[Dissident]

Just heard the draw from some friend in aussie land.

Guga faces Arazi.
Then Hewitt in the third round if both advance.

 

[tennischick]

go Guga!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bounce: :bounce:

 

[Dissident]

The whole draw is here
http://www.atpworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3638

So, Arazi first.
If he goes further, Carlsen or Stepanek. Both are bad draw for him. Attacking players, powerful serves. Oh well...
Then the third would be Hewitt. If Guga gets to the third, he should be dangerous, and I would love to see this matchup.

 

[Lee]

Diss, Guga will get to the 3rd round and Hewitt beware!

 

[Gonzo Hates Me!]

Here is the draw. It was in another thread, but I deleted it since Hitman made this Aussie Open thread! This 'ill save you all the trouble. AND FOREVER GUGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have faith in him!!!:


------------------ 1st Quarter --------------

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (1)
vs.
Qualifier



Cecil Mamiit USA
vs.
Qualifier



Kenneth Carlsen DEN
vs.
Radek Stepanek CZE



Hicham Arazi MAR
vs.
Gustavo Kuerten BRA (30)



Younes El Aynaoui MAR (18)
vs.
Justin Gimelstob USA



Qualifier
vs.
Ivan Ljubicic CRO



Robby Ginepri USA
vs.
Marc Rosset SUI



Feliciano Lopez ESP
vs.
Alex Corretja ESP (15)



Andy Roddick USA (9)
vs.
Zeljko Krajan CRO



Andre Sa BRA
vs.
Adrian Voinea ROM



Luis Horna PER
vs.
Fernando Vicente ESP



Karol Beck SVK
vs.
Juan Ignacio Chela ARG (19)



Mikhail Youzhny RUS (25)
vs.
Richard Gasquet FRA



Joseph Sirianni AUS
vs.
Max Mirnyi BLR



Olivier Rochus BEL
vs.
Arnaud Di Pasquale FRA



Vincent Spadea USA
vs.
Jiri Novak CZE (7)

---------- 2nd Quarter --------------

Marat Safin RUS (3)
vs.
Raemon Sluiter NED



Albert Montanes ESP
vs.
Mariano Puerta ARG



Todd Reid AUS
vs.
Richard Krajicek NED



Albert Portas ESP
vs.
Rainer Schuettler GER (31)



James Blake USA (23)
vs.
Jiri Vanek CZE



Qualifier
vs.
Jose Acasuso ARG



Alberto Martin ESP
vs.
Qualifier



Qualifier
vs.
Fernando Gonzalez CHI (13)



David Nalbandian ARG (10)
vs.
Jerome Golmard FRA



Qualifier
vs.
Andrew Ilie AUS



Anthony Dupuis FRA
vs.
Jacobo Diaz ESP



Dominik Hrbaty SVK
vs.
Xavier Malisse BEL (20)



Stefan Koubek AUT (32)
vs.
Qualifier



Julian Knowle AUT
vs.
Ryan Henry AUS



Lars Burgsmuller GER
vs.
Juan Balcells ESP



Flavio Saretta BRA
vs.
Roger Federer SUI (6)

------- 3rd Quarter -----------

Carlos Moya ESP (5)
vs.
Dick Norman BEL



Qualifier
vs.
Mardy Fish USA



Davide Sanguinetti ITA
vs.
Michel Kratochvil SUI



Wayne Ferreira RSA
vs.
Tommy Robredo ESP (26)



Gaston Gaudio ARG (17)
vs.
Thomas Enqvist SWE



Agustin Calleri ARG
vs.
Sargis Sargsian ARM



Mark Philippoussis AUS
vs.
Martin Verkerk NED



Jurgen Melzer AUT
vs.
Paradorn Srichaphan THA (11)



Sjeng Schalken NED (16)
vs.
Qualifier



Mario Ancic CRO
vs.
Qualifier



Attila Savolt HUN
vs.
Peter Luczak AUS



Qualifier
vs.
Andrei Pavel ROM (21)



Fabrice Santoro FRA (28)
vs.
Qualifier



Wayne Arthurs AUS
vs.
Qualifier



Andrea Gaudenzi ITA
vs.
Jean-Rene Lisnard FRA



Franco Squillari ARG
vs.
Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (4)

----------- 4th Quarter -------------

Albert Costa ESP (8)
vs.
Qualifier



Scott Draper AUS
vs.
Alex Kim USA



Felix Mantilla ESP
vs.
Mariano Zabaleta ARG



Michael Llodra FRA
vs.
Jan-Michael Gambill USA (27)



Nicolas Lapentti ECU (24)
vs.
Qualifier



David Sanchez ESP
vs.
Kristian Pless DEN



Jan Vacek CZE
vs.
Karol Kucera SVK



Fernando Meligeni BRA
vs.
Sebastien Grosjean FRA (12)



Guillermo Canas ARG (14)
vs.
Vladimir Voltchkov BLR



Guillermo Coria ARG
vs.
Francisco Clavet ESP



Jarkko Nieminen FIN
vs.
Nikolay Davydenko RUS



Jeff Morrison USA
vs.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov RUS (22)



Nicolas Escude FRA (29)
vs.
Gouichi Motomura JPN



Qualifier
vs.
Irakli Labadze GEO



David Ferrer ESP
vs.
Hyung-Taik Lee KOR



Brian Vahaly USA
vs.
Andre Agassi USA (2)

 

[Gonzo Hates Me!]

This can count as an Aussie Open article...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kuerten defeats Hrbaty at Heineken, matches 2002 title total

January 11, 2003

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Ticker) - Gustavo Kuerten is ready for the first Grand Slam event of the season, even if he's never gotten past the second round.

With throngs of Brazilian fans in the crowd, Kuerten matched his 2002 title count Sunday (Saturday night in the United States), posting a straight-sets victory over Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia at the Heineken Open.

Kuerten won just one title last season, enduring an injury-plagued campaign that saw him finish outside the top 10 for the first time since 1998. But he won his first event of 2003, defeating Hrbaty, 6-3, 7-5.

"I was really aggressive and playing well," said Kuerten, who was forced to win twice Saturday after rain interrupted play for the fourth time this week. "And in the end, I had a little luck."

It was the 19th career title for Kuerten, a three-time French Open champion whose lone crown last year came in his home country. He claimed his fifth title on hard courts, improved to 1-2 lifetime against Hrbaty and collected $48,600.

Now Kuerten moves on to the Australian Open, where he has failed to make it out of the second round in seven appearances. He will be the 30th seed and open against Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

"I raised my level so much from the first match of the tournament," Kuerten said. "The confidence I got from the level of tennis I had this week is good for the Open, so much better than the past. I didn't expect to win when I arrived this week."

Hrbaty was seeking his fourth career title and first since winning here in 2001. He couldn't handle the strong winds Sunday but still heads to Melbourne with confidence.

"I go into the tournament with about eight matches behind me, which is good," he said.

There were only three service breaks in the match, but each was pivotal for Kuerten, who closed the first set with one of them. With his opponent struggling in the wind, Kuerten broke Hrbaty to go up, 4-3.

"He was playing well and serving great," Hrbaty said. "I had to take my chances, but `Guga' was playing a much different game than (Felix) Mantilla in the semis."

In the second set, both players held serve until 6-5, when Kuerten broke again. Hrbaty had two double-faults in the decisive game.

 

[Lily]

I read somewhere that the AO adm was aware of the troubles at the Heineken Open and said the HO finalists would not have to play until Wed. Have you heard this, Dissident?

 

[Dissident]

Long article, in portuguese. Will translate it this night.

GUGA VENCE ARAZI NA ESTRÉIA DO AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Fonte: EQUIPE GUGA


Gustavo Kuerten começou com tudo a disputa do primeiro Grand Slam do ano, o Australian Open e marcou a sua sexta vitória consecutiva na temporada 2003 nesta madrugada de terça-feira. Na estréia, em Melbourne, Guga derrotou o marroquino Hicham Arazi, por 3 sets a 0, parciais de 6/4 7/6 (8) 6/3, em 2h23min de disputa na quadra Margareth Court.

Campeão do ATP de Auckland, no domingo, Guga fez o seu sexto confronto com Arazi e venceu pela quinta vez seguida.

O marroquino iniciou o jogo sacando e no sétimo game da primeira série Guga aproveitou o primeiro break point que teve para quebrar o saque de Arazi, manter a vantagem e fechar o set em 6/4.

No segundo set tudo caminhava para o mesmo placar, quando Guga quebrou o serviço do marroquino no 4/4 e sacou para o set no game seguinte. Mas o brasileiro teve seu serviço quebrado e a decisão da série foi para o tie-break. Arazi conseguiu passar adiante no set e chegou a ter três set points no 6/4 e outro no 7/6, quando Guga se superou, salvou os quatro set points e fez 10/8.

Na terceira série, Guga teve seu saque quebrado no primeiro game, mas não deixou Arazi disparar no placar. Devolveu a quebra no game seguinte e no sexto game quebrou o serviço do adversário para ficar com vantagem e no 5/3 comemorar a sexta vitória consecutiva.

“Foi um jogo bem disputado. Enfrentar o Arazi na primeira rodada de um Grand Slam não é fácil e o jogo foi realmente de igual para igual. Mas joguei bem e especialmente nas horas em que precisava. Salvei um monte de set points no segundo set e consegui fechar o jogo em três sets,” disse Guga, que chegou no domingo a Melbourne, vindo de Auckland, onde conquistou o 18º título da sua carreira. “Estou empolgado, no ritmo do torneio, com muita vontade de vencer e se ganho uns dois ou três jogos passo a me sentir bem dentro da competição,” completou Guga, que contou com o apoio da torcida no seu primeiro jogo na Austrália. “O torneio está bem legal, todos os dias está batendo recorde de público e no meu jogo tinha gente até sentada na escada para poder assistir.”

Com 35 pontos garantidos no ranking mundial, em que é o 29º colocado e outros 7 na Corrida dos Campeões, em que ocupa o 6º posto, Guga (Banco do Brasil / Head / Kuat / Motorola / Olympikus) voltará a jogar na quinta-feira em Melbourne (podendo ser na quarta no Brasil), contra o checo Radek Stepanek. Os dois se enfrentaram apenas uma vez, no Masters Series de Paris, no ano passado, em quadra de carpete coberta e Stepanek, 69º colocado no ranking mundial e 42º na Corrida dos Campeões, venceu por 2 sets a 1, parciais de 4/6 6/3 7/6.

“É um jogo diferente do Arazi e na única vez que a gente se enfrentou eu me dei mal. Vamos ver se agora me dou bem,”brincou Guga. “Vou me preparar bastante para esse jogo, tenho a quarta-feira para treinar e vou com tudo para cima dele.”

 

[Jessi]

Congrats Guga on your first rnd win! :bounce: Guga really has Arazi's number.

Gosh, he is playing so well. His confidence mush be sky high right now.
Just keep winning Guga!