BACK-TO-BACK
•Kim Clijsters made he comeback at the ’09 U.S. Open. Justine Henin returned at the next Slam, the AO. (And, by the way, fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkins lost to Clijsters in the third round at the USO and to Henin in the first round in Melbourne.)
•Maria Sharapova suffered a humbling defeat to Melanie Oudin at the U.S. Open, and then went down to countrywoman Maria Kirilenko in the first round at the Aussie Open.
•Radek Stepanek won a thrilling Davis Cup five-setter over Croatian Ivo Karlovic, only to lose to the Croat in five sets at the AO.
•The only Grand Slam Serena Williams has won back-to-back was Wimbledon in ’02 and ’03.
•Roger Federer, who lost the final set he played at last year’s Australian Open to Rafael Nadal, made it back-to-back losing sets at the AO by dropping his opening set to Igor Andreev in the first round.
GO FIGURE: The temperature on opening day was almost twice what it was at the ’09 AO…James Blake, who was briefly America’s top-ranked player. Is now the fourth best behind Andy Roddick, John Isner and Sam Querrey…Serena has now won 41 consecutive first-round matches (what a testimony to dominance and consistency)…Brad Gilbert said that Roger Federer can hit the backhand passing shot…Vania King dropped a match point to Slovakian Dominika Cibulková, then rallied from a 5-1 third-set deficit to pull out a win…Pam Shriver said that when we look back 50 years from now, the most surprising player to have reached No. 1 will be the overachieving Jelena Jankovic.
JUST WONDERING: Will Serena encounter the linesperson she accosted at the U.S. Open (who is also in Melbourne)?…Is it true that low-profile Russian Nikolay Davydenko is now the gatekeeper of tennis?
QUOTEBOOK
“Remember that?” — Mary Carillo on Henin’s unforgettable one-handed backhand
“If you get into a slugging match with Serena Williams, good luck.” — Martina Navratilova
“It almost isn’t Fair. It’s not a fair fight. It’s like two divisions.” — Navratilova as Serena was taking down Urszula Radwanska in the first round
NO KIDDING: Navratilova touched on one of tennis’ dirty little secrets — the curious weight listings of players in the WTA media guide. She noted that there was no way that the hefty Serena (with her mighty muscles) could actually tip the scales at 150 pounds, as is listed.
GRANDMOTHERS ROCK: Not since Aussie Casey Dellacqua‘s grandmother captured our heart by rooting so passionately for her granddaughter in ’08 has there been such a great day for grandmas at the Aussie Open…First of all, Serena told ESPN that with all the young rising talent on the WTA Tour she feels like a grandma out there. Then, commentator Pam Shriver dissed a Monica Niculescu forehand, saying, “That’s one of the great forehand shots I’ve seen in the last 20 years — reminding me of my late grandmother.”
NOT A GREAT IDEA: The dizzying effort to televise the back-and-forth of a match on the outer courts with just one camera.
BEEJ’S GREATEST MOMENT: Not since his finest days coaching A-Rod has Brad Gilbert had such a sweet moment. Commenting on Andreev’s collapse against Federer, Gilbert noted that when the Russian was up 6-5 and serving for the third set, he missed five forehands — three of them on set point — and contended that the lapse was “inexcusable.” “This is a guy,” he added, “who makes his living on the fear factor and it goes away. I guess that’s why he’s won one match since August.” Gilbert then added, “Stamp it in. [The next set will be] 6-1 or 6-2 Federer]. Piece of cake. Igor’s checked out. He’s thinking of [his girlfriend Maria] Kirilenko right now.”
WHAT TACTICAL ADJUSTMENT FEDERER AND NADAL MAY HAVE IN COMMON: Look for both Rafa and Roger to try to shorten the length of points: Roger, because he’s getting older, and Rafa, because he’s had knee problems.
ON THE WATERFRONT: Leif Shiras said, “Igor Andreev plays tennis like a longshoreman. It’s all about brawn and he plays with a lot of muscle.”
