| Fan Forum's Finest
Joined: Jan 1999
Posts: 51,965
| Here`s the first update from Berlin. We got a few all hotties matchups today.
First of all, Caroline defeated Tati 7-6(4), 6-2. Good win there for the very cute Caroline.  This is a nice return for her after the layoff. As for Tati, she had her chances in the first set, but unfortunately couldn`t take advantage of them. After that it was all downhill for her. I think it was a better performance from Tati than expected. It`s going to take some time for her to get back to good form.
Meanwhile in another all hotties matchup, Alona and Domi had a tight one in their match with Alona coming out with the win 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(9). Very good win there for Alona. She really had to battle back in the third set. As for Domi, she rebounded nicely with a very impressive second set and had a couple of match points up 5-4 and 6-5, but unfortunately couldn`t convert either of them, which ultimately costed her the match. Obviously this is a tough loss for Domi. I hope that she won`t let it linger.
Alona wasn`t the only Bondarenko to have success in the first round today as Kateryna upset Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3. Good win there for Kat. It`s nice to see her have a good win in singles.
Unfortunately it wasn`t all good news as Alize was defeated by Francesca Schiavone 5-7, 6-4, 3-6. Tough loss there for Alize. Now France`s hottest stars are both out in the first round. 
Another all hotties matchup played today was the Makiri-Elena match. Elena played very impressively in winning the first set 6-2. Then she was up 5-4 in the second set and had triple match point, but inexplicitly her serve deserted and Makiri took full advantage of it to win the next three games to win the second set 7-5. After that the match was suspended due to darkness. So it`ll be interesting to see how Makiri and Elena will do when the match resumes tomorrow.
In other matches tomorrow, Nikki makes her long awaited return against Gisela Dulko. This is going to be a tough match for Nikki, especially since it`ll be her first one since Miami, her first match under her new coach David Felgate and Dulko is a pretty good clay court player. Also Kat will take on veteran Elena Dementieva in her second round match. Then later on she and Alona will have their first round match in doubles against Maria Elena Camerin and Nadia Petrova. Also playing doubles tomorrow is Makiri and Elena. Makiri will be teaming up with Aga Radwanska, while Elena will reunite with Dinara Safina. I`m very glad to see Team Russia`s dynamic duo back together.  They`ll play Akgul Amanmuradova and Galina Voskoboeva. Also Makiri and Aggie makes for a very intriguing and cute team IMO. They`ll play Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Olga Govortsova. Hopefully our favorite ladies will do well tomorrow.
Also here`s Masha`s latest entry for her official site:
LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS
5/5/2008 12:19:00 PM
Well hello there!
Thought I would fill everyone in on what I have been up to in the last couple weeks! My birthday hoora felt like it had lasted for a whole week...well actually it did, considering the amount of times I blew out b-day candles, listened to b-day song messages, and the amount of flowers and phone calls I received. It's the day in the year when your close friends, and family tell you how much they love you, to the point where it's gets a bit ridiculous and you find yourself pressing the busy button on your phone. The birthday party itself was beautiful...very intimate ( unlike my 18th with sooo many people), great d�r, and funny funny times. It is very rare that most of my friends are in the same place at the same time...apart from a couple everyone was there to celebrate with me and that always gets REALLY entertaining! When I got back I had to do the few shoots that I couldn't do the week of Amelia, as I do every year after the Miami tournament. Of course on the 3rd day, ahead of an 8hr print shoot, I wake up feeling like I got run over by a bus...and have to call in a doctor on the shoot...only to hear that I got a really bad viral infection with a big fever and that I have to get on antibiotics...how original! I know I'm always against those things, but I kind of had no other choice because I haven't been that sick in a while. Quite ironic, as a few days before that I was trying to come up with some 'excuse' for pulling out of Berlin...next time I'll be careful what I wish for.
So now I'm back in training and boy oh boy do those things zap your energy out of you! But I'm getting better little by little, and going to play against some boys in the next few days...
I am sure many of you can tell that I am just a little frustrated with a couple of tour executives who don't ever listen to the players and want to do their own thing. For a sport that has so much potential to grow and get bigger, you would think that the players voice would be important but unfortunately that's not the case. They just do whatever they want and tell us what to do and how to do it. And on top of that walk around like they're the stars. I have tried to work with them, I have attended numerous amounts of meetings throughout the years, but they just do what they want and threaten to fine me. So since they will not listen to me, I am going to start giving my fans a behind the scenes look at life on tour...let the fun begin! I also want to thank everyone for voting...the number of people voting was way beyond our expectations.
Onto a few other notes:
In Amelia, I got my hands on the Wii bowling game. Not sure if it's had a worse player in the history of the game but after having the worst possible score, I somehow found a way to hit 4 strikes in a row!! After the second one Michael said he would go streaking on the streets along with his friends, after the third one he promised something else, none of which he did...thank God!
Quite a while ago ( but since I have not written much..) I saw a U2 concert in 3D at the I-Max theater....anyone that has one in the area must go see it! Highly recommend it!
After owning my house for the last 2 years, I have just realized I have a steamer unit on my stove. And now I can't stop making steamed artichoke...the small things in life..
Also not sure if I'm really behind but I just came across digital photo frames and being the gadget junky that I am, I think they are pretty awesome. You put your memory card inside and it just rotates all the pictures on that card.
Quote goes to Eric...at a hockey game he wasn't happy with the refs call and yelled 'go back to Footlocker' ( the store that's logo is a referee).
I am quite excited to be going to Rome, as I absolutely love Italy. Can't wait to get my hands on the gelato and mozzarella....and all the other amazing food (in small quantities of course!).
So bummed I can't go to the Met this year as I got 3 personal invitations ( the theme for this year is super heroes) and my friend is going....but of course work always comes first and I'm sure I'll have plenty of time once I'm retired!
But I will get to see the first couple games of Boston vs. Cleveland!! What a great series that will be! Go Cleveland!!
There is also one other thing that I am soo excited to report but have to keep my mouth shut...you just have to wait a couple weeks. xx Maria
The thing that stands out to me is her mentioning the Celtics-Cavaliers series. Hopefully we`ll get to see her at one of the first two games.
Anyway here are some pics from today`s matches along with a few offcourt pics.
This is Sabine Lisicki
She`s one of the hometown favorites in Berlin and eariler today she upset Shahar Peer.
 
Sabine looks mighty good in this pic. 
We`re going to have to keep an eye on her.
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