Certain events this weekend hindered the daily reports but nevertheless it was an eventful three days. The women’s competition saw a gutsy display from the darkest of horses in Justine Henin fighting back against the super-qualifier Wickmayer whilst it was more heartbreak for Dinara Safina who limped out of the tournament. The obligatory ‘darling’ of the tournament Maria Kirilenko benefited most from the second seed’s misfortune. Elsewhere the Williams sisters and the strong looking Petrova marched on. It’s always sad for me to see Hantuchova lose, especially as – once again – it was against a beatable player in Na Li of China.
There were more high profile retirements in the men’s competition as both Marcos Baghdatis and Mikhail Youzhny withdrawing thanks to injury, the latter never making it to the court after a suspected broken wrist. The seeds all progressed however with Murray, Nadal, Djokovic and Roddick powering through to the quarters. Five setters are so frequent here and Marin Cillic and Juan Martin Del Potro treated the crowds to one such thriller, the Croatian the surprise winner.
Seeds/noteworthy players to have fallen over the middle weekend:
Tommy Haas
Marcos Baghdatis
Alberto Montanes
Juan Monaco
Mikhail Youzhny
Fernando Gonzalez
Stanislas Wawrinka
Juan Martin Del Potro
Gael Monfils
Ivan Ljubicic
Phillip Kohlschreiber
Ivo Karlovic
Dinara Safina
Yalina Wickmayer
Shahar Peer
Agnieska Radwanska
Casey Dellacqua
Daniela Hantuchova
Aussie Open Official site for the original pics
All Things Tennis 