Hyderabad it is...

It was confirmed today. Martina will be playing in Hyderabad next week, the only question that remains is who will her partner be? She will make her decision after arriving at this Southern Indian city later in the week. Apparently the organizers are trying to get her to play with the top-ranked Indian player, Sania Mirza, but I hope Martina will get to play with a more experienced partner - Meghann Shaughnessy & Roberta Vinci are both playing here. For an "Indian Express" article, click here.

Just another couple of hours for the Auckland match against Monica to begin. All the best to Martina. Both ladies held a press conference earlier today in Auckland and you can read more about that in the New Zealand Herald and watch a video here (thanks, Andee!) And for details on a celebrity mixed doubles match scheduled in Christchurch on Thursday, click here.

Martina vs Monica - online!

Martina & Monica will meet tomorrow in the first of two exhibition matches in New Zealand as part of the ASB Navratilova Seles Classic (love the sound of that one!) It turns out tomorrow's match in Auckland will be broadcast live over the Internet by zcamtennis.net The cost to view the match online is $5.85. Check out their website for more information.

Some FYI for the North American residents, Auckland is 19 hours ahead of the Central Standard Time zone. So you CST people can catch the match at midnight tonight.

I hate super tie-breaks...

For the second straight Grand Slam event, Martina has fallen victim to the cursed super tie-break, played in place of third sets at the U.S. & Australian Opens. Earlier today, Max & she lost their semifinal match to Ullyett/Huber 6-2 3-6 10-8. That's 10-8 as in 18-points-played and not some epic third-set thriller. It's a shame really for Martina to have it all end like this; we have no idea at this point if she will be back again at the Australian Open as a player and while I'm sure there is a silver lining in all of this, at this point, I'm too pissed off to care...

Meanwhile, the organizers of the Hyderabad Open in India next month are reportedly in talks with Martina to play there. I had thought Martina was planning to take most of the month off after her exhibitions with Monica in New Zealand next week, but it appears the Hyderabad tournament organizers are hoping she will make her Indian debut this year.

Into the semis

Martina & Max won their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open earlier today, upsetting the #2 seeds, Wayne & Cara Black 7-5 6-4. I must confess I really did not think they'd be able to do it, but they certainly surprised me with this result... it was a most welcome surprise though, I hasten to add :-) Up next, it's another higher seeded team, Kevin Ullyett & Liezel Huber in the semis tomorrow. Once again, the match could go either way; all the best to our team.

Now for a follow-up on yesterday's news regarding Martina's anti-mulesing campaign. This has provoked a direct response from none other than the Reverend Margaret Court, she of "Martina-is-a-poor-role-model" fame. It had started to seem like the only times we hear about the good Reverend is when she's bashing gays but it turns out she has plenty to say about the sheep too - Baaaaa!

And finally, as a former compatriot & doubles partner of Martina's, Anne Smith, makes her tour comeback next month at the comparitively youthful age of 46, she credits Martina for being an inspiration to her & other older players. You can read the complete article here. Good luck, Dr. Anne!

Martina takes a stand

Martina has lent her support to PETA against the horrific Australian practice of "mulesing," performed on young lambs. To this effect, she has written a letter to the conservative Australian prime-minister John Howard imploring him to ban the practice - some good that will do! - but hopefully at the very least it will bring more world-wide attention to this noble cause.

You can read more on SavetheSheep.com which also has a copy of Martina's letter up. PETA's press release can be read here.

Meanwhile, today's mixed doubles match was postponed to tomorrow. Martina & Max will take on the Black siblings, hoping for a place in the semis.

Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal

Martina & Max are scheduled to take on the second seeds, Wayne & Cara Black in their quarterfinal tomorrow. Max has a men's doubles semifinal to play earlier in the day as does Wayne Black. Don't have much hopes for this match; it's the mixed so anything is possible. All the best to our team.

The Australian Open website features a nice video clip of that photo shoot with Martina and the horses, including an interview with Andrew Florent. Thanks to Andee for alerting me to this link. I can't believe I missed it earlier. I must be losing my touch...

Doubles defeat

Well, our fears were realized. Only I was hoping it wouldn't be as bad as it turned out to be. Martina & Daniela lost to Kuznetsova & Molik earlier today 6-3 6-0. The less said about this result the better.

