Hats Off To Jeremy!

We have one Star who is really shining bright this week, and it's not one I would have picked. Hats off to Jeremy Chardy! He was admitted to the fold pretty much on the strength of his performance in the French Open, but he clearly still has something, because he has beaten some quality players this week. First it was Radek Stepanek, and now it's Igor Andreev. He's in the quarters now - can Jeremy take it further?

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One of Australia's last hopes, Chris Guccione, is out, but it was a bit much to ask him to repeat his performance of last year. Lleyton Hewitt, on the other hand, is playing quite nicely - I very much enjoyed his match against Janko Tipsarevic. Even though he's objectionable when he speaks, I really do like watching him play - maybe it's because his counter-punching style seems to draw points out, and long points are good viewing. Anyway, I like watching him, and I'm sure his quarter final match against David Nalbandian will be entertaining, if nothing else.

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I very much liked the look of Caroline Wozniacki yesterday, even though she did go down to HMAS Serena. She played beautifully - especially in the first set. She's one to keep an eye on for sure - her and Dominika Cibulkova! The Dinara Safina freight train rolled on as well, steamrolling Alize Cornet for the second time in two weeks. It'd be interesting to see who came up trumps in a match between her and Serena - no quarter would be asked, and no quarter given.

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Meanwhile, another one of my favourite tournaments has begun - the AAMI Classic in Kooyong. Marcos Baghdatis was not looking good at all in his match against Stan Wawrinka, who was - how sweet is his backhand? Nando Verdasco also looked good beating my Star Marin Cilic, but the real class act was, of course, Roger Federer. He was just cruising around, looking supreme, making shots, pulling shapes, being the ultimate front man, anything you can ask. He looked so casual and yet his tennis was so beautiful... I think (and hope!) that he's been playing the B or C game all these weeks and will bring the real stuff at the Open. Especially as I might get to see him play live!

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Today's Results

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AAMI Classic (Kooyong)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2 6-2
Roger Federer def. Carlos Moya, 6-2 6-3
Fernando Verdasco def. Marin Cilic, 6-2 7-5
Fernando Gonzalez def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 6-3

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Medibank International (Sydney)

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Men's Draw

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Novak Djokovic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-1 6-2

Richard Gasquet def. Gilles Simon, 6-4 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Simone Bolelli, 6-4 6-1

David Nalbandian def. Michael Llodra, 6-1 6-3

Jeremy Chardy def. Igor Andreev, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Mario Ancic def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5 6-4

Jarkko Nieminen def. Chris Guccione, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Serena Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Dinara Safina def. Alizé Cornet, 6-3 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2 5-7 6-4

Ai Sugiyama def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, walkover

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Moorilla Hobart International (Hobart)

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Iveta Benesova def. Gisela Dulko, 6-4 6-4

Petra Kvitova def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 7-5 6-3

Magdalena Rybarikova def. Melinda Czink, 6-0 1-6 7-6 (9-7)

Virginie Razzano def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-4 6-1