Lindsay D Keeps Rolling

Semifinals day is all wrapped up and Lindsay Davenport is one match closer, and one match away, from winning her 54th career title. She defeated Tamira Paszek 64 63 in a good match. Paszek didn’t play badly but Lindsay was not going to be denied today, and doesn’t look like she will be tomorrow either. It was a good workout for the former world number one, and no matter what happens tomorrow she’ll be happy with the preparation she’s got in for Melbourne. But I’m sure she wants that shiny Auckland trophy as well.

Marina Erakovic’s run came to an end against Aravane Rezai today, 63 75. It’s disappointing as I feel Erakovic could have won that match. It’s not as if she got blown off the court or completely outclassed. Marina built some momentum in the second set, but props to Rezai for shutting her down. The Frenchwoman plays with a lot of energy and charisma on court, and the crowd was particularly impressed when she made of a point of her ‘all black’ outfit in her post match interview. Cos it’s like the rugby team. Who also lost to France, but the less said about that the better.

It’s hard to bet against Davenport tomorrow, but if Rezai’s shots are working for her and she can hit a lot of those cannonball winners then she’ll have a good chance. Lindsay D has not been unbreakable this week, going down 2-0 at the beginning of both her matches against Sara Errani and Tamira Paszek. It didn’t take her long to break back, but starting strong and striking early is Aravane’s best bet.

They’ve been playing doubles this week as well. I can’t say I’m a fan of the no advantage scoring, but the 10 point super tiebreak is fun. The final tomorrow will be between two unseeded teams, Martina Muller and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs Lilia Osterloh and Mariya Koryttseva. I’m pulling for Team Muller.

Here’s Lindsay and Aravane making their Yellowballin’ photo op debuts. Whenever Davenport walks onto the court you can hear people in the crowd murmuring about how tall she is. 1.89 metres for you metric types. And did you know when Aravane Rezai is finished with tennis she wants to pursue a career in astrophysics?




I gotta post one more picture of the fallen Kiwi Marina Erakovic. Wait, two more, let’s go nuts. The more I see her outfit the more I like it. She wears little white shorts but they certainly aren’t hot pants. They even have pockets for tennis balls, like real shorts. And how many female tennis players are there who wear socks like that? Marina, you are a fashionista.