The 2012 Australian Open Day 2 Review Thread: The New Rising Teen Class

 Annika Beck and Donna Vekic represent the next wave of WTA teens becoming WTA stars (Photos from WTA.com)

While Serena Williams' ankle scare, Roger Federer's return, and Caroline Wozniacki seeing Sabine Lisicki self disrupt were the major themes of Day 2's Australian Open, the underrated story of the present day is certainly the many tales of WTA stars in the future days.

All the complaints about teenagers no longer being superstar Grand Slams winners on the female circuit has long been a discussion that needs to perish. Many still bellyache about the end of the adolescent prodigies ascending to the top of the women's tennis world, with some irrationally indicating that the talent level and champion's desire is well below the 90's to early 2000's era.

Though a few out there have ignorantly centered the reason around this as the WTA's limited tournament rule under 18, the actual answer is the increased physically of the women's game over the past 3-5 years, where hard hitting aggressive styles of the Seles, Capriati, Serena, Venus, Sharapova era  no longer guaranteed instant, elite success.

16 to 18-yard old aggressive baseliners in these latter few years realized that your body needs full maturation and supreme fitness that just is unattainable for young girls still developing their bodies.

The phenom Grand Slam winning days are over, but today wasn't the day to complain about the past era of teens, but to witness the full arrival of the game's next batch of elite talents.

Though Sloane Stephens and Laura Robson have notably and understandably gotten the most attention (being the Top 2 teenagers in the world), it was other under 20 performers that certified how the tennis public should begin viewing this new wave with their first Grand Slam victory.

18-year-old Annika Beck put to rest any thoughts of a Serena-Yaroslava Shvedova 3rd Round encounter with a mentally strong 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory to open her Grand Slam winning account.  The young German could have easily gone away after blowing her break advantage in the 2nd set to the talented Shvedova, but displayed the type of groundstroke ability that's produced her steady rise.

Joining Beck in winning at a major for the first time was fellow 18-year-old Yulia Putintseva,  Croatian 16-year-old Croatian sensation Donna Vekic, 18-year old Russian baseliner Daria Gavrilova, and 19-year old Spanish hard hitter Garbine Muguruza.

Like Beck, the feisty Putintseva had to overcome losing the 2nd set after being up a break to defeat slumping Christian McHale 6-1, 6-7 (0), 6-2. Unlike Beck, it was a dream debut with no adversity for Vekic, as she thrashed a quality opponent in Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 6-2.

In the longest match of the women's side on Day 2, Muguruza outlasted Slovakian big server Maggie Rybarikova 6-4, 1-6, 14-12, while Gavrilova emulated Putintseva by battling past another tough young American in Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4.

And in a battle of 19-year-old power hitters with their own hype, France's Kristina Mladenovic was the last one standing to take out Hungarian slumping ace Timea Babos 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.

None of these teen emerging forces had as crowded of press rooms as Stephens and Robson, who impressively handled a couple of once promising teens turned into young struggling veterans in their first rounds.

Stephens hammered Simona Halep for a 2nd straight week in a bigger blowout than last week in Hobart, 6-1, 6-1, while Robson had nothing to worry about in 6-2, 6-3 win over Melanie Oudin.

Still, Beck, Vekic, and Muguruza shined the brightest with their performances and will soon join Stephens and Robson among many others in this promising group of ambitious upstarts. 

Day 2 really displayed the full coming out party for the next generation, to go along with Madison Keys in the bottom half of the draw.

ATP/WTA Players of Day 2: 

ATP- Jarkko Nieminen:

Although Gael Monfils made a strong case for consideration with his strong 4-set win over Alex Dolgopolov, the 35-year-old flying Finn showed his continued diligence in winning a massive five set duel over Tommy Haas 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6.

WTA- Vekic

Signaling your first Grand Slam match by just conceding 3 games against a world class doubles player and solid singles performer in Andrea Hlavackova displays how you certainly are the real deal. Caroline Wozniacki witnessed first hand with her father Piotr how she will not have a walking "BYE" in Round 2. 

The 2013 Australian Open Thread For 1/14/13: Day 2 Preview (First Version)

WTA Match Of The Day: Wozniacki/Lisicki 

The marquee matchup of a Grand Slam day usually isn't among the first matches to begin the day, but that certainly is the case with the brutal 1st Round encounter for Caroline Wozniacki against Sabine Lisicki.

