THE CHINESE ARE COMING, THE CHINESE ARE COMING WITH TWO SEMFINALISTS

SONY DSC
A beautiful gum tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens
How many millions of Chinese were tuned in to their fellow citizens, Na Li and  Jie Zheng, Tuesday?  Good question.  Safe to say more than any tennis audience ever, American or otherwise.

This was an historic afternoon for Chinese tennis, long a nothing subject.  Na and Jie were the first two Chinese women to crash the singles semifinals of a major, the Australian Open, and they were on live TV in their home towns, Wuhan and Cheng Du respectively, as well as the rest of their vast country. continue reading »

January 28 2010 | Australian Open | No Comments »

NO DOUBLE DIPPER DAY FOR THE SISTERS, BUT SERENA REBOUNDS

dsc04345
Court Seven at the Oz Open ... the city nearby
Reporters were scuffling about to discover when, if ever, the Sisters were both beaten on the same day.  Venus  was out of the Aussie Open, having blown leads while losing to the Chinese Li Na after a strong start, 2-6, 7-6  (7-4), 7-5.  Hard to believe.

Serena, the reigning champ, sporting more bandages than a first aid station, was falling apart against Viktoria Azarenka, down a set and 0-4.  The presumed Sisterly semis was not to be.  So when was the last time they took a double hit in a major?  Go back six years to the French quarter-finals when Venus was downed by the champ-to-be, Anastasia Myskina, and Serena fell to Jennifer Capriati. continue reading »

January 27 2010 | Australian Open | No Comments »

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes