Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Wonderful Wednesday line-up

medibankinternational.com.au Tuesday 12 January 2010 8 Comments »

Grand slam champions and former world number ones headline a blockbuster Wednesday at the Medibank International Sydney.

Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, Elena Dementieva, Marcos Baghdatis and Dinara Safina will all star on Ken Rosewall Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre tomorrow.

First up in the day session is Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who has played in Sydney every year since 2006 and is a semifinalist on two occasions (2007, 2009). He takes on No. 8 seed, Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Video: Serena Williams post-match media conference

Next on is 2006 Australian Open finalist Baghdatis. He takes on Serbian world No. 29 Viktor Troicki. The pair have never played before.

Third match on Ken Rosewall Arena is the much-anticipated encounter between Australian No. 1 Hewitt and Italian Andreas Seppi.  This will be their fourth meeting and Seppi leads 2-1.

Hewitt is gunning for his fifth Medibank International Sydney title but is certainly aware of the Italians’ capabilities, having lost to him at the quarter final stage in 2006.

Photos: day 3 action shots

A victory for Hewitt will see him set-up a potential mouth-watering showdown with Baghdatis.

Closing out the day session will be world No. 1 Williams, who easily accounted for Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-1 6-2 today.

The American superstar will now face qualifier Vera Dushevina of Russia for a semi-final spot.

The opening night session of Medibank International Sydney 2010 will feature a replay of last year’s women’s singles final between compatriots Safina and Dementieva.

The Russian pair, who defeated Agnieszka Radwanska and Daniela Hantuchova respectively, played an intense three set final in 2009 with Dementieva prevailing 6-3 2-6 6-1.

Men’s doubles, featuring Australians Carsten Ball and Stephen Huss against Paul Hanley and Swede Simon Aspelin will close out the night session.

Featured matches on court one tomorrow include Evgeny Korolev vs Mardy Fish, Flavia Pennetta vs Aravene Rezai and Dominika Cibulkova vs Victoria Azarenka on court one.

Patrons with $9.90 ground passes tomorrow will be in for a treat with No.3 seed Stanislas Wawrinka in action against Julien Benneteau on court 5.

Court 6 will see Czech second seed Tomas Berdych taking on Aussie wildcard Peter Luczak in a match that is certain to attract a patriotic crowd.

In good news for Australian tennis fans, Australian No.2 Luczak, coming off his best year on the ATP World Tour in 2009, closed out day three with a 7-6(1)  6-4 victory over Argentine Davis Cup player Jose Acasuso.

Other winners on Tuesday included Williams, Azarenka, Cibulkova, Pennetta, Dementieva, Safina, Fish and Korolev.

In the match of the day, Azarenka won a marathon three-set match against Kimiko Date Krumm 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, while Cibulkova scored an upset win over world No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Fish took out big-serving Australian Ball 6-4 7-6(4), while Korolov upset No.5 seed Sam Querrey.

Tickets for both the Wednesday day and night sessions are available through Ticketek – www.ticketek.com.au or 1300 888 104.

Draws: singles and doubles

Day 3 scores

Photos

Tags: Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Serena Williams

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