Wozniacki is looking to avoid a third straight 1st Round exit in a Grand Slam, while Lisicki wants a fine tournament to relieve her own poor second half of 2012. 

It's imperative for Wozniacki's forehand to show some consistent growth if she is to avoid the exit to Lisicki, who has frankly intimidated and boss Wozniacki around in their last two meetings. However, much has changed between the two, but both have seemingly returned to the same level they were at in their last encounter: Wozniacki, the vulnerable tough seed without the aura and confidence of her #1 status, and Lisicki, the determined unseed threat determined for a notable win.

If Wozniacki's forehand is the same consistent non-threat that it is, then Lisicki won't have to worry at all about playing sound defense to combine with her quality offense. It's the German's result in my mind, in three sets.

More to come on Day 2 of the 2013 Australian Open in this post. 

The 2013 Australian Open Thread #1 For 1/14/13: Day 1 Review

Venus Williams and Janko Tipsarevic were impressive on Day 1 (Photos from AO.com)

Key Story 

It was a forgettable first day for the home town population in Melbourne, as only one Australian won on the opening day of the Australian Open's main singles draw. Thankfully for Sam Stosur's mental state, she was that sole Aussie individual.

Most thought Lleyton Hewitt could use his impressive performance at the Kooyang exhibition to upset Janko Tipsarevic, but that was certainly not the case at all. The #8 seed just had too much natural power and focus to send Hewitt into some questions on whether this would be his final Australian Open in a sound 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 result.

Well before Day 1's marquee match,  the country's notable female player Stosur avoided another demoralizing early round loss here at her home Slam, getting some revenge on Kai-Chen Chang for beating her in Osaka four months ago with a shaky but effective 7-6, 6-3.

But Stosur was the lone survivor for the Aussies on Day 1. Ashleigh Barty showed more promise in taking a set at least off a Top 40 player for the third straight week, but succumbed quickly to Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Bojana Bobusic thought the wind may be on her side after a rough start from Aga Radwanska, but the Polish #1 regain her excellent current form to win 7-5, 6-0.

Matthew Ebden seemed to be on the verge of knocking off Mikhail Youzhny up two sets to none, but lacked the consistent closing ability that has plagued his career to allow the Russian the 4-6, 6-7 (0), 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 comeback win.

And Casey Dellacqua was the latest stepping stone in the rise of Madison Keys, who was masterful in the 2nd set tiebreak and record a 6-4, 7-6 (0).

All in all, it was a rough 1-7 opening day record for the Australians across both genders.

The Upsets

Argentine #2 and #11 seed Juan Monaco was less than 100%, and it clearly showed in being dispatched by Andrey Kuznetsov so convincingly in straights.

Mona Barthel went from being a true favorite to win Hobart and be a legitimate darkhorse in Melbourne to drawing equally informed threat Ksenia Pervak in Round 1 and losing in a struggle 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Bartel served up six disappointing double faults and showed that she is still not ready to break from the inconsistent mess she is.

A Daniela Hantuchova-Ana Ivanovic 2nd Round was thrown into the thrash, as the up and down Slovakian veteran rounded off a disappointing first month of her 2013, losing to Yung-Jan Chan in a scoreline that summed her up properly: 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. She likely won't be tweeting from her account until maybe February after that one.

But there were no major upsets of any of the top players, with Monaco and Barthel being the only seeds to fall in general.

Other Notable Results

British female #1 Heather Watson looked all but certain to be out on Day 1, as she was down 6-2, 3-1 to Alexandra Cadantu, a Romanian who had lost in seven straight first rounds. But a medical timeout a game later resulted in a massive turnaround, as the Guernsey native showed the stable clarity that has placed her inside the Top 50 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win.

Radek Stepanek was on the ropes down two sets to none against an inspired Viktor Troicki, looking to get his first big win in a while after a rough 2012 for the Serbian #3. But the Davis Cup 2012 hero showed all his veteran guile, along with Troicki's known propensity to get tight, to comeback and win 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

Many people were confident about Grigor Dimitrov's chances of securing a second week Grand Slam appearance before the tournament after the explosiveness he showed in Brisbane. But when he drew Julian Benneteau on a surface slower than Brisbane's quick main court, well, it was always going to be a difficult day for him.

That turned out to be the case, as the solid Frenchman continued his fine play in Sydney and thrashed the Bulgarian 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. 

It was the opposite result for Dimitrov's speculated new girlfriend Maria Sharapova, who couldn't have received a more perfect opening round match of her 2013 year. Her 6-0, 6-0 result over Olga Puchkova was highlighted more by just how mentally abysmal Puchkova was as the match transpired.

Venus Williams held up her end of a two part chance to see if her and Sharapova will meet in Round 3, with a surprisingly solid and consistent 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Elena Voskoboeva. 

ATP/WTA Players of the Day: 

ATP: Tipsarevic

In a match where many thought could represent another notable Hewitt scalp, Tipsarevic virtually said "None of that would happen on his watch" in winning straight sets. He slightly earns the nod over Benneteau, who was just as deserving for his impressive handling of Dimitrov.

WTA:  Klara Zakopalova

In what was one of the first round matches guaranteed to be a near 50/50 contest, the improving Czech veteran impressively dispatched of Chanelle Scheepers 6-1, 6-2. 

The 2012 Australian Open Draw Recap For 1/10/13: The Women Review #1

Azarenka and Djokovic come to the Australian Open draw ceremony a slow moving boat. 

After an unenviable amount of time filling (or time wasting if you wanted to be harsh), Tennis Australia finally got around to announcing the draw ceremony for the 2012 Australian Open.

Clearly at the end of the draw ceremony, the biggest winners are Novak Djokovic, since it was Roger Federer who got Andy Murray on his half of the draw, and Serena Williams, since she is Serena Williams.

Maria Sharapova was thought to be a winner of the day since Victoria Azarenka drew Serena in the semifinals, but the world #2 could easily go out to Venus Williams in the 3rd Round.  

With the qualifiers still to be determined, here is the quick rundown of both the men's and women's singles draws of the 2012 Australian Open:

Women

Highlight First Rounds 

Wozniacki-Lisicki and Kvitova-Schiavone are the obvious standout matches, as all four players have had an inauspicious first fortnight of the new year.

Lisicki has owned the matchup against Wozniacki in the past, and will still have the "less pressure" mantle of the two since she's returned to a life outside the Top 30/32. However, defending 4th Round points will be on the German's mind, so the tension will be on both sides as Wozniacki looks to not lose in the 1st Round of a major for the third straight time.

But there are other quality first rounders that have near 50/50 chances for both players, considering interesting dynamics in them.

Shvedova-Beck: Though people are already lining up Yaroslava Shvedova into a Wimbledon rematch meeting with Serena Williams, that surely is not a guarantee at all with her drawing rising German talent Annika Beck. An excellent match player with good movement and fine groundstrokes, Beck will certainly test the Russian-Kazakstan.

Vandeweghe-Cristea: Just for overall entertainment factor to see who will hit the most erratic, insane error, this match certainly will provide no major defensive strategy. Although Cirstea has showed that she is feeling the expectations of rising again after finishing 2012 in the Top 30, she is just a little better at patching together a few outstanding points than her massive hitting American counterpart.

Chang-Stosur: Those well-documented, annual home country woes for Down Under's #1 are prevalent again for another year. And making it worse for Stosur is the fact that she has to deal with a player who just defeated her this past fall.

Bartoli-Medina Garrigues: Though the Spaniard will start off the clear underdog in this match, Bartoli was thrashed by Klara Zakopalova in Shenzhen and won't be high on confidence.

V.Williams-Voskoboeva: Most have salivated at a potential Venus-Sharapova 3rd Round, but this is not an easy opener for Venus against a tricky talent in Voskoboeva, who can certainly handle the #3 American's pace and dish aggressive offensive play right back.  

Azarenka-Niculescu: On both ranking and Niculescu's ability to give anyone a headache, this is not the greatest first round draw for the world number #1, as the Romanian just missed out on being a seed. However, Azarenka has had no problem with her future first round opponent in their four meetings, winning eight of their 9 sets, with six of those sets resulting in Niculescu winning two or less games.

Biggest Loser of the Draw: 

Edina Gallovits-Hall, who has the honor of being Serena Williams' opponent in this first round.