We still have the mixed though. Martina & Max are not on schedule for tomorrow; most likely on Thursday then.

Mixed doubles walkover

Martina & Max have apparently received a walkover into the mixed doubles quarterfinals over Pavel Vizner & Nicole Pratt. Vizner pulled out with a sore arm.

Yesterday, Martina attended a photo shoot outside the Rod Laver Arena where she got to meet a group of Australian stockmen. I think this was part of the day's "Celebrate Community Harmony" theme. For photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four, Photo Five, Photo Six.

Click here for a nice 'Associated Press' article on Martina. I love these puff pieces :-)

Today might be the end of the road for Martina's & Daniela's Australian Open march. They're up against the #5 seeds, the formidable Svetlana Kuznetsova & Alicia Molik and hopefully they will be able to keep the match competitive and put up a good fight.

Czech interview

There's a new interview with Martina in the Czech daily, Mlada Fronta Dnes. Unfortunately for me, it's in Czech which I do not understand. Any Czech readers out there who can help with the translation? I'd be much obliged to you for any help. Thanks!

Third Round win

Martina & Daniela continued to surprise yesterday as their 2005 Australian Open campaign continued with a 6-4 6-4 upset of the #14 seeds, Shinobu Asagoe & Katarina Srebotnik. Our team found themselves staring down the barrel of the gun, so to speak, at 1-4 15-40 double break-point, in set one, but proceeded to bounce right back winning 5 straight games for the set and then coming back from 1-3 down in the second to close out the win. For two photos from the match, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two.

Martina gets today off and will likely be back Monday, either with the mixed or the doubles, hopefully, not both.

Doubles & Mixed

Oops, I've been slacking off again but there's only good news to report. Martina & Daniela won their second round doubles match on Thursday, 6-2 6-0 over Trudi Musgrave & Christina Wheeler. Yesterday night, Martina & Max opened their campaign with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Todd Woddbridge & Eleni Daniilidou.

For a few photos from the women's doubles, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four; and here's one from the mixed.

I'm not sure if Martina held a press conference on Friday or not - if she did, the transcripts are not available on the tournament website. But she was quoted, talking about Justine Henin-Hardenne's injury and the need for a longer off season in this article.

Martina & Daniela return today for their third round match against the #14 seeds, Shinobu Asagoe & Katarina Srebotnik. It's not going to be easy but we hope for the best.

First Round Doubles

Martina & Daniela received a nice surprise yesterday when their scheduled opponents, top seeds Nadia Petrova & Meghann Shaughnessy, withdrew from the tournament due to Meghann's right shin injury. They were replaced by Maria Fernanda Alves & Vanessa Henke - they proved to be easier opposition for our team who won 6-1 6-3 for their first win of the season. For two articles on the match, click on the following links: The Age, The Melbourne Sun.

Our team returns to court tomorrow for their second round encounter against Trudi Musgrave & Christina Wheeler.

Mixed + Doubles First Round

Yesterday, we learned the sad news that Leander had withdrawn from the Australian Open due to his ankle injury. Our best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. The mixed doubles draw came out today and Martina is playing with Max Mirnyi. They are the #7 seeds and have drawn Todd Woodbridge & Eleni Daniilidou in their opening match. Martina & Max have not played together since the 2001 U.S. Open - they played 3 events that year and compiled a losing 2-3 record. We hope for better things here in Melbourne. For the complete mixed doubles draw, courtesy of the tournament website, click here.

Meanwhile, Martina & Daniela take to the courts today for their daunting first round encounter against the top seeds, Nadia Petrova & Meghann Shaughnessy. Their match has been scheduled last on Court 2.

This is Martina's 13th appearance at the Australian Open and you can read a few quotes in this article from 'The Melbourne Sun.'

Australian Open doubles draw

Martina & Daniela got the draw from hell at the Australian Open today. They're unseeded and will take on the top seeds, Nadia Petrova & Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening round. Our hopes rest with the mixed doubles now since in all likelihood, Martina's run in the women's doubles will be a very short one. Not sure when the mixed draw comes out but in the meantime, here's the complete doubles draw courtesy of the tournament website.

