson, Randriantefy vs. Ondraskova, Gubacsi vs. Lee-Waters, Mirza vs. Watson, Zheng vs. Safina, (28) Asagoe vs. Barna, Diaz-Oliva vs. Obata, Li vs. Granville, Craybas vs. Douchevina, Baltacha vs. Srebotnik, (32) Benesova vs. Ivanovic, Kirilenko vs. Kapros, Ruano Pascual vs. Jidkova, Domachowska vs. Li, (22) Maleeva vs. Serna, Brandi vs. (29) Dulko, Kurhajcova vs. Linetskaya, Schaul vs. Bartoli, (15) Farina Elia vs. Schruff, Razzano vs. (11) Petrova, Mandula vs. (30) Pennetta, Irvin vs. (21) Frazier, Groenefeld vs. Beltrame, and Chladkova vs. Talaja.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
How odd was it seeing Mirka sitting next to Tony Roche while Roger Federer beat on Andy Roddick in the Kooyong final...The last time Serena Williams lost in the first round of a Grand Slam? Never...After seeing the pumped-up Lleyton Hewitt in a sleeveless shirt, is the Aussie star on steroids? Lots of media buzz in Melbourne...The weather forecast looks good for the Aussie Open, with gradual clearing (from cloudy weekend skies) and warmer temps until the weekend, when another cool-down is expected...Is there a crisis in Australian men's tennis? You be the judge. Alicia Molik and Sam Stosur are stealing the headlines while Lleyton Hewitt joins No. 99-ranked Wayne Arthurs as the only Aussies in the Top 100...Speaking of no one in the Top 100, who will replace Venus, Serena, Jenny and Lindsay when they are gone? Today Australian qualifier Jessica Kirkland of the U.S. will begin her journey toward someday filling those shoes...On the injury front, Joachim Johansson (hamstring) and Tommy Haas (groin) are said to be in okay-to-go condition...The big news from the ATP player meeting is that now officially approved supplements will be made available for the players to use starting as early as Monday. The tour will provide samples of the supplements, produced by Glaxo Smith Kline, and if the players like it they can go on-line and make a full order purchase...Both tours were in full spin mode Sunday night in Melbourne with the ATP hosting a behind-the-scenes at the Masters Cup viewing/cocktail party, while the WTA celebrated its Sony Ericsson deal with its own party later in the evening...Roger Federer has won 21 straight matches...Andre Agassi has never lost before the fourth round at the Australian Open...Gustavo Kuerten was the only player to beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam last year, and he's not playing the Australian Open...From the TV front, Patrick Rafter will help with Fox Sports Australia's Aussie Open coverage. Rafter will join mates Sandon Stolle, Peter Tramacchi and others. Jim Courier is working for Channel 7 Australia. Courier got the nod when Johnny Mac said no thinking he would still have a talk show commitment come January. Oops. And ESPN returns with Pam Shriver, Mary Joe Fernandez, Patrick McEnroe, Mary Carillo and Brad Gilbert.