Elena Dementieva defeated a "gimped out" Serena Williams easily 6-3, 6-2 to defend the title she won last year in Sydney, Australia. Williams came into the match with her left knee wrapped up, and showing it was in bothersome pain. This is no surpise, since this is probably an excuse to just cruise and not do her best. Serena is the type of player that doesn't really care about tournaments other than Grand Slams or the ones that will pay out the big money. So with the Australian Open just a few days away, why would she expel a lot of energy? So she didn't, and used a "faux" knee injury as a way to not give 100% and not be called out on it. She'll be out riding the waves in Sydney probably today with her boyfriend/musician Common. And I do use the word "musician" loosely. So there is my conspiracy theory, take it or leave it....oh, congrats to Elena.
The mens final is set. Richard Gasquet and Marcos Baghdatis will play for the championship. Gasquet is playing well after coming off his short suspension for allegedly having traces of cocaine in his system for making out with skanks at a club. Baghdatis is also making a comeback of his own from multiple injuries that has hindered him for the past year and a half. Baghdatis had to defeat some solid players to get to the final. He was tested by Viktor Troicki, Lleyton Hewitt, and defeated Mardy Fish in a tough semifinal match that went 3 sets and had two sets end in tiebreakers. My guess is that Baghdatis' fitness isn't totally there coming off all his injuries and will come up just a tad short to Gasquet who will win his first tournament in over 2 years.
The finals matchup of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand is a bit of a surprise. American, "Big" John Isner will face off against Arnaud Clement of France. Both players are unseeded and defeated 3 seeds in order to get to the final. Isner's road to the final went through #8 seed Juan Monaco, #1 seed Tommy Robredo, and #8 seed Albert Montanes. While Clement had to defeat #2 seed, David Ferrer, #6 seed Jurgen Melzer, and #5 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Both men are playing really well. The final will come down to an issue of fitness, and I believe that Isner being the bigger guy isn't as fit as the veteran Clement. Plus watching a little bit of Clement's matches the last couple of days, he looks to be in good form so I believe Clement comes out the winner.
In Hobart, Australia the "Flying Bondarenko sister", named Alona will go against "The fork" Shahar Peer for the Moorilla Hobart International title. Ever since putting "the fork" into Peer she has put her game up a notch, making me eat my words and look wrong. Flip a coin on this one, either one of these women can win this match. But I'm actually leaning to the side of Peer.....So Alona will probably win.
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