Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 14 - January 27, 2008
SERBIA STARTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AS EVERYBODY ASKS: WHY ISN’T ROGER HERE?

Where’s Roger? That would seem a logical question from anyone strolling into Laver Arena Sunday evening.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 13 - January 26, 2008
THE SIBERIAN SIREN TAKES THE AUSSIE TITLE WITH SHOTS AS LOUD AS HER VOCALS

There was that puny, ill-conceived drop shot I wrote about the other day, a mistake costing Tomas Berdych a set point against Roger Federer.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 12 - January 25, 2008
HAS THE SKY FALLEN ON ROGER FEDERER OR IS THAT DARK CLOUD JUST NOVAK DJOKOVIC?

Is this the day the world ended for Roger Federer? Not really for a 26-year-old who has been the greatest of his era.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 11 - January 24, 2008
TSONGA DOES THE CONGA, OUTDANCING NADAL; BEWARE OF THOSE TRICKY SQUEAKY SNEAKERS

The explosion from Africa via France knocked the tournament upside-down and sideways.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 10 - January 23, 2008
WHITHER GOES THE SISTERHOOD? VENUS FOLLOWS SERENA TO THE EXIT, ALSO BLAKE

Has the Sisterhood crashed? The question has been asked numerous times in this century - and then Serena and Venus counter-punch by winning major championships.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 9 - January 22, 2008
AN INCREDIBLE AFTERNOON OF A DOUBLE DIP - SERENA AND JUSTINE ELIMINATED

How often is this going to happen? The reigning champion and the world No. 1 both get blown out of town within hours.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 8 - January 21, 2008
DO DROP IN WITH A DROP SHOT - BUT NOT AGAINST THAT SWISS FELLOW FEDERER

Every hacker has done this. The guys I play with do it all the time, trying to pull a sneaky drop out of the hat to get a cheap point.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 7 - January 20, 2008
SHE WASN’T CASEY AT THE BAT BUT AUSSIES LOVED HER JUST THE SAME

It was fun while it lasted for Casey Dellacqua, her mother and her grandmother - a trio that delighted televiewers across the country.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 6 - January 19, 2008
MELBOURNE’S LONGEST DAY OF TENNIS GREAT FOR INSOMNIACS - OR A MENACE

In the words of Roger Federer, the Australian Open is known as the "Happy Slam."

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 5 - January 18, 2008
LOTS OF ACES FOR RODDICK BUT NO CIGAR, CASEY DELLACQUA: LOCAL GIRL MAKES GOOD

People, people everywhere.

Even if the two principal stadia are filled, accounting for about 26,000 bodies, the crush remains in the garden and outside courts.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 4 - January 17, 2008
PRESTO - FEDERER TOYS WITH THE MAGICIAN, SAFIN SHOWS TOUCHES OF TITLE BRILLIANCE

How many games did the little Magician get? Three. That’s all.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 3 - January 16, 2008
BIG MAMA LINDSAY IS BACK IN THE BIG TIME BUT GETS NO BOUQUETS FROM MARIA

It wasn’t mother’s day. Lindsay Davenport, who resigned from the game "to be a housewife and raise a family," couldn’t resist the siren song of life in the worldly big time where she was twice No. 1 (2004-05).

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 2 - January 15, 2008
IT TAKES A MAGICIAN TO MAKE 6 FOOT-9 JOHN ISNER DISAPPEAR, BUT FABRICE SANTORO DID

Here, according to Luke Jensen, is what happened to ambushed American rookie John Isner (109), at the hands of Fabrice Santoro (36), dubbed "The Magician" by an admiring Pete Sampras, or as I refer to him, "Monsieur Legerdemain."

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Day 1 - January 14, 2008
SWEET ENDING FOR "JELLY" AFTER A LONG DAY, AND A SOUR ONE FOR ANDY MURRAY

Record crowd 55,855 opening day... people everywhere... looks like the retreat from Saigon. But they’re happy.

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Bud's 2008 Australian Open Diary - Intro - January 13, 2008
BLOGALLOPING THROUGH THE AUSSIE OPEN

Back in business, the usual suspects have migrated to Melbourne again like the Monarch butterflies returning to Mexico, and the swallows to Capistrano.

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