I apologize for not mentioning this earlier... but as most of you know by now, Leander twisted his ankle in Sydney earlier this week, during a quarterfinal doubles match with Zimonjic against Bhupathi/Woodbridge and had to be taken off court in a wheelchair. His participation status for the Australian Open is still unclear though the good news is that the cast put on his foot is off and tests showed there was no fracture or ligament tear. A final decision on his participation in Melbourne will be made Tuesday. Our thoughts & prayers are with Leander at this time.

The Shape of Your Life

Rodale Press recently announced they had acquired the North American rights to Martina's upcoming diet & fitness book 'The Shape of Your Life.' You can read the press release on their website here. It's scheduled for a Winter 2006 release.

I'm not sure if this is the same as another alleged upcoming book 'The Ball Doesn't Know Your Age' which is scheduled for a June 1 release this year. At least per Amazon.co.uk. If this is the same book, I find it very surprising that there would be such an extended time lag between the British and the North American publication. But then again, I'm not too familiar with how these things work in the publishing world. Anyone have any thoughts to share?

First Round loss

Martina & Daniela crashed out of the Medibank International in Sydney earlier today, beaten by Liezel Huber & Lisa McShea 6-3 6-4. A most unfortunate loss, I'm not sure what went wrong out there. I knew it was a mistake to play this event instead of lower tier events taking place this week in Hobart & Canberra. But oh well, all that is now in the past. Hopefully they will have better luck at the Australian Open next week.

"Getty Images" has a few photos from today's match as well as from an earlier practice session. I think it's time Martina ditched the red shorts - they haven't brought her any luck so far this year ;-)

More photos: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. I must confess that last photo just breaks my heart...

Sydney draw

The draw for the Medibank International in Sydney is out. Martina & Daniela, unseeded, make their 2005 debut against Liezel Huber & Lisa McShea. For the complete draw, courtesy of the WTA Tour, click here. Daniela is just coming off a great week in Perth, where along with Dominik Hrbaty, she led Slovakia to its second Hopman Cup victory. There's a nice article on her in 'The Melbourne Age.' Hopefully, her recent good form bodes well for this new partnership with Martina. Our fingers are crossed for the two of them...

Meanwhile, in Chennai, Leander, paired by his new doubles partner Nenad Zimonjic, lost in the semifinals but had some nice things to say about Martina afterwards, including the possibility that she might play in India this year. For more on that from 'The Calcutta Telegraph, click here.

Defeat in the Quarterfinals

Bad news today. Martina & Nathalie went down tamely to the #2 seeds, Elena Likhovtseva & Magdalena Maleeva in Gold Coast 6-2 6-4. Again, not much coverage of this result by the press. The "Getty Images" site does have a few photos though.

Martina next moves on to Sydney for the Medibank International where she is expected to be partnered by Daniela Hantuchova.

First Round victory

Martina & Nathalie won their first round match today, defeating Casey Dellacqua & Nicole Sewell 7-6(0) 6-3 in Gold Coast. There doesn't seem to be much coverage of this result in the press. Perhaps the match got over too late, after all news reports had already been filed... I don't know. Anyway, "Getty Images" does have a few good pictures from today's match...

Martina & Nathalie do not get a break tomorrow. They are back on court for their tough quarterfinal against the #2 seeds, Elena Likhovtseva of Russia & Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria. Again, they play last on Centre Court.

First Round doubles

Martina & Nathalie are scheduled to play their first round match in Gold Coast tomorrow. They take on Casey Dellacqua & Nicole Sewell in the last match on Centre Court.

Gold Coast draw

The Gold Coast draw was announced yesterday. Martina & Nathalie are unseeded and will take on the Australian team of Casey Dellacqua and Nicole Sewell in their opening match. For the complete draw, courtesy of the 'Tennis Australia' website, click here. They are not scheduled to play Monday so my best guess is they get to play that first match Tuesday.

Nathalie lost her opening singles match today to Flavia Pennetta of Italy. This is what she had to say after the loss: "I would have for sure loved playing more matches here on the Gold Coast, but I still have doubles here, so I’ll try to play more matches in that one and try to get into rhythm." We're with you there, Nat! We want more matches too...

Meanwhile in Chennai, India, Leander who is there for the Chennai Open Tennis Championships confirmed what we already knew. He's playing mixed with Martina this year. Said he: "Of course, I will continue my partnership with Martina for mixed doubles. It is awesome to play with her." He's also donating all his prize money this week to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami victims. You can read the complete article here.