Dear Clay,

Sometimes we have to be firm with the things we love. You need to stop being mean to the ankles of tennis players.  They have a very limited time to slide around and have fun without their ankles bending in ways they should not bend. (the names link to videos of the injuries) First with Pico & Julien in Monte Carlo and now to poor just returned Petko. I don't want to see anymore sad faces. I hope they all get better soon and kick your butt. Slide responsible everybody.

A fan


Here is what Vika has to say about todays match:


Good News is that Pico posted a video of him hitting yesterday:

Passing Shots

• Andrea Petkovic withdrew from the Australian Open with a stress fracture in her lower back. She posted on her facebook

 "Dear Petkorazzis. I am very sorry to tell you that I had to withdraw from the Australian Open with a lower back stress fracture. I'll recover now to have what you can literally call a comeback!" 

•  Wozniacki loses in Sydney. 
• USA Gymnastics will name Olympic team at Olympic Trials. This is a change of practice from team choseing procedure over the last decade. 
• Canada has qualified a full Women's Gymnastics Team at the test event.
• Spanish seeds advance in Auckland. 
• Laura Robson will face Mel Oudin in the first round of Australian Open qualifications. Here is the full draw.  
• The US Womens National Soccer team is completely at training camp after Solo, Wambach and Coach Sundhage arrived after attending the FIFA Awards. 

On Site: Sydney

Chel you can follow her on twitter and tumblr went to Sydney qualifying on Sunday here is a recap of her day:

I was surprised by the number of people in attendance at the tennis centre for qualies, nice to know I wasn't the only one who'd rather spend a hot summer's day at the tennis than at the beach.

Before I head towards the match courts, a quick peek at  the practice courts first.

Of course, quick is a relative term. I ended up spending 2 hours there, most of it at the court where Andrea Petkovic was practicing with Feliciano Lopez.  It was... Eye candy for all. I'm not ashamed to admit I was the only person there taking pics on my phone and immediately uploading to twitter. isn't that every fan's duty? I wouldn't want my card revoked hehe.

More pictures here

It got incredibly hot towards noon so I sought some shade... And found Ana Ivanovic practicing with Jelena Dokic. Ana was not happy with her toss, Jelena was all focus. Sat on the shade next to Ana's mum, she was all smiles when people came and went, taking pics of Ana.

After some lunch by the far match courts, I went to Mahut's match. It was horrid. Nicolas lost in straight sets. Next up, Kiri! I had my fingers crossed for her, she barely scraped by with the win in her first qualifying match. A couple of bad line calls had Kiri protesting "are you joking??!" and smacking a ball out of the court in disgust. No warning though. I guess the ump didn't want any more drama. After the meltdown, it was all downhill, towardsa a bagel in the second. Ouch. Bye kiri. I'll see you in Melbourne!

Sam Stosur was practicing on centre court with Peng Shuai when I went there to seek some shade. Cameras everywhere Sam goes. Comes with being Australia's darling. We wuv you, Sammy!

Went for another peek at the practice courts cos I haven't seen (or heard! LOL) Vika all day. No blonde Belarussian princess in sight. Sadz. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was on to my sta-- um, observation at a polite distance plans, practicing really early in the morning. I was right, I heard people discussing she practiced early. Boo.

Highlight Reel

Andy Murray came back from a set down to defeat Mikhail Kukushkin 5-7 6-3 6-2 in the first round of  Brisbane.

Andrea Petkovic defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-6 6-0 in the second round of Brisbane.

Kim Clijsters defeated Ana Ivanovic in 3-sets 6-1 1-6 6-3 in the second round of Brisbane. 

Nadal got his season off to a winning start in Doha with a 6-3 6-7 6-2.

Highlight Reel: Brisbane

Serena wins her first match since the US Open Final 6-2 6-3. 

Ana Ivanovic starts her season with a 6-3 6-3 victory. Has a second round meeting with Kin Clijsters.

Stosur debuts her new kit in a 6-2 6-3 victory

Petkovic debuts a new move after her 7-6 (3) 1-6 6-3 victory. 

Tweets of the Year

Laura while watching the Australian Open Quarterfinals between Rafa and David Ferrer.

Serena announces she got her boot off in mid-Febuary.

If you haven't seen this video from after the Armada advanced to the Davis Cup Semis. You should.

I hope this is still on. 

Rain Delay fun: WTA/ATPers plan a Karaoke event.

WTA Wish List: Part 1

The Germans: As a group I hope they win the Fed Cup.

Sabine Lisicki: Her year end ranking was 15 after a semifinal run at Wimbledon and titles in Birmingham and Dallas. She has minimal points to defend until the American hard court season this spring losing in the round of 16 of Auckland and falling in qualifying for the Australian Open last year. Would like to see her reach the top ten and the second week at the Slams. Most important is for her to stay healthy after battling injuries.

Andrea Petkovic: After a 2011 that landed her in the top ten she should hope to start the year strong to back up her Australian accomplishments of a year ago which included making the final in Brisbane losing to Kvitova. Then following it up with a quarter final appearance at the Australian Open upsetting Sharapova in the fourth round before losing to eventual finalist Li Na. I expect her to live up to her seeding in bigger events and possibly win two or more smaller events. 

Julia Goerges: To call Julia's 2011 to be a roller coaster would be putting it lightly. After a relatively slow start of the year she really hit the peak of her season on the Clay defeating Wozniack in the finals of Stuttgart for her only title and reaching the semi-finals in Madrid. But she then failed to make a semi final until her last event in Luxembourg. Ranked at 21 to end the year, breaking into the top 20 and becoming more constant. 


And a Brit:

Laura Robson: Last year started with a lot of promise as she was to play Hopman Cup with Andy Murray then attempt to qualify for the Australian Open. But after suffering a leg/hip injury that sidelined her for two months during Hopman Cup the start of her season was put on hold. Upon her return to the ITF circuit but once again suffered a injury that needed a three week recovery time. So her season really began on the grass of 's-Hertogenbosch and Wimbledon. She next took on the American hard courts where she qualified for the US Open. My wishes for Laura is that she is doesn't suffer anymore injuries so that she can gain a constancy to break the top-100 by mid year. 

Passing Shots

Pasty Petko Preps for Brisbane.

• Top 20 Gifs of 2011- 20,19,3,2,1 are my favorites
• Rafa says he is going to take February to rest. The BBC and other media freak out. Even though he first said this at the World Tour Finals. 
• OMG more freaking about about Febuary. Rafa is not going to play Dubai. But I didn't think he was ever going to play it so, moving on. 
• Brisbane Qualifying Draw including- Ash Barty (2011 Jr.Wimbledon Champ playing her first pro match) , Vania King, Sloane Stevens
• Murray is in Brisbane with his groin intact. 

Passing Shots

These are the articles I read out of my reader that I would like to share.

• Petko thinks that Serena is the one to beat in Brisbane.
• Alex Corretja adds pretty to the Davis Cup bench as the new Captain. He also thinks he can convince Rafa & Ferru help out even though they said otherwise.
• Heather Watson sprains ankle will miss Auckland.
• Rafa leaving for Abu Dhabi.
• Hopman Cup schedule (Please don't get hurt Petra)
• Abu Dhabi Schedule (Please don't get hurt Rafa)