http://tinyurl.com/yjm928p Women's draw analysis: All eyes on Henin Friday 15 January 2010 By Tom Tebbutt There was a wild rush of eyes for Justine Henin’s name after tournament referee Wayne McKewen said, “IBM, the official technology partner, will now randomly place the unseeded players in the women’s draw,” during the Australian Open draw ceremony at Melbourne Park on Friday. Henin, playing just her second tournament after a 20-month absence from tennis, was arguably the greatest non-seeded floater in a Grand Slam tournament draw in decades. When the names almost instantly filled out the 96 unseeded positions, it took a bit of searching before host Bruce McAvaney spied Henin’s name on line 68. There had been a lot of speculation about whether Henin, needing a wildcard to get into the event, might come out against a big name. Her first-round opponent turned out to be fellow-Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, the world No. 80. That match looks eminently winnable for Henin, but a potential second-round meeting with No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva would be much more problematic. Australian Open officials have to be thrilled with how matters eventually played out because, after the top eight seeds were in place, Serena Williams and her sister Venus were in the same half of the draw. With the tokens for No. 14 seed Maria Sharapova and No. 15 seed Kim Clijsters yet to be picked out of the Daphne Akhurst women’s singles trophy by Ana Ivanovic, the player representative at the draw, there was the chance they could come out on the same side as the Williams sisters. That would have resulted in a top half loaded with pre-tournament favourites. Instead, Clijsters went in the same third quarter with Henin and Dementieva, setting up a possible Henin-Clijsters quarter-final re-match of their scintillating Brisbane International final last week. Along with Clijsters and Henin (both retired), Sharapova (shoulder) did not play the Australian Open a year ago. The last time she did, in 2008, she defeated Ivanovic in the final. This year she is in the bottom quarter of the draw with second seed Dinara Safina and eighth seed Jelena Jankovic, both of whom struggled late last year and did not play well in Sydney this week. Sharapova has recent exhibition wins over Venus Williams (Thailand) and Zheng Jie and Caroline Wozniacki (Hong Kong), so she is likely the pick to reach the semi-finals in the bottom half against whoever survives between Dementieva, Clijsters and Henin. Notable first rounds include a meeting of Russian glamour girls Sharapova and Maria Kirilenko, and the seventh match-up in the tongue-twisting rivalry of the Wozniacki and Wozniak, with Dane Caroline holding a 6-1 edge over Canadian Aleksandra. Australia’s host-country contingent has been largely favourably treated by the draw, except for Jelena Dokic, who had a Cinderella run to last year’s quarter-finals. She faces the brutally powerful game of Alisa Kleybanova, whom she overcame 7-5 5-7 8-6 in a round-of-16 thriller at Rod Laver Arena last year. One round earlier, Kleybanova had upset the then fifth-seed Ivanovic. If there is still another shoe to drop, it would be where No. 16-ranked Yanina Wickmayer, playing her second round of qualifying on Friday, falls in the main draw if she makes it. Suspended at the time of direct main-draw entry on December 7, Wickmayer could potentially face Ivanovic, or even more dramatically, her fellow Belgian Clijsters. Both of them play qualifiers in the opening round. 簡單來說就是依籤表預測的分析文 大家都等著看非種子的henin會擺在哪個位置 目前最大的可能就是在第二輪 會與近況似乎很好第五種子的神仙姐姐進行大對決 --- 澳網的炎熱天氣 往往會讓各大選手在第一週略顯掙扎 這個籤表暫時看來不是太輕鬆 但至少不是在前幾輪就抽到第一種子 澳網要開始了 往冠軍前進吧！ http://tinyurl.com/ykozsbg 現在放在澳網官網首頁 -- Every game, every match. I know that I've been consistent despite injuries and some tough times, so I've got nothing to prove, except to myself.” < Justine Henin > --

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