With Roland Garros barely three weeks away, the Qatar Telecom German Open is one of the major tune-up events before the second Grand Slam of the 2007 season.
Eight members of the current top ten are planning to compete in Berlin, including world number one Justine Henin, who is eager to bring home her third consecutive French Open title.
Second seed Amelie Mauresmo will be returning to action this week after being forced off the Tour two months ago because of appendicitis.
The Qatar Telecom German Open will not only be showcasing an excellent tennis experience for fans on-site; tennis fans worldwide can also enjoy podcasts, live scoring, and a web-cam on the official tournament website.
Top Eight Seeds
1. Justine Henin
2. Amelie Mauresmo
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova
4. Martina Hingis
5. Jelena Jankovic
6. Nicole Vaidisova (withdrew with wrist injury)
7. Nadia Petrova
8. Dinara Safina
A Quick Look at the Draw
Top Quarter
Justine Henin’s participation in the Qatar Telecom German Open is not 100% assured as she is currently still in Poland waiting for the rain to stop so that she can play her final match against the unseeded Alona Bondarenko at the J&S Cup. Justine is favored to defeat the twenty-two year old Ukrainian, and because she has a first-round bye, she may not have to play her first match in Berlin until the middle of the week.
Should she still turn up in Berlin, she’ll face a tricky draw with Na Li possibly waiting in the third round and Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals. Jankovic is not a foe that Justine will be underestimating; they last met on Saturday in Warsaw with Justine struggling to a close three-set victory.
Second Quarter
Martina Hingis has a good draw and should have a solid chance of reaching the quarterfinals for a possible meeting with Nicole Vaidisova or Ana Ivanovic. She may have to play her countrywoman Patty Schnyder in the third round, but I’d favor the Swiss Miss to get past the lefty. Schnyder has been in a bad slump for several weeks and is on the verge of falling out of the top 20. Alona Bondarenko could be a dangerous floater in the draw after her spectacular run on clay at Warsaw, as long as she reaches Berlin before she has to play her first round match against Francesca Schiavone.
Third Quarter
The Tour’s two best clay court players after Justine Henin are both sitting in the third quarter of the draw. Unfortunately for both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova, their clay court performances have been less than spectacular so far this year. Petrova was ousted in the second round at Warsaw by Mara Santangelo and even though she reached the semifinals, Svetlana Kuznetsova still surrendered to Alona Bondarenko after two sets of less-than inspiring play. As the defending champion, Petrova needs to go deep in the draw to remain in the top ten when next week’s rankings come out – especially if she wants to be a top seed at Roland Garros.
Bottom Quarter
Amelie Mauresmo is finally back on Tour after spending almost two months on the sidelines because of a tough bout with appendicitis. Ranking point wise, the former world number one is still in a good position headed into Roland Garros. She was originally planning on playing Warsaw last week, but decided at almost the last minute to rest for one more week. She has a good draw, but things could start getting difficult for her in the quarterfinals against Russians Anna Chakvetadze or Dinara Safina.
Qatar Telecom German Open Links
Tournament Website
Main Draw
Ticket Information
USA Television Schedule
Daily Order of Play
Podcasts
Web-Cam
Be sure to check the Ticker throughout the day for the latest news about the Qatar Telecom German Open!
I really hope Mauresmo does well. for some reason i’m starting to warm to her.
congratulations to Ana Ivanovic
Gautam chaudhury