Women Tennis Update – Australian Open Saturday, January 26, 2013

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2013

Women Tennis Update - Australian Open Saturday, January 26, 2013

epa03554396 Italian double Roberta Vinci (R) and Sara Errani (R) in action during the women's doubles final at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2013. Vinci and Errani beat Australian double Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in three sets. EPA/Narendra Shrestha |

Doubles – Final: (1) Errani/Vinci def. Barty/Dellacqua 6-2 3-6 6-2

There will always be people who wonder how the Williams Sisters would have done here had they been healthy — but there isn’t much question about which doubles team is the best in their absence. The only surprise here is how close this was. Maybe Errani/Vinci slacked off after their easy first set. In any case, they took the title, and now have two Slams. And the #1 rankings, with a huge margin over the next players. They are going to be #1 for a long time, as the numbers show:

1..(1) VINCI ………….10670*

2..(2) ERRANI ……….. 10670*

3..(3) HLAVACKOVA ………7340

4..(4) HRADECKA ………..7340

5..(5) PETROVA ……….. 7310

6..(7) KIRILENKO ……… 6430

7..(6) RAYMOND ……….. 6405

8..(8) HUBER …………. 6290

9..(9) VESNINA ……….. 6110

10.(11) MAKAROVA ………..5570

The Italians are now 57-9 in the last twelve months, with nine titles in 18 events. And two Slams in a row, and their best surface is clay, so three in a row would be no surprise….

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: Gajdosova/Ebden def. Shvedova/Istomin 7-5 7-6(7-5)

This means that we’ve had Australians in both the women’s doubles finals and the mixed finals. The Australians lost in women’s. But the opposition isn’t likely to be as tough in mixed….

Mixed Doubles – Semifinal: Hradecka/Cermak def. Peschke/Matkowski 3-6 7-5 10-7 (Match TB)

An interesting contest. Peschke/Matkowski would have been seeded #7 under Mixed rankings, and Hradecka/Cermak wouldn’t, so this is a defeat for mixed rankings. On the other hand, Hradecka/Cermak were the top unseeded team, so it isn’t much of an argument against mixed rankings. And there is always the fact that Peschke and Matkowski both seem to get nervous as they approach Slam finals. The final would certainly seem to favor Hradecka/Cermak, who have a lot more big match experience (including a Slam doubles title for Hradecka) than Gajdosova/Ebden.

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Australian Open, Errani/Vinci def. Barty/Dellacqua, Grand Slam, HLAVACKOVA, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Williams