Friday, December 18, 2009

More of the December Daze

So I was wrong about Monika Wejnert pulling an upset - Olivia Rogowska defeated her in two close, but straight, sets. That said, Wejnert is going to be one to look out for, and I really hope that she gets wildcarded into a few events here and there throughout the Australian summer. By winning the 18s title she got a wildcard in here, so she's been prepared to play a lot of tennis lately. I'll be looking out for her.

I was right, however, about Jess Moore being able to pull an upset - even though she was the third seed and Alicia Molik was fourth, I don't think anyone seriously expected Molik to lose. I think Molik is a pretty safe bet to get carded into the Aussie Open anyway, so I doubt she's too worried, but this is a really good win for Jess Moore. I saw her play briefly at the Australian Open in 2008, where she made it to the second round by defeating Julie Ditty (I think), and she's seriously crafty. I'll be interested to see how she goes from here. She'll be playing Rogowska in her semi and that'll be a good match to watch.

You'd have to think that whoever wins will face Dellacqua - I can't see Sally Peers coming through her (though she had a very tidy win against Marija Mirkovic, while Dellacqua had a scare against Shannon Golds). It'll be interesting.

Over to the boys, and Tomic is through to the semis after a tidy win over Greg Jones, the third seed. I guess Jones couldn't keep up the winning streak he had going, which for him is a shame, but for my predictions, not so much. Tomic will face Kaden Hensel in his semi after Hensel beat Matt Reid. You'd be pretty foolish to pick against Tomic there, I think.

My dark horse, James Duckworth, went out against Nick Lindahl, but considering the scoreline was 6-0 2-0 retired, I think it's pretty safe to say that that wasn't exactly indicative of the overall level of his game. He's going to be pretty good in time - I'll be watching out for him. Lindahl will face John Millman in the semis, after Millman put out Tomic-beater Matt Ebden. I've never seen Millman play so I can't really make any comment, but I've never been especially impressed by Lindahl - why is the second seed here? Is he really ranked that high?

No comments: