Bleacher Report - Articles by Neil A. Hickey

Australian Open Final: Historic First Title for Novak Djokovic

Neil A. Hickey — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:07:42 -0500

A brilliant tournament had a brilliant final.

In a match that had all the atmosphere of a Davis Cup tie, Novak Djokovic has won the 2008 Australian Open 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 over a brilliant but error-ridden Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

In a landmark result, the win is not only the first Grand Slam title for Djokovic but also the first for Serbia, the tiny, war-torn European nation that has inexplicably also produced players of the ilk of Janko Tipsarevic, Jelena Jankovic, and Ana Ivanovic.

Djokovic, the No. 3 player in the world and a finalist at the US Open last year, was a worthy winner after dropping just one set all tournament, and that was tonight.

But it very nearly wasn’t so.

By the start of the fourth set, the talented Serbian suffered serious cramp in his left leg when chasing down a Tsonga drop shot.

Djokovic—who has twice retired from Grand Slam events with fatigue—sought treatment at 2-2 and was noticeably inconvenienced by it for the rest of the set.

Here he started to resemble the old boxer in the short story "A Piece of Steak," who, facing a younger, fitter opponent, realises he has only one punch left and faces the dilemma of when to throw it.

It proved to be the fourth-set tie break.

Djokovic, mindful that he faced next to no chance in a fifth set, threw the only punch he had left, won the tie break and the match, and crumpled to the ground with elation and relief.

It’s a good thing Djokovic is good at tennis, because he would make a lousy poker player.

The following are some words that won't be used to describe the talented Serbian: "ice cool," "unflappable," and "introverted."

Not since Goran Ivanisevic, another gifted eastern European, has there been a player who so consistently wears his heart on his sleeve...or appears so easily distracted.

In the first set, and a sizable portion of the second, it seemed everything was bothering the Serb: Tsonga, who was knocking winners from everywhere; the crowd, which was right behind the Frenchman; the umpire, who apparently wasn’t overruling his linesmen enough; and his father, who had the audacity to leave Rod Laver Arena momentarily for what could only have been a toilet break.

“Sometimes you can’t control your emotions on the court and this match today was very important for me,” Djokovic said later.

“There was a lot of pressure on me, everyone expected me to win and I wanted to win. I wanted to win the first Grand Slam (title for Serbia).”

Djokovic, who really should lighten up, as he has a winning personality, later made peace with the crowd, telling them, “I know you wanted him to win more but I still love you guys”.

And with that a fractured relationship was made whole again.

Tsonga, seeking to become the first unseeded player to win the title in 32 years, cooled dramatically in the second and third sets, with his forehand leaking unforced errors where before it had blazed only winners.

The Frenchman leaps from 38 to 18 in the world after this—and will almost certainly be in the top 10 before the year is out.

Incredibly, he was playing in just his fifth Grand Slam tournament, and his first final of any senior tournament.

For a man who was an outsider in his first-round match against Brit world No. 8 Andy Murray, this performance was by any measure extraordinary.

The only thing missing from his armory is experience.

If Djokovic can develop some composure, he’ll be the complete package, too.

Australian Open: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Stings Rafael Nadal in Semi-Final Stunner

Neil A. Hickey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:56:52 -0500

One of the perks of working as a cub reporter at a bi-weekly newspaper a few hours outside Melbourne was the ability to cover the main warm-up tournament to the junior Australian Open. I had the chance to see the world’s best tennis players three years before just about everyone else would.

In 2002, the final was between two French boys—Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In the small Victorian town of Traralgon that hosted the event, they still talk about the match.

Tsonga started the better and won the first set, but Gasquet, who had been forced deep beyond the baseline, made better court position. In a thrilling contest he came back to win the match and the title in three sets.

The final was hailed by seasoned junior tennis watchers as the best they had ever seen and Gasquet, just 15 at the time, was immediately rated better at the same age than Lleyton Hewitt, then the number one player in the world.

Gasquet, although a top 10 player, has yet to really kick on in the manner one would expect of someone with that much ability. With all the attention and expectation on him and another young French star, Gael Monfils, Tsonga has been the less acclaimed of France’s young tennis stars.

But not anymore.

After giving world number two Rafael Nadal a frightful pounding in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Tsonga has truly arrived. He may turn out to be even better than Gasquet or Monfils.

