Australian Open Round 2: Petrova def. Dulko 6-1, 6-2.
With a barrage of powerful serves and groundstrokes, Nadia completely demolished Gisela Dulko on the court today. Before the start of the match, I was a little worried that Nadia's movement would be affected by her nagging abdominal injury. However, Nadia used her powerful shots to take away time from Dulko.
In the first set of the match, Nadia raced to a 5-0 lead after struggling to hold serve in the third game. It looked like Nadia was about to serve her opponent the bagel, but she just missed out. Nadia took full advantage of Dulko's weak serves, many of which clocked in at just above 80 mph. There must have been at least two or three games in which Petrova broke to love.
Round Three: Nadia Petrova vs Serena Williams
The third round match will be a tough one. Nadia will be taking on two time Australian Open champion, Serena Williams. Williams comes to the Australian Open in much better shape than a year ago when she lost in the third round to Daniela Hantuchova. In the first round, Williams defeated the 27th seeded Mara Santangelo of Italy in style; only losing three games. Her match last night was much tougher than expected, but Williams prevailed 7-6, 6-2 over qualifier Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.
Despite having played a very limited schedule last year, it would be foolish of Petrova to underestimate Serena Williams. There are five very important keys to this match. The player who excels with the serve, the return of serve, break point conversions, and the movement will have the advantage.
* SERVENadia has one of the biggest serves in the game. It will be crucial for Petrova to have a high percentage of first serves because Williams will pounce on any weak second serves. Nadia is also going to have to depend on her serve to win her a lot of cheap points (aces). Serena's serve will also be a big factor in this match. In her two previous matches, Williams' powerful firs serve has been a major weapon. Nadia is going to have to get a good read on the serve immediately.
* RETURN OF SERVEToo many times I have seen Nadia have difficulty putting the ball into play during crucial points. If she gets nervous, she is going to have to play it safe by giving her self a good margin for error. Instead of netting or hitting the return of serve wide, Nadia should go down the middle. It will be very important for Nadia to make Serena play on every shot.
* MOVEMENTAlthough both players look/are unfit at the moment, Nadia has the edge in this department. Williams movement is still relatively shaky and Nadia has got to take full advantage of it by moving her from side to side as much as possible.
* BREAK POINT CONVERSIONSThis is probably the single most important aspect of the match. Nadia has got to convert when she has the chance to go up a break. Both players have only been broken once so far.
*BODY LANGUAGENadia tends to be very hard on herself when she commits errors. It's ok to be hard on yourself, just as long as it stays off the court. Nadia must not let Serena sense any nerves, tension, or negativity. If Nadia makes an error, she should not slap her thigh, or throw her racket. If Serena smells blood, Nadia is doomed.
Ultimately, the winner of this match will be the player that plays with aggression.
It has come to my attention that Nadia made some comments during her press conference about her upcoming match with Serena Williams. The article below is written by Matthwe Cronin of TennisReporters.net.
Petrova showing no fear with Serena looming
On Friday, the two will a face off in a highly anticipated third-round match. The fourth-seeded Petrova is looking to break though and win her first Grand Slam title, while Williams is trying to show the world that she still has elite stuff.
The winner will receive a huge boost of confidence, while the loser will get on a plane and wonder where her career is headed.
Petrova is a no-nonsense sort; good-natured and rarely cagey. She says what she thinks, consequences be dammed.
She doesn't believe Williams is that serious about her tennis anymore and she's planning on taking advantage of it.
"They haven't been doing so great," said Petrova, adding older sister Venus to the mix. "They've had lots of injuries and they are not in the best shape of their life. It looks like everything is leading to the end of their career because they are quite busy; they have talks shows, books, and clothing lines. It looks like they are focused on other things and they have already done their job on court. It looks like they are finishing playing tennis. The motivation probably isn't there."
Petrova has had problems too, but not with motivation. She's been through numerous coaches over the past year and has moved residences more than a couple times. She just ended her experiment living back in Moscow, proving you cannot go home again, especially when the traffic is stifling and you are not comfortable with new slang in your native language.
She's now living in Cyprus, where one of her coaches, Tatiana Matokhniuk, has a club. But she'll be moving to Monaco, shortly. That gorgeous locale has a nice situation set up for foreign athletes — a zero percent tax bracket.
Petrova is still a little unsettled. She wants a more relaxed life, but is also intensely driving herself toward the top.
She's the fifth seed here in Melbourne, but few are picking her to win the title. When asked whether she really belonged in the same sentence with favorites Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, and Kim Clijsters, she bristled.
"I don't feel like I'm just visiting the top five. I'm comfortable where I am," she said. "I'll stay there as long as I like to."
Petrova realizes she hasn't won a Grand Slam yet (or even reached a final). She feels that everything is coming together for her and she could be correct. Just over a year ago she was called a complete underachiever for failing to win a title of any kind. Then she won her first crown in October of 2005 and last year, she took down one top 10 scalp after another.
An injury curtailed her plans at the French Open and Wimbledon and for most of the summer, but she finished the year strong. The 5-foot-11 inch Russian finished the year with five titles and a top five ranking.
She's now called by some the best player not to have won a Grand Slam, which she takes as a compliment.
"I appreciate that people say (that) and hopefully one day it will happen," she said. "I'll try to make my best out of it. I'd like to push the limits further and see if I can stay focused and play well during a two-week period. I'm more relaxed and in control of situations. I'm not going bananas."
Outside of a few glitches in her strokes, Petrova has the weapons to do major damage. Not only is she a tremendous athlete, but she is lethal on the ground, can serve a ton and is a more than fair volleyer.
But that won't mean much if she can't get on top of Serena early For all the warts in her game right now, Williams almost never chokes and cherishes close battles. Plus, she's 5-1 against Petrova and beat her when they played here in 2005. Serena won the title that year, her last tournament win.
Serena knows this is a crucial contest and she's planning to shake the rust off overnight
"It's definitely a step up," Serena said. "I feel excited and ready. She has a really solid game, and she's been doing nothing but moving forward and improving her ranking and her style and her play. She's no slouch. She's always posed a good challenge for me. I know her game. It's always good to play someone that you know their game and you know what to expect, so that's good going into this match. At this point I have no other choice and no other option (but to shake the rust off)."
On current form, Petrova should be able to string Serena out from the baseline and coax her into numerous errors. However, if Serena has a massive serving day, which she is certainly capable of, and forces the match into tiebreakers or a third set, then Petrova's mental make-up will be severely tested.
But there's one thing the Russian guarantees — she has no fear of the occasion.
"She always fights and is very strong," Petrova said. "She still know how to win and has been through a lot of difficult situations. But the (Williamses) beat a lot of players because even before going on court, other players might feel they are weaker and they lose before they start because of their names. But their reputation isn't the same. Some young players still fear them, but the good players don't."
I hope Petrova can back up her comments with a win over Serena. If Nadia loses this match, she will look foolish for making these remarks. Petrova has just added more fuel to fire. The match is two days away and you can already feel the intensity. The stakes will most certainly be high on Friday.
Best of luck to Nadia!!
Melbourne Australia, January 19, 2007.
January 15th 2007: Great news for Nadia Petrova as she won her 1st round at the Australian Open. She posted a 2 set win against Tamarine Tanasugarn, a 6-3, 6-2 win that now puts her up against Gisela Dulko.
