Australian Open Day 10 Notes: Beware Yuri the Throat-CutterPosted on January 23, 2008 The No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan were upset in the quarterfinals on Wednesday by Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. The Bryans had reached the last four finals at the Australian Open, winning the last two titles...
By reaching the semifinals Roger Federer will continue to reign as the No. 1 player in the world following the Australian Open... Roger Federer has now won 19 straight matches at Melbourne, and he's now reached 15 straight Grand Slam semifinals in a row... Novak Djokovic has already reached the semifinals at all four Slams, a feat Federer did not do at age 20... James Blake is 0-3 in Grand Slam quarterfinal matches... Venus Williams has never won the Australian Open, and she and sister Serena have lost in the same Slam in the same round for just the second time (2004 Roland Garros)... Roger Federer has won 21 of 22 career sets against James Blake, and the Swiss has won 41 straight matches over Americans since losing to Roddick at 2003 Canada... Rafael Nadal is a perfect 5-0 in Grand Slam semifinal matches. No Spaniard has won the Australian Open in the Open Era... Jean Borotra (1928) and Arnaud Clement (2001) are the only Frenchmen to reach the Australian Open finals... JW Tsonga will improve into the Top 30 with his results this week... Daniela Hantuchova has reached her first Slam semifinal in her 29th attempt... Three Serbs are in the semifinals of the men's/women's field for the second time following the French Open... From the Sydney Morning Herald: "WTA TOUR officials have dismissed as a joke Yuri Sharapov's throat-slitting gesture after his daughter Maria's stunning victory over world No.1 Justine Henin on Tuesday night. WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott spoke to the Russian's camp about the incident yesterday and concluded the motion was an "innocent joke". "I am satisfied it was an innocent joke between Maria and Yuri about the sweatshirt," Scott said. Sharapova had said her father looked like an "assassin" for wearing a camouflage, army-print hoodie and dark glasses courtside throughout the tournament. After Sharapova's win over Henin, her explanation for his throat-slitting motion was that he was doing up his hoodie."... Nicole Vaidisova's father/coach Ales Kodat on his charge putting on weight, speaking to Eurosport: "It is definitely the reason for how she moves nowadays. She has reserves in it, I agree."... |
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