A Suar-ez born

Carla Suarez Navarro, is a name to be noted. The shot making ability of Justine Henin and the charisma and look of Sanchez Vicario of old, no wonder the Spanish Tennis Federation are excited by this prospect.

The 20 year old Spaniard caused the greatest upset of the tournament so far after defeating favourite Venus Williams in three thrilling sets 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

It first looked to be a routine victory for the American who took the first set in no time. However it was the second set where Suarez Navarro began finding her range in the match and soon became the aggressor forcing Venus into many unforced areas.

The Aussie crowd were simply in ore of her repertoire of shots, especially her singlehanded backhand which caused Venus many problems culminating in her losing the second set. Then in the decider Williams looked to have rapped up the tie after breaking early on. However Suarez Navarro never gave in, pulling her way back from a 5-2 deficit to take the match 7-5.

This was a remarkable performance by the world number 46, who has already had success in grand slams after unexpectedly reaching the quarter finals of Roland Garros in her first appearance. This landmark win over Venus could now give her the confidence to fulfil her potential and begin to make an impression on the world’s top 20.

'great hope'

Having watched her progress in Roland Garros last year I was in instantly impressed by her skill around the court and huge range of shots. Especially having witnessed the greatest singlehanded backhand in the women’s game leave when Justine Henin retired last March I was immediately struck by the young Spaniard, whom before the French Open I was completely unaware of.

Born in Gran Canaria, Spain in 1988 she developed her game on the small island before she was snapped up by Barcelona Tennis Academy when she was in her late teens. Since moving to the Spanish city she has received top class coaching and is now beginning to fulfil her promise shown when turning pro in 2003.

Her biggest frailty though is her serve; standing at only 5’ 4’’ she is unable to generate much pace however as Henin demonstrated in her career that height is irrelevant. Also like her fellow compatriot Rafael Nadal her game is best suited to the red clay however as demonstrated by her performance today she has the talent like Rafa to develop into an all court player, such is the high level of her ground strokes.

In my mind Suarez Navarro is exactly what the women’s game needs after the shock retirement of Henin. The women’s game has undoubtedly dropped in standard since the little Belgian left the game as they have been unable to find a dominant number one. Let’s just hope this Spanish rising star can carry on her form and perhaps make it to the heights that her talent deserves.

Suarez Navarro now takes on fellow compatriot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez on Saturday.

Carla Suarez Navarro image by azzurri_nr1

By Geoff Berkeley

Murray under the microscope in Melbourne

Andy Murray kicks off against the wily Andrei Pavel tomorrow in what could be a marvellous next couple of weeks for the Scot.

After an impressive start of the season, with wins in Abu Dhabi and Doha many have been speculating that this is Murray’s year and this is his Slam to lose, with some British bookies tipping him as favourite. Even the Australian media have jumped on the band wagon with lots of media coverage of the 21 year old Scot, demonstrating their belief that he could be the man to win in Melbourne.

With all this expectation going into the Aussie Open, Murray begins his long trail against a less dangerous opponent than what Tsonga turned out to be last year, facing 34 year old Andrei Pavel. A few years ago this match up could have been considered as a tricky tie, as he was once ranked as high as 13th in 2004. Although after an injury prone 2008 have seen the Romanian plummet down the rankings to 1141. The pair last met in 2005 at the US Open first round where a lot younger and not as well conditioned Murray defeated him in five battling sets, which even saw Britain number one physically sick from exhaustion. However this time round it should be more of a breeze for the now world number four, who’s off season training has given him the muscle and the stamina to add to his ability, giving him an excellent chance in collecting one of Tennis’s top prizes.

WATCH LIVE
Murray v Pavel tonight BBC 2 at 11.50pm GMT

‘British Women fall’

From four to one, today was not the greatest day for the British women contingence. The fact four British girls managed to qualify for a slam is quite remarkable considering recent history. However qualifying for a slam is one thing winning in a slam is another. British No.1 Anne Keothavong faced the toughest of the draws against world number 18 Anna Chakvetadze. Anne did fancy her chances going in to the match after good early season form lifting her to a career high 53 in the world. This good form though only appeared in spells, especially in the second set where she competed well to win 7-4 in the tie break. However two poor sets in the first and last saw her crash out losing both of them 6-1. This British disappointment was also compounded by loses of the other Brits in today’s draw. Katie O’Brian, who did very well to qualify, lost against Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-4, 6-4. While the other automatic qualifier Melanie South was displaced in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 by the former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli.

The last Brit left in the draw is Elena Baltacha, who has had previous success in this tournament after reaching the third round back in 2006, plays Anna-Lena Groenefeld tomorrow.

Today's Men's Results (Click Here)
Today's Women's Results (Click Here)

Andy Murray image by saturnshire

By Geoff Berkeley