Serena Knocked Out of Australian Open

Jelena Jankovic outfought defending champion Serena Williams
in an exciting quater final match to book a place in the semi finals.
Recovering from a rather sedate start, the third seed soon found
her rhythm back to win the match 6-3, 6-4. When the two met
here last time, in the fourth round, Serena easily destroyed
Jankovic. But she could not do it this time around...

Federer Downs Blake

Even though Roger Federer struggled to find his best form, but
founded the big shots whenever he needed them. In a hard fought
quaterfinal match, the world no.1 overcame the US challenge in
straight sets 7-5, 7-6, 6-4.  Federer will now face world no. 3
Serbian Novak Djokovic in the last four.

Venus in Quarter Finals

Eight seed Venus Williams had booked a place in the QF
of the Australian Open after a hard fought victory over
former junior Wimbledon champion, Marta Domachowska.
The American came back twice from a break down in the
first set to take home the match 6-4, 6-4, in straight sets.
Venus now plays fourth seed Ana Ivanovic in the last eight.

Aussie Open Quotes

"I was not playing against her, I was playing against me."
Svetlana Kuznetsova on her loss to Agnieszka Radwanska

"I will practise a little bit more than usual now because I've
not had a lot of hours on court."
Rafael Nadal

"I think I'm one of the worst servers in the game."
Sania Mirza after her loss to Venus Williams

Federer Survives

World No. 1 Roger Federer survived one of the biggest tests
in his professional tennis career when the unheard 49th ranked
Janko Tipsarevic challenged the reigning champion in five gruelling
sets, with the last one stretching to a record 18 games, before
eventually going down in one of the exciting third round matches
to be played in Australian Open 2008. Congratulating the unlikely
opponent, Federer said "He's a nice guy - pity somebody has to win,
wish we could have draws sometimes too,". Tipsarevic, on the other
hand, was in full praise of Federer quipping that his opponent "was 
better in the important moments of the match." Roger now meets 
Tomas Berdych in the Quarter Finals.

Nalbandian Ousted

David Nalbandian, who was viewed by game experts as a major
threat to Federer's pursuit for his third successive Australian
Open crown, was ousted by Juan Carlos Ferrero in their third
round match. A seemingly rusty Nalbandian, who had earlier
pulled out of the pre-tournament warm-up in Kooyong with
muscle spasms in his back, lost to Ferrero in straight sets,
6-1 6-2 6-3. Ferrero now plays David Ferrer in the fourth round. 

Can Federer Make it Three in a Row?

With Australian Open kickstarted in the new Plexicushion surface,  
the big question that most tennis lovers ask is will 2008 also witness
the dominance of Roger Federer in grand slam events? Well, while it is
too early to comment, given the note in which 2007 tennis season
ended, there is enough reason to believe that it won't be a smooth sail
in the offing for the current world no.1. Argentinian David Nalbandian
and Djokovic are potential threats to Federer, alongside his clay court
nemesis Rafel Nadal and Guillermo Canas, even though for the latter,
 his form had deserted him as 2007 wore down. Let us wait and see how
all these players fare in Australian Open, and hopefully that'll set the
tune for 2008.