Australian Open Day 5 Notes: Baghdatis Under Fire, Henin Streaking

Rafael Nadal will have to beat a third straight Frenchman to reach the Australian Open fourth round…
ADHEREL
Justine Henin has now won her last 31 matches. In case you are wondering, the longest win streak on the WTA is 74 by Martina Navratilova in 1984. Henin will now face qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei…

Mardy Fish is engaged to NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” Model #2 Stacy Gardner…

Chair umpire Mariana Alves admitted that she could not understand Snezana Jankovic’s Serbian tongue, but nevertheless issued a coaching warning to Jelena Jankovic during the second game of the third set…

Marcos Baghdatis’s cousin, Filos, has been linked to Tuesday’s ruckus during the Gonzalez-Economidis match. Because of his alleged involvement the tournament revoked his VIP credential, but allowed him to watch Marcos with a regular ticket, which is what he did Thursday night. Baghdatis of course is still embroiled in the Youtube.com controversy which shows him dancing and chanting with a flare above his head during a soccer BBQ last year…

At 33, Vince Spadea is the oldest player left in the draw…

ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe speaking with USA Today on the ATP’s investigation of Nikolay Davydenko and gambling/match-fixing in tennis: “I felt this summer [last year] that they were making sure they got all their ducks lined up. You want to make sure you have all your facts straight. But to now carry into this year? I’m a little wary of why it’s taking so long…At this point, you would think they could come to some conclusion, and there is no sense of when that is going to be.”…

From The Hindu: “The ATP event in Chennai has had its own way of making stars out of not so well-known players. In this regard, the names of Byron Black, Michal Tabara and Mikael Tillstrom among others quickly spring to mind.” — Yes, Chennai is certainly a start-making machine, keep up the good work. And pass some of whatever your Indian writers are smoking…

From AFP: “Marcos Baghdatis defended his actions Friday after being captured on video chanting anti-Turkish slogans with the Greek supporters’ group involved in a clash with police at the Australian Open. Videos circulating on the Internet, and broadcast here, show the Greek Cypriot, an Australian Open finalist in 2006, holding a flare and chanting “Turks Out of Cyprus” at a barbeque hosted by the Hellas Fan Club. Members of the group were involved in a row at Melbourne Park Tuesday that led to police using pepper spray to subdue rowdy fans, with 10 people ejected and three arrested. Baghdatis was shown with the alleged ringleader of Tuesday’s trouble, who has been banned from the rest of the tournament and is expected to be charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest.”…

From Jurek Martin of the Financial Times: “I gave a speech in Tulsa this week, could not sleep afterwards, which probably happened to the audience because they had snoozed well when I was talking, and spent the night channel flicking between the Australian Open tennis (good) and the analysis of the Michigan primary (depressing)…In the end, in the neck of the night in Tulsa, tennis offered more tempting analogies. Matches do not last that long and they produce winners and losers. If Mr Obama aspires to be Tiger Woods in transcending race, he is also the golfer’s great buddy, Roger Federer, who wins most of the time. Hillary might be Lindsay Davenport, the battling mother trying to prove she is still superior. But I don’t see Mike Huckabee with his bald spot as Rafael Nadal or Rudy, even in drag, as one of the legion of Russian women, though Mitt will claim to be all of the above. And the Republicans are still waiting for the first set tie break.”…

From Michael Henderson of The Telegraph on the swizz in Britain: “It was a bit of a swizz that Andy Murray departed the Australian Open after the first round, though not a complete surprise. He’s a talented sprite, no doubt, yet a confused young man. It can’t help that his mission (which he inherited from Tim Henman) is to ‘carry the flag’ for tennis in a land that produces so few players, and which tunes into the game two weeks each year. He won’t stew alone in his misery. His sadness will be shared by his team of coaches and advisers, who evidently come to all his games by minibus, and by his mother, Judy, who seems to occupy a role somewhere between Hattie Jacques and Carl von Clausewitz. Half the time she’s holding his hand and saying, ‘there, there’. The rest of the time, she’s planning to conquer the world. At this stage of Murray’s career, when he remains ‘promising’ no more, this burden of expectation is the last thing he needs, but the lad has brought much of it upon himself. The recruitment of the delightful American coach, Brad Gilbert, at a cool 750,000 [pound] a year, with the tab picked up by the Lawn Tennis Association, was not the wisest move, and their subsequent parting made the Scot look rather foolish.”