2006 Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo of France won't reach the fourth round given her play the
past few months. After appearing to concur her oftentimes shaky nerves, she has failed to retain any high level
of consistency.
It would have been fun to see former top five ranked Australian Jelena Dokic continue her return to
competitive tennis in her home country of Australia; however, she lost in the qualifying rounds.
The other notable Australian in the women's draw, Alicia Molik won her first grand slam doubles title at
the 2005 Australian Open with partner Svetlana Kuznetsova, but is yet to advance past the quarterfinals in
singles. As she most likely will face red hot Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova in round two, Molik will need
to play her best advance.
Our prayers were answered at this grand slam as Serena Williams was thankfully not drawn to play Henin in the
quarterfinals after losing to Henin in the last three grand slam quarterfinals. They should meet in the semifinals;
however, where Serena can win but only if she is healthy and keeps points short with attacking play.
Venus Williams also will face a tall order in the semifinals versus second seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of
Russia. But she should get through in three sets and then defeat her sister Serena in the final if her
forehand is on and she is ready to run down Serena's big shots from the ground.
