Month of January , 2008

Top seed Vera Zvonareva made a confident start to her bid for a first singles title in 18 months as she beat New Zealand wildcard Sacha Jones 6-0 6-1 in the first round of the Auckland Classic on Tuesday.
 
The Russian, who won the most recent of her five WTA Tour titles in July 2006, made light of a tricky wind and was far too good for Jones as she romped into round two.
 

Andy Murray has reiterated his Davis Cup quit threat, insisting improving his ranking and winning tournaments must come first.
 
The 20-year-old British number one, who plays his first match of new season this afternoon when he takes on Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the Qatar Open, believes representing his country may hinder his career.
 
"I don't know exactly how long I will continue playing Davis Cup," Murray said in the Guardian.
 

Sania Mirza inspired India to a 2-1 victory over Australia at the Hopman Cup on Tuesday, keeping alive her nation's hopes of reaching the final while denting those of the hosts.
 
Mirza set the ball rolling with a 6-2 2-6 6-4 win over Alicia Molik and though Peter Luczak beat Rohan Bopanna 7-6 6-3 to level the match, the Indians joined forces to win the mixed doubles 6-2 4-6 13-11, in the match tiebreak.
 
The United States head Group B with two wins out of two but both India and Australia can still qualify for Friday's final.

Maria Sharapova, the 2007 Australian Open finalist, is confident of at least repeating last year's feat in Melbourne later this month despite once more opting out of the traditional warm-up tournaments.
 
Sharapova was humbled by Serena Williams 6-1 6-2 in last year's final in her first event of 2007 after choosing to play an exhibition tournament in Hong Kong instead of the pre-Australian Open events in Sydney, Auckland, Hobart and the Gold Coast.
 

Top seed Nicole Vaidisova survived a scare from home wildcard Casey Dellacqua before reaching the second round of the Gold Coast Hardcourt Championships.
 
The 18-year-old Czech world number 12 dropped the first set to the Australian left-hander but came through to win 5-7 7-5 6-0.
 
Vaidisova, who has not won a title since May 2006, looked on her way out when she faced three break points at 4-4 in the second set.
 

Lleyton Hewitt opened 2008 in convincing fashion as he cruised past Israeli Dudi Sela 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the Adelaide International.
 
The top-seeded Australian, who won the first title of his career in Adelaide ten years ago, needed just 65 minutes to record his opening win of the new season.
 
Former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Hewitt has been working hard over the past two months under the tutelage of his new coach Tony Roche and he was far too good for Sela, the world number 64.
 

Former Australian Open finalist and world No.16 Marcos Baghdatis crashed out of the 436,000-dollar ATP Chennai Open in the first round here on Tuesday.
 
The Cypriot second seed was beaten by 114th-ranked Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 24 minutes on the centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium in this southern Indian city.
 
But world number two and top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain had no problems in disposing of unfancied Mathieu Montcourt of France 6-2, 6-4 later in the evening.
 

Spanish world number two Rafael Nadal overcame late resistance to reach the Chennai Open second round but second-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis was knocked out.
 
Top seed Nadal defeated Mathieu Montcourt 6-2 6-4 after the tenacious French baseliner broke his serve and engaged him in long rallies in the final stages.
 
Baghdatis, world number 16 and a 2006 Australian Open finalist, went down 6-3 6-4 to unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase, leaving his preparations for the year's first grand slam in tatters.
 

Andy Murray wrapped up a comfortable 6-0 6-2 victory over Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the Doha Open to win his first match of 2008 in style.
 
The 20-year-old British number one, who needed only 78 minutes to claim his first triumph of the new year, will next face Rainer Schuettler in the second round after the German beat Romania's Andrei Pavel 1-6 6-2 6-0.
 

Tue 1 Jan 2008 : India 2 d Australia 1
       Sania Mirza d Alicia Molik 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
       Rohan Bopanna lost to Peter Luczak 6-7, 3-6
       Mirza/Bopanna d Molik/Luczak 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(13/11)
 
 
Mon 31 Dec 2007: USA 3 d Czech Republic 0
       Serena Williams d Lucie Safarova 6-0, 2-6, 7-5

Nikolay Davydenko, the world number four from Russia who remains at the centre of an investigation into a betting scandal, on Tuesday described his treatment by the ATP as "idiotic".
 