The Daily Recap For 1/9/13: The Match Toughness Of Li Na

Li Na gets pumped up after making her early 2013 record go to 8-0 at the Apia International in Sydney

Despite participating in the weirdest season opener in WTA history in Shenzhen (an inaugural tournament where the conditions were so cold that the players needed heat generators on the court), Li Na showed that she wants to truly contend with Serena Williams if Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, and Aga Radwanska aren't up to the task.

Okay, at the current moment, Serena Williams will be the only person that determines if Serena Williams wants to contend with anybody. But outside of that, the Chinese #1 is already displaying going into the Australian Open that she really does want to be a consistent force throughout the year instead of her sporadic up and down nature since winning the 2011 French Open.

Li was the favorite to win in her country's newest event on the WTA calendar, a mantle that she hasn't handled fully well in her time of being amongst women's tennis elite. But she did well to hold off her always treacherous erratic side in beating the tricky Czech talent Klara Zakoplava 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

Questions about her even playing the event with the inevitable transition to the extreme hot conditions of the Australian summer were justified. But Carlos Rodriguez client has done so well to to acclimate herself from the cold of Shenzhen. An up and down opening round match was expected against Christina McHale, but a comprehensive win over Ayumi Morita under record heat on Tuesday showed her intent in sustaining positive momentum.

Holding off the inform uber-talented that is Madison Keys with a fine third set in the quarters today was a very encouraging sign for the world #6, especially closing the match strongly with her serve.


If anyone is going to challenge Serena this year not off her own errors, then great serving is the top requirement for the rest of the WTA's elite. Li clearly has tremendous power and groundstroke technique when she's on, especially if the forehand is raiser sharp and not an unstable mess like it can be.

But her service motion, changed by Rodriguez to emulate Justine Henin's version for maximum effect, is the primary key. She's always had one of the most underrated 2nd serves on tour, displaying courage and fine spin to not have it be consistently attacked. But her 1st serve has always been off and on, and any improvement of it to get free points is so massive if she wants to contend with Serena.

Now this goes without saying, Li has felt totally at home on the Australian hardcourts, seeking her third straight final's appearance and second title in Sydney. And facing Aga Radwanska on Thursday is something that will make her more ensconced at the moment, having thrashed Sydney 2013's top seed in Montreal and Mason (Cincinnati) in consecutive weeks last summer.

But winning this title against Radwanska and either Angelique Kerber or Dominika Cibulkova in the final will certainly make her having more of a chance to give a top level Serena a huge fight than Azarenka (and yes, I'm not including Sharapova in that picture).

Li Na has the consistent groundstroke power that Azarenka lacks against Serena. And she has the movement and lack of fear that Sharapova is still searching for against the legendary American. All she needs is a dominant sound first serve to contend with Serena on her own terms instead of it just hoping Serena's on her B-game.

ATP

Bernard Tomic is really hitting the ball bigger now, and just like with Grigor Dimitrov last week, is showcasing that pivotal new weapon thus far in his chance to win his first ATP title: A massive new serve.

Tomic hasn't hit the ball this well for me since his terrific Wimbledon quarterfinal run 18 months ago. The passiveness to his game that was so problematic in gifting Andy Roddick that win at the US Open last year is gone for the moment, as well as the utterly ridiculous obituaries written about his career after that debacle.

His improved upper body strength and dogmatic serving practices over the short offseason spells that Tomic is ready to ascend back up to the potential many have thought and still think he will be at. He just has that natural sense of playing smart, high level tennis, a feel of the game that only a select few are born with.

To impressively handle Florian Mayer in that second set today, a guy whose out funked him so badly in their first three meetings, including a 6-0 set just 3 months ago in Shanghai, really displays the commitment he is now showcasing across the board.

21 aces and only one break point faced in his first two matches in Sydney is an eye opener, and more impressive for me than beating Novak Djokovic at the always fun but still exhibition Hopman Cup. These are the real matches that matter, and for him to do that so far is encouraging.

With a road to the final featuring Jarko Nieminen, Marcel Granollers and Andreas Seppi, Tomic is more explosive than his bottom have members at the moment based on current form. This would officially be the perfect spring board to showing all his critics that their castigation of him for much of 2012 will not last in 2013.