The Dane’s path to the quarters would likely have to go through Gisela Dulko (a tough opener), Tamira Paszek, Cibulkova, Bartoli, and Henin. Not likely to happen considering she enters Melbourne on the heels to two exhibition losses and a first-round WTA tournament exit, all the while trying to figure out how to play with her new Yonex.

Wozniacki is a paper No. 1, and cannot beat the biggest guns in the game in the form of Clijsters (0-2 career head to head), Serena Williams (0-2), and Venus Williams (0-4). Everyone else is a level below at the Grand Slams, the level the Woz will soon join. I predict she will lose pre-quarterfinals this year in Melbourne. For Woz fans (me included), hopefully she can regain her game, since she is great for the game: easy on the eyes, well spoken and someone who makes do with what she has in the terms of her on-court approach.

The winners of the 2010 Tennis-X Awards are announced.

Oudin must have put in some horrifying practice sessions this week for U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez to make that decision.

Caroline Wozniacki finishes the year No. 1, Elena Dementieva drops the retirement bomb, and the WTA Tour puts another injury-riddled, star-lacking season to rest. Here’s hoping for the return of Justine Henin and Serena and Venus Williams in 2011 — and while we’re at it, the attempted comebacks of Martina Hingis and Ana Kournikova. If you thought it wasn’t bad, consider that Vera “The Crying Game” Zvonareva had a chance to finish the year No. 1 during the year-end championships…

Kuznetsova is the defending champ, and Wozniacki could take over the No. 1 spot on the WTA Rankings this week with a deep run. Wozniacki is 0-6 career against the Williams sisters. The only four Top 20 players missing are the Williams sisters, Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Wozniacki stands at No. 1 in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships Singles Standings, meaning if the season ended today, she would be crowned the year-end No. 1 player.

They joined Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin who made it into the quarters on Wednesday. Mattek-Sands is a grinder mostly known for her knee-high socks, and Oudin with her small-ball game has seemingly already had her 15 minutes of fame last year at the US Open.

As Serena and Clijsters have shown, champions are a breed above. Zvonareva had beaten Clijsters in their two previous meetings in 2010 but that didn’t matter in a pressure-packed Grand Slam final. Venus and Sharapova were once there, but they won’t win another Slam.

“I am wanting to celebrate this win now and not talk about the past,” said Zvonareva, who last year exited the Open in a sobbing, racquet-smashing fit.