Davydenko recently had a fine for allegedly not trying at the St Petersburg Open overturned, but begins the new year with the whole betting affair still hanging over him and no sign of it disappearing.
 
"It's taking months and months. And it may take my whole life. As a tennis player I am patient, it doesn't bother," he said.

Second seed Tommy Robredo got his 2008 campaign off to a forgettable start when he was beaten in straight sets by Agustin Calleri in the Qatar Open on Tuesday.
 
The Spanish world number 10 never recovered after losing his first service game and went on to a 6-4 6-4 defeat against the unseeded Argentine.
 
Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko and third seed Andy Murray of Britain cruised into the second round with resounding wins over Benedikt Dorsch of Germany and Olivier Rochus of Belgium.
 

There were mixed fortunes for the two seeds in action on Day 3 of the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts. No.1 seed Nicole Vaidisova shook off a slow start to defeat Casey Dellacqua, while No.7 Sybille Bammer's challenge for the Tier III title came to an abrupt halt when she fell to Li Na in a three-set epic.
 

Top seed Vera Zvonareva made a near faultless start to 2008 at the ASB Classic on Tuesday, dismissing Sacha Jones for the loss of just one game. However, there were contrasting fortunes for the other seeds on display, with Maria Kirilenko and Eleni Daniilidou joining Zvonareva in the second round, while Michaella Krajicek was sent crashing out at the hands of Sara Errani.
 

World No. 4 Ana Ivanovic believes the new surface at the Australian Open is slower, but less likely to cause injuries.
 
Organizers of the the year's first grand slam tournament, scheduled for Jan. 14-27, have replaced the Rebound Ace court surface at Melbourne Park with Plexicushion. They expect the new surface to produce a lower ball bounce and retain less heat.
 

Australian wildcard Joseph Sirianni stunned Sam Querrey with a 6-7 6-2 6-3 victory to reach the quarter finals of the Adelaide Open.
 
Playing in his first ATP tournament since midway through 2006, 32-year-old Sirianni, who is ranked 195th in the world battled hard to make it into the last eight
 
After losing the first set on a tie break to the 63rd ranked American, Sirianni, ranked 132 places lower on the ATP list, suddenly found a spring in his step and blitzed the next two 6-2 6-3 to send his local crowd into a frenzy.
 

Roger Federer has warned would-be challengers that he intends to stay at the top for several years to come.
 
Speaking to L'Equipe newspaper after being named as it's Champion of Champions for the third year running, the Swiss star said that at 26, he was injury-free and full of motivation.
 
"It's all to do with my preparation," he said. "The way that I train and get myself in top condition is very important.
 

Jelena Jankovic battled through a leg injury at the Hopman Cup to give Serbia a 2-1 victory over France, putting them on course for a place in the final.
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France took an early lead when Jankovic withdrew after only a game and a half of her match with Tatiana Golovin because of an injury to her right leg.
 
Novak Djokovic then pulled top seeds Serbia level with a confident 6-3 6-3 victory over Arnaud Clement.
 

Lindsay Davenport improved to 15-1 in singles since her return to tournament play when she beat Annabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 on Wednesday in the second round of the ASB Classic.
 
Davenport has won two singles tournaments and reached the semifinals of another since returning after the birth of her first child. She outclassed No. 5 seed Medina Garrigues, who is ranked 40 places above her.
 

Amelie Mauresmo and Patty Schnyder will face each other in the quarter finals of the WTA Gold Coast Open after coming through their second round matches in differing ways.
 
Frenchwoman Mauresmo's injury hit 2007 season saw her drop from the world's top five to 18th.
 
But the two-time Grand Slam winner looked back to her old self against her compatriot Nathalie Dechy as she played her trademark baseline game to record a 6-3 6-4 win over the 2003 champion.