Like the junior final he played down the road six years ago, they will talk about this match for some time to come.

The 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win—which propels world number 38 Tsonga into his first ever Grand Slam final—was of an extraordinarily high standard, the Frenchman pummeling Nadal with an all-court game that was brutal and artistic.

The loss equalled Nadal’s worst in a Grand Slam ever, his seven games matching the total he mustered against Andy Roddick at the 2004 US Open when he was barely a pup, not the dominant force he is today.

At 22, Tsonga more than resembles a young Muhammad Ali in the face, and even struts and plays to the crowd in a manner befitting the Champ. This one-sided match rekindled memories of Ali flattening Sonny Liston in 1965.

Those at Rod Laver Arena will struggle to recall anyone hitting a forehand harder than Tsonga did tonight, but it was his touch at the net that proved the real eye-opener. Nadal was routinely forced to gnash his teeth as his opponent pulled out miracle volley after miracle volley.

Poor Nadal must have thought he was in Paris—Tsonga was the fourth Frenchman he faced in this tournament, and one Frenchman too many as it turned out.

For Tsonga, he becomes the third unseeded player in as many years to make the final—following on from Marcos Baghdatis in 2006 and Fernando Gonzales in 2007—but of the trio he looks the most likely to go all the way.

Whoever wins the second semi-final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic tomorrow night will have only muted celebrations knowing who awaits them in the final.

Regardless of the final result, the fact is this: A star has arrived.

Australian Open: Wicked Witch Federer Ousts Blake

Neil A. Hickey — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:16:07 -0500

According to ancient legend, the witching hour is the time when supernatural forces are at their greatest.

Referenced in literature ranging from Shakespeare to JK Rowling, it is the time when the spells of ghosts, demons, witches, and wizards are at their most lethal.

Roger Federer, a supernatural force of the modern kind, has his own form of witching hour, a time when the world’s best player becomes positively superhuman.

While few players can actually go with Federer for a whole set, it is what happens at 5-all or 6-all that is downright spooky.

Like clockwork, the world’s number one invariably finds another gear and roars out of sight.

With a career record in tie-breakers of 214 to 114, he wins almost twice as many deciders as he loses.

Last year he won a remarkable 14 straight tie-breakers.

Tackling a determined James Blake for a spot in the Australian Open semi-finals, this willing match was visited by two witching hours, one a mirror image of the other, which decided the contest.

In the first set, having fought back from a break of serve, Blake served at 5-6 to stay in the set and force a tie-break.

But in a blur of fast feet and hands, Federer wove his magic, broke Blake’s serve and— abracadabra—the first set was gone 7-5.

It was a near identical case in the second, Blake bravely fighting back from an early break only for Federer to kick in again in the tie-break and—hocus pocus—the American was down two sets to love.

The loss of the second set seemed to snap Blake’s resolve although some ripping forehands at 2-5 forced Federer to drop his serve for the third time in the match.

Given the fact that Blake had never beaten Federer in seven attempts—all but one of them in straight sets—a 7-5 7-6 6-4 decision was a moral victory for the American.

Blake did marvelously well to make it this far, his best performance at this tournament in seven years.

At 28, he was the oldest player and the only American to have made it to the quarter-finals and on Monday he will be rewarded with a spot in the top 10.

Federer, who has had some anxious moments here in Melbourne but has now strung 19 wins in a row here, moves on to the final four where a mouth-watering match-up with Novak Djokovic awaits.

The talented Serb hasn’t dropped a set all tournament and really, ever since the tournament started, and has looked the most likely to upend the world number one.

Federer owns a 5 and 1 record against the number three seed but they are one win each in their past two—Djokovic surprising Federer in Toronto last year before the Swiss avenged that loss in the semi-finals of the US Open a few weeks later.

And this could be the key stat:

There were two tie-break sets in Toronto, Federer, unusually, lost both of them and lost the match.

At Flushing Meadows, there were two tie-break sets, he won both of them and won the match.

If the witching hour descends on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic might be the latest to fall under Federer’s spell.

Australian Open: James Blake Borrows Hope from Big Blue

Neil A. Hickey — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:36:19 -0500

Like his beloved New York Giants, James Blake just keeps marching on.

No one expected him to still be here in the second week of the Australian Open, much less the last standing American in the men's draw.

But, like Big Blue confounded everyone to qualify for Super Bowl XLII, Blake has thrived, being cast as the unfashionable underdog.

At 28, Blake is easily the oldest man into the final eight. He now has a quarter-final appointment with Roger Federer, a man he has never beaten in seven attempts.

Could he spring a surprise?

Let’s just say his Giants have a better chance against New England.

In fact, Australian betting agencies rate Blake only a $9 chance, an astonishing figure in a two-horse race.

Still, the fact Blake is still alive—both in this tournament and in the literal sense—is cause for acclaim.

Blake had to give the game up as a youth after developing scoliosis, a condition which forced him to wear a back brace for long periods.

He went on to carve out an impressive professional career but in 2004, snapped his neck while colliding with a net post during practice.

His father died the same year and then, in a last insult, Blake developed shingles which paralyzed half his face.

He recovered to reach number four in the world and win another nine singles titles (giving him 10 overall, all of them hard court) making for an amazing and inspiring story.

It is the journey of a man for whom the outcome of any match—up to and including a Grand Slam quarter final against the world's best player—is nothing to get too worked up about.

“I’m already so proud of my career that I won’t worry about it at all,” said Blake, Harvard-educated, though clad in a North Carolina Tar Heels baseball cap, in front of reporters yesterday.

“I mean, to have been at a point once where a doctor laughed at my idea of being a pro tennis player to being in a situation in 2004 of them telling me I’m probably never going to play again...to be in the second week of a Grand Slam at all is pretty impressive.”

Blake’s run at the Australian Open has had plenty in common with the man he now faces.

While Federer was pulling out a five-set miracle against Janko Tipsarevic, Blake’s escape in the same round against Sebastian Gosjean was even more impressive. He managed to come back from two sets to love down.

And while Federer rebounded in straight sets in the round of 16, so did Blake against Croatian Marin Cilic, a 6-3 6-4 6-4 decision that preserved his aging legs.

If, as one would assume, Blake finally follows script and succumbs to Federer, it can only be hoped it isn’t the American’s last time here.

A true gentleman like Pat Rafter and Stefan Edberg before him, the tour will lose some of its shine when he hangs up the racquet.

“It seems like I’m still living a dream. I don’t ever want to lose that feeling of it being abnormal. I know how abnormal my job is. I know how surreal my life is. I know how lucky I am to be here.”

Australian Open: Tough Week Ends in Tears for Marcos Baghdatis

Neil A. Hickey — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:50:12 -0500

The game is not the same for Marcos Baghdatis.

In 2006, just two short years ago, Baghdatis came to Melbourne Park as a smiling 21-year-old for whom tennis was sheer joy.

A former junior champion but still largely unheard of, he arrived replete with long hair, a backpacker’s beard, a high voltage smile, and a curious superstition in which he would bounce the ball between his legs before serving.

The media loved it, and Baghdatis quickly became a darling of the press.

More than that, he had a cavalier approach to his game, a love of shotmaking that took him all the way to the final—where he even took a set off the great Roger Federer.

That was 2006.

In 2008, the long hair, the beard, the superstition, the sympathetic media, and the lustrous smile are all gone.

Baghdatis' cousin was banned from the tournament—though later given a reprieve—after being pepper sprayed by police for pouring a beer over an officer who had been summoned to reprimand Greek supporters for racially taunting Chilean player Fernando Gonzales.

Worse, a video then landed on You Tube in which Baghdatis was shown lighting flares and chanting anti-Turkish slogans amid a group of his supporters.

Things weren’t much better on the court.

Baghdatis was burdened with an odious draw, in which he took on Grand Slam winners in each of the first three rounds.

He took four sets to shake off Thomas Johansson, five to edge Marat Safin, then had to square off against local hope Lleyton Hewitt.

When he lost the final in 2006, not even the pain of defeat could wipe away Baghdatis’ smile—while the champion Federer wept uncontrollably.

Two years later, it was Baghdatis’ turn to break down in tears.

In one of the most bizarre matches ever played on Rod Laver Arena, Baghdatis was ousted 6-4, 7-5, 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 by Hewitt—a contest just as dramatic as the Federer-Tipsarevic encounter earlier in the night.

They might call this one the Caffeine Classic—because of the late finish of the Federer epic, the match didn't start until just before midnight...and finished four hours and 45 minutes later.

It was the latest finish to a match in Australian Open history—and about 40 minutes before the sun came up.

If the match lacked the quality conjured up by Federer and Tipsarevic—and it did —it more than made up for it with some of the most inexplicable twists you could imagine.

There was Baghdatis’ brave recovery from a twisted ankle early in the third set, after which he needed two injury timeouts.

He battled on manfully for the next few games to lead 5-3 but then seemed to lose his mind, as Hewitt, bellowing exhortations to himself after every point, reeled off nine of the next 10 games to take the third set and lead 5-1 in the fourth.

The Cypriot’s game had fallen apart, and it seemed as though a week of bad headlines had taken its toll.

Baghdatis began to commit professional suicide, accelerating his own demise with a range of mindless points, including three unsuccessful backhand dropshots in the same game.

The Cypriot had clearly mentally checked out.

But in yet another confounding twist, the No. 15 seed, freed from caring about the contest, began to profit from his devil-may-care tennis, regularly laughing to himself as his improbable shotmaking brought him back into contention.

The strategy—if it was a strategy—worked, and Hewitt tightened up, losing his serve at 5-1 and 5-3.

Baghdatis, who minutes before had been measuring himself for a body bag, won the fourth set in a tiebreaker and roared with laughter at his triumph—the reaction of a man who had just jumped from a tall building only to have a strong wind blow him back through a lower-floor window.

Sadly for him, though, it was Hewitt who had the last laugh.

Serving at 2-2, Baghdatis’ first serve deserted him, and Hewitt finally broke after a game lasting 15 minutes and eight deuces.

When he broke for a second time to take the match, at almost 5 AM local time, an inconsolable Baghdatis left the court in tears with the crowd standing as one.

We said this match would be a thriller.

But nobody predicted this.

Australian Open: Federer Dodges Bullet in Five-Set Epic

Neil A. Hickey — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:51:41 -0500

So we were right, and we were wrong.

A sell-out Saturday night crowd had crammed into Rod Laver Arena in keen anticipation of a match widely predicted to give the Australian Open a hitherto unseen pulse.

But rather than the Lleyton Hewitt-Marcos Baghdatis grudge-athon, it was the early match that was good enough to not only start the heart but nearly stop it as well.

Roger Federer’s five set win over relative unknown Janko Tipsarevic is already being hailed as one of the tournament’s best ever.

A match of rare quality, for a third round or, indeed, any round, Federer eked out a 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 win over the 23-year-old unseeded Serb in a slugging contest spanning almost four-and-a-half hours.

When Tipsarevic hit a forehand long on the second match point, Federer pumped both fists, craned his neck forward and roared into his racquet, an outburst of elation and relief normally reserved for death row inmates pardoned by the governor.

It was nevertheless appropriate for the Swiss master who had just skipped execution.

As the players embraced at the net they received a standing O from the crowd as Jim Courier, commentating on Australian broadcaster Channel 7, said the match was “as good as it gets."

A deserving winner, Federer, who before tonight hadn’t dropped a set here in two years, was nonetheless lucky to have survived against a brilliant opponent who, despite a poker face, faded physically during the titanic fifth set.

Part of the rising tennis superpower of Serbia, Tipsarevic went into the match ranked just 49^th in the world, but this showing promises a man whose destiny is a long career in the top 10 and maybe better.

For long stretches in this one, he consistently outhit Federer, who was strangely subdued, particularly on his backhand wing, and particularly in the final set, where curiously he eschewed any form of topspin until it was 4-4.

From that point, he put the sliced backhand away and began hitting over the ball. Tipsarevic, still a novice volleyer, had been coming to the net to pick off the more defensive groundstrokes.

The Serb was ice-cool during the set but went to sleep serving at 8-8 and up 40-0.

Some ripping forehands from Federer brought the game to deuce and he broke on his second break point, a rare moment of opportunism for the world number one who was a wasteful four for 21 on break point chances.

Tipsarevic was an astonishing three for three.

Federer showed true grace after the match, bemoaning that there had to be a loser and that the fairest result would have been a draw.

“It’s nice to be part of something like this,” he said in an on court interview.

Anyone who saw it will think the same thing.

Australian Open: Baghdatis-Hewitt Promises To Be a Thriller

Neil A. Hickey — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:13:50 -0500

The Australian Open finally has the match that could very well light the fuse on this middling tournament.

Thus far the event has followed a very predictable script—the favorites have almost all managed to stay alive. This ensures a blockbuster of a second week after a timid opening week.

There were expectations of a grand contest between Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport in the second round but, in a straight sets drubbing, the Russian showed the American exactly how much ground Davenport has lost since motherhood and a short-lived retirement.

The rest of the draw has unfolded as expected with the exception of Brit Andy Murray’s demise in the opening round providing the only real shock.

But the third round match between Aussie former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and sweet-hitting Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis promises to be a can’t miss event—a match to stop all the clocks, shut off the telephone, prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, as W.H. Auden may well have put it.

Both players enter the match in fine form.

Hewitt, who before the tournament acknowledged he was in the last throes of his career, had rebounded from his abysmal warm-up form and only dropped one set.

His serve, traditionally more water pistol than cannon, has fired 27 aces, making him fifth overall in that department for the tourney. That's more than howitzer-armed American Andy Roddick.

Marcos Baghdatis, seeded 15th and a finalist here just two years ago, comes in with even better form, every ounce of which he needed to overcome 2005 champion Marat Safin in five sets last night.

If the action on the court was a must-see, what of the cheer squads in the stands rooting for the two players? These players' fans could lift the roof of Rod Laver Arena—if they’re not thrown out first.

Baghdatis is beloved here in Melbourne, home to the largest Greek population in the world outside Athens, and will have thousands in his corner.

Those same supporters were involved in controversy just days ago when they were pepper-sprayed by a police officer after complaints of racial chanting.

One of the supporters ejected was Baghdatis’ cousin, who was given the heave-ho for pouring a beer over a police officer’s head but was allowed to re-enter the arena for the Safin match.

Hewitt’s corner will be filled with the green and gold army of Australian sport supporters called the Fanatics, a well-traveled bunch admired and loathed in equal parts in their own country.

The Fanatics are a boorish brigade, to be sure, but at least they have managed to avoid the local constabulary. They enter this match on unfamiliar territory: the moral high ground.

Expect a knock ‘em, sock ‘em four sets, and an atmosphere to match. I predict Baghdatis will prevail.

Australian Open: Ominous First-Round Cakewalk for Roger Federer

Neil A. Hickey — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:57:11 -0500

Roger Federer has opened his defence of the Australian Open with ease and devastating efficiency.

When the world No. 1 walked onto the court at Rod Laver Arena last night for his Australian Open first round showdown with Argentine Diego Hartfield, it loomed as a danger match.

For starters, Federer was dreadfully underdone. Because of a stomach virus he missed his only lead-up tournament, meaning his last competitive tennis was in November against the retired Pete Sampras.

He was playing for the first time here on plexicushion, the new surface at Melbourne Park which has less bounce than the retired rebound ace.

Lastly, he was facing an opponent who had troubled him in their only encounter, a tight three-set affair at the 2006 French Open (admittedly the Swiss star’s poorest surface).

It all mattered naught.

Clad in an imposing black outfit with blue trim that made him resemble a tennis-playing Batman—if the Caped Crusader hadn’t embarked on a career as an industrialist, fighter of evil, and wearer of ill-fitting garb—Federer turned Hartfield into roadkill, repeatedly driving and reversing over his remains for good measure.

When the hapless Argentine finally won his first game to make it 3-1 in the second set the sympathetic centre court crowd roared its approval...and Hartfield—to his credit—hung his arms in the air to lap up the faux acclaim.

The ultimate indignity came four games later. Serving for a two sets to love lead, Federer sent an ace to Hartfield’s backhand wing and walked to the chairs to contemplate the third set. Hartfield, though, challenged the serve and the replay showed him right, with the ball missing by less than an inch.

Federer’s response?

A monster serve down the T that the Argentine could only watch. As the players went to switch ends Hartfield shook his head in bewilderment and Federer allowed himself a wry grin. A lesser man would have strutted, punched his chest, or hoisted his palms to the rafters.

Federer, who “toiled” for 74 minutes in winning 6-0, 6-3, 6-0, is such an exceptional shotmaker that he gets little credit for his athleticism.

Perhaps it’s his grace and anticipation and the fact he barely sweats or looks fatigued—but he is an outstandingly gifted athlete who very rarely lacks for speed on the court.

On the few times he is caught out, his incredible ability to hit half-volleys or balls below his knees—not just defensively but for outright winners—is unsurpassed.

The trend started with Andre Agassi, but Federer has taken it to a new level.

It means that no matter how deep an opponent’s shotmaking is, Federer is perpetually in a position to hit a ground stroke that won’t come back.

“I’m happy with my form,’’ Federer said after the straight-sets demolition. “I wish it was like this every night”.

The problem with that is it just about is like this every night.

His next opponent—victim?—is canny tour veteran Fabrice Santoro.

Although the Frenchman’s touch and double-fisted groundstrokes from both wings trouble most players, don’t expect Federer to be among that club.

The Swiss star’s only difficulty will be if he dons the batsuit in the blazing Australian sun.

Australian Open: A Test of Tennis' Integrity

Neil A. Hickey — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:13:48 -0500

It's January in Melbourne, and as the international tennis circus rolls into town one can be assured of the seasonal recurrence of at least four questions:

Can Federer do the Slam?

Will Hewitt win his native tourney?

What is Sharapova going to wear?

When is it too hot to play?

This year, however, there is a different emphasis, one that has rendered musings on all-time greatness, boorish yokels, sartorial style, and the weather a tad stale.

The 2008 installment of the Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the calendar year, and the first since revelations of serious corruption tied to betting agencies and even the Russian mafia.

These are dark days indeed for tennis, which was unfashionably late to the party in the fight against drugs and has been dragged reluctantly into the war against the very integrity of the game.

Organisers of the Australian Open—on the face of it—have moved quickly to rid their tournament of the stench of "tanking," setting up an anti-corruption taskforce that includes Tennis Australia officials, detectives from state police, and betting agencies.

Organisers are threatening anyone found guilty of match-fixing with a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.

Given that 15 years in jail in Australia is the same sentence handed down to murderers and rapists, it is a most hard line the authorities are taking.

God help any player—particularly Russian, particularly a ranked one—who gets bundled out by a 6-0 final set. The footage will get more scrutiny than the Zapruder film.

You can see investigators now:

“Watch this crosscourt forehand go back and to the left...back and to the left...back and to the left.’’

But if we have learned anything from the scandals that have beset baseball, cycling, and track and field, it's that regardless of how bad things are now, there is usually worse to come.

We eagerly await the Jose Canseco of the tennis world to step forward.

'Til then, it would be downright wowserly not to enjoy a tournament whose quality, atmosphere, and popularity now rivals any in the world.

Federer, the Prada-wearing magician, again enters 2008 with history his most obvious challenger.

With 12 Grand Slam titles, he is just two behind Pete Sampras for the most ever. A Grand Slam in the modern era would not only see him roar past Sampras but—you would think—render redundant the argument as to who's the best of all-time.

The Swiss master is a tad underdone from a light end-of-year schedule and a stomach virus that forced him out of a key warmup tournament. But it’s tough to see where his competition will come from.

Nadal is never in good condition in January; Djokovic beat him in Canada, but surely doesn’t have the smarts or all-court game to beat him twice in a row; and Nalbandian, his greatest nemesis (such as it is), seems to have an allergy to actually winning tournaments.

Maybe Brit Andy Murray could surprise in the tradition of Baghdatis and Gonzales, the flamboyant and eccentric finalists of 2006 and 2007.

The women’s side of the draw is a little harder to pick, with the return of Justine Henin presenting the toughest challenge to defending champion Serena Williams.

The Belgian missed the Open last year as her marriage—and double-barreled surname—disintegrated, but she returned to add the French and US Open titles to her name.

Williams, who was dumped by Henin at the French, Wimbledon, and US last year, returns as the defending champion after last year’s stunning win when—battling back from injury and apparent apathy—she swept through unseeded.

The American, whose weight in 2006 was widely condemned, has shown up in phenomenal condition (although brokenhearted) this year, and is unlikely to be fazed by the Southern Hemisphere summer, regarded in some quarters as a killer without actually ever having killed someone.