Dokic's fairytale run ends

Jelena Dokic’s fairytale run at the Australian Open has finally come to an end tonight, the Australian succumbing to world no. 3 Dinara Safina 6-4 4-6 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena.

Having reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam ranked 187 in the world, there was little more the Australian crowd could ask of Dokic as she faced off against a player favoured to take out the title and become the new no.1 player in women’s tennis.

Seemingly feeling no ill effects from the ankle injury she suffered in her previous round win over the no. 29 seed Alisa Kleybanova, Dokic started nervously with Safina breaking her serve in the opening game to lead 1-0.

With the crowd behind her, Dokic regained her composure a few games later to level at 3-3 but eventually the 25 year old was brought undone by unforced errors, the Russian breaking again at 4-4 and then serving it out to take the first set 6-4.

Weaknesses began to appear in the game of Safina as her serve began to falter, double-faulting twice in one game to go a break down to Dokic who consolidated with a service hold to lead 3-0 in the second set. After several breaks were exchanged throughout the set, once again the Russian no. 3 seed double-faulted twice at 5-4 to hand the set to Dokic.

The former world no. 4 showed great fight in the final set to stick with Safina but in the end the 22 year old proved too powerful for the Aussie comeback queen, winning the final set 6-4 to set up a date in the semi-finals with current world no. 4 and compatriot Elena Dementieva.

Jelena Dokic exits the tournament guaranteed a ranking inside the top 100 and has regained the respect and loyalty of the Australian public after showing amazing grit, courage and determination in reaching the quarter finals.

The crowd’s love affair with Dokic was not lost on Safina, who was apologetic when interviewed after the match.

“Sorry that I had to defeat today your Australian. I hope you will be behind me next time. I’m sorry,” she said.

The halfway point

We've almost reached the halfway point of the Aussie Open and it seems as though the girls are flying the flag for Australia at the open.

Sam Stosur is playing tonight in an attempt to reach the final 16 while Jelena Dokic has already booked a spot there, providing the fairytale story this year by winning her first 3 matches. Considering her history it really is remarkable she has produced such tennis with minimal match play over the past few years. Hopefully she can continue her form and get back into the top 20.

Meanwhile the men have disappointed once again although Bernard Tomic has given men's tennis in Australia a ray of hope with his promising display of talent shown until he was outclassed in round 2.

So far Federer, Nadal, Tsonga, Monfils and Murray are showing great form in getting through their matches in the run to the final but as the cliche goes...you can't win it in the first week of tournament. We may yet see another unexpected surge from a player out of the limelight.

The Summer of Sport

Personally i always struggle with the gaping sporting hole that is the Australian summer.

Sure, the cricket and soccer (football) lovers have their needs satisfied but what about the rest of us? Luckily the tennis has arrived just in time to tide us over till the footy season starts.

The Aussie Open usually grabs the nation's attention despite our nation's players (Hewitt) inability to make an impact on the world stage. Most people will be naming the usual suspects like Federer and Nadal as likely winners but i'll be keeping my eyes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marat Safin as potential dark horses. Tsonga almost went all the way last year and is better for the experience while Safin is retiting at the end of the year so he'll be fired up for this one (expecially after getting into a fight in Moscow).

One thing's certain...i can't wait for the footy (not AFL) to begin.