Tennis-X Notes: Roddick-Sharapova Love Match Back in News

From The Times' Barry Flatman: "Amelie Mauresmo was insistent when the obvious question was posed to her. Is it more difficult to defend a Grand Slam title than it is to win one for the first time? "No," maintained the vanquished Australian Open champion. "Definitely not." Yet the ineptitude of Mauresmo, not only the defender here at Melbourne Park but also the reigning queen of Wimbledon and world No 1 for much of last year, was embarrassing to watch as she was totally outplayed by 19 year-old Lucie Safarova, who had failed to win a solitary match in all but one of her previous six Grand Slam tournaments. The scoreline read 6-4,6-3 but the gulf between the two contestants was far wider as Mauresmo showed little evidence of her undoubted quality. So just why was such an accomplished performer so inferior against an opponent who had never previously played under such scrutiny as placed upon her in Rod Laver Arena and is ranked 67 places lower? The answer must rest with Mauresmo's brittle temperament."...Andy Murray on first seeing Rafael Nadal in the juniors: "He had kind of like a bowl cut. He was bouncing around, like he used to pick his shorts, like he still does. He was saying 'vamos' after every point. It's nice to see he hasn't really changed that much."...Nikolay Davydenko says he won't be going to Chile in the next round to represent Russia in Davis Cup play, and wouldn't tell reporters why at the Australian Open. Davydenko, the media opposite of fellow Russian Maria Sharapova, is also the only Top 10 player without a clothing sponsor, wearing a plain red shirt in his most recent match in Melbourne...From News.com.au: "Andy Roddick dismisses talk of a blossoming relationship with Russian starlet Maria Sharapova with the same ferocity he blasts a forehand from mid-court: 15-love. But Sharapova, the glamour girl of the women's circuit, likes to tease. At the US Open last year, as she practised alongside Roddick, she wore a none-too-subtle shirt which said "love is in the air": 15-all. It's the tennis love affair that everyone wants to talk about off the record - even people close to Roddick -- but no one will officially confirm. US magazines reported in July that the two stars had been in a relationship for more than 12 months, pre-dating their 2006 Australian Open visit when a Melbourne newspaper chronicled Sharapova's three trips to the Crown Casino to watch Roddick play poker. Since then there have been denials -- "we are just friends" -- but also a sense the two stars have been playing their own private game with the media. Sharapova, 19, and Roddick, 24, denied at the US Open late last year that doubles had become a more attractive game than singles. Yet they were reported spending time together in Los Angeles last July at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion on the eve of the ESPY sports awards function. There were other nights at bars in Hollywood and Manhattan